Mending Breaks ((Kail))

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The sound of clinking glasses, and the smell of thick spices in the air. Aria looked around the Druken Kray, she actually found herself liking the décor. The cushions on the floor an the casual air was preferred. She strode calmly to a seat and plopped down; her feet folded underneath her. Earlier that day she had decided to pay a visit to the Druken Kray. Yes she had been in bane a few times however not since her first visit had she let her true face show. Today was no different. Before going to Bane she had stopped by her old cabin in the forever forest. Tidied up a bit there and then proceeded to use a potion picked up from the market place to dye her hair a snowy white. One thing she liked about these potions was it transferred to her other forms as well. To continue her disguise she used her illusions to disguise her telltale face scar. She also allowed herself to transform slightly into her gorge hound form; so two large triangular white ears sat on the top of her head, and a long fluffy white tail protruded from her back side. If she let the tail go limp it would easily drag on the ground; however it swayed back and forth with her moods. Her hair she had carefully straightened with steam; her hair reaching her thighs once straighten.



Her outfit was anything but simple a gold ear band was clamped on her right ear; three find gold chains hung in a small loop attached to a gold beret that decorated her hair. Gold choker necklaces inlaid with green sea glass wrapped around her neck. Similar bracelets were around her arms, and left ankle. They made a musical tinkling sound as she walked. Her chest was covered with a deep blue green and black marbled bandeau; and loose harem pants that stopped just below her knees; made from the same fabric. A white sari wrap covered her left shoulder and her mid driff; on loose end tucked around her waist while the other over her shoulder. The clothing style was more from the south; but in such a diverse culture setting such bane; she hardly stood out because of her clothing. Her feet remained bare; and there was a wild enough look in her eyes to ward off people, that is if the tail, ears and elongated eye teeth weren’t enough. The woman also had tattoos on her body; on one of her fore arms a black dagger was present; along with two large round tattoos on her backs that could depict chakrams. Though those were hidden by the long white locks she now sported thanks to that potion.



Aria also did not come defenseless; that large bulky white wrap was perfect for hiding various daggers with in its folds. Likewise with her loose pants. Honestly if this fashion was acceptable for day to day wear while in the courts this she found would be her preferred style. It was certainly nice to wear around the island; which could be hot and humid on most days. Aria looked up as a waitress took her order; she would have something light and fruity along with whatever the hell was causing that delicious smell in the air. While she waited she scanned the room; she had been here a few times in disguise…last time she helped some odd woman hunting in the fields find her way out of bane…..other times it was just to explore and keep an eye on how many fated kept appearing.

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A door would creek open as Kail was a bit tired after he had delt with a rather nasty surprise. He came dressed in rather super casual clothes. A long sleeve shirt in a green, bagie shorts with a belt that had a sword and a knife sheated, and wearing his fated boots. The surprise though a fated guy from World War 1 had been warped in after getting hit by shrapnel. It was a rather nasty sight to behold. None the less he checked into the Drunken Kray for other things. The majority of the pub greeted the blond as he had done a lot for new fated coming in when they had been warped in from whatever world they had been brought into. Kail scaned the room and felt something a bit odd. But could not put his finger on it. As he brought up his right hand to his chin as if to ponder something. Showing a fingerless glove and his drake bone bracelet with several magical gems set into it. Seeing nothing too out of the ordinary, walks past the disguised Aria and to his regular table and sat down.

One of the bar maids came up to his table "Hey Mr.Lancaster one of the fated guys made something called a pizza oven. We are starting to make these pizzas, would you want one" she asked. The blond looked at the woman with a slight look of surprise "Well heck yeah bring me a pie, and a good bottle of red wine. Please" he said and was happy to get something from his world into Nova. The bar maid gave a laugh and went off to get Kail's order. Which left Kail back to his own thoughts again. The way that Kail was seated was that he was against a wall with a great view of the bar and the door to the place. It would make it very hard to get the jump on him from behind or the front.

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Aria would hum to herself as her drink was brought first; this place was such an intriguing mix. Some of the shit she saw people carrying wasn’t anything she had ever encountered before. Her tail swished back and forth along the floor in a happy wag. Her legs folded underneath her in a criss cross style on the large fluffy sitting pillow that made up a lot of the seats in the Drunken Kray. Her attention was pulled however when a familiar man walked through the door; she had heard the blonde monkey was someone big around here. Amusing as it was….maybe he did have some leadership potential that she didn’t know about. Considering their last mission she had seen anything but. Perhaps when his head wasn’t shoved so far up his ass he had potential. Then again every time she had run into him since the execution he seemed to have something he felt like he needed to prove. Competition always seemed to bring out the worse in people.

Aria’s ears twitched as someone came up to Kail and said something about a pizza? Whatever the frick that was….but it probably was whatever was making that damn good smell. So it was called Pizza? She wondered what it would look at taste like…one large ear was turned towards Kail as he then called it a pie. Ok now she was curious; she turned her full body so she was facing the blonde monkey. ”It’s a pie?” her head tilted to the side and her hands were kept in her lap; she was genuinely curious about this new food. ”Is it sweet like apple?”

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As Kail was in thought right now until his neibour spoke up and the voice was early familure to him. That was until he saw the face, facialy it looked like Aria minus the scar and now the white hair. Now if this was Aria, how and why she was here. The how was rather easy, more then likely Serenity told her about the place. The why, was trickier to think of right now. But what if this was not Aria and made a mistake and it was just his imagenation and quincadence? There were no quincdences in Nova, as things always are linked in some way or another. Just from the experiances of this world. So if again this was Aria, Kail had to be calm and not bring major drama. As he did not want Gallows Bane to go into chaos. "You will see in about 15 to 20 minutes Aria. And what brings you here" he said calmly. There were no threats given nor him freaking out like a chicken with its head cut off. Nor him pointing a loaded weapon of some sort at her.

The other reason that Kail was not trying to go nutty. Was the fact he was a forced champion to Fate. And since they were champions to the gods. There had to be some form of professionalism due to there postions. He did not know how vengeful Saden was if another champion to a god would try and kill his champion. It might not end well with him at all so again he had to be curtious at this point.

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He was quick at least, but none the less as the word Aria left his lips Aria tilted her head the other way a confused look on her face. ”Aria? What does a song have to do with food…..do you sing to get it ready?” Arias form floated up for a second in midair and she unfolded her legs to where she was standing once more. She walked over to where Kail was sitting and plopped down on a pillow in front of hm. She placed her hands on the table; for any that noticed the tattoo on her arm was gone for the moment. ”I’m here for sightseeing mostly; names Alex” If Kail looked down he’d see a black pool of ink on the table begin to form works ’You’re not wrong; and really I’m not here to cause trouble. This place just has interesting things. Consider this little revealing as an offer of truce for the moment; you know that I’m here and that’s not something I really want as public knowledge.’ When Kail read the message the ink would slide across the table once more and form back into the tattoo on Aria’s arm. She smiled, letting him know that the knowledge was not something she really wanted public, well it was an advantage she gave him in hopes that it would serve as reasonable proof that she really didn’t want to cause trouble here.

”A little birdy showed me this place shortly after midwinter; I’ve been visiting every now and then to see what new things may pop up.” As the waitress came by she accepted her drink order; but she would wait until Kail obtained his before she would drink hers. She did have some semblance of manners. ”So at an attempt at being civil; how are things with you? I mean with Melania being declared a traitor; I assume that affects you as her assistant as well?”

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Kail raised a slight eyebrow when Alex had desided to come over and sit down. His eyes flick over to the pool of ink and start to form words. He read them and figured something was rather off for Aria to be disguised like this. But none the less he was going to be rather civil on the matter on his end as well. "I'm fine, been doing some thinking while holding up a buisness. Mostly a metal working place for tools, arms, and armor. I've been selling more tools then weapons, but most of the funds are for future projects" he said and the bar maid came up and gave Kail a bottle of wine and a glass to pour into. Kail then pours the wine into a glass and takes a small sip. The Melania thing though put him with a questioning glance but then the other part added up. "If that were the case, I would have been thrown into the slammer with a cell next to Claire, by now. I am a smaller fish in the grand scheem of things. Although now I have been forced to become a bigger fish to take on a divine duty that she once held. Which you hold as well to the divine of knowlage" he said hoping that wording he put out to her. Would make her understand that he was now Fate's Champion now.

"Before....the trial, I had thought things over and I figured that Noku was better off leading Nova. Then someone like myself or someone that was placed there that would be.....partial to a particular cause. These things came up to me. Would we be able to win over the hearts of the people? Would we be able to fight off two nations that want retribution? Or at what cost would there be for this? I had no answers what so ever to any of them nor will I ever. I had wanted to extend this thought to the one person I had once considered a friend. But she has lost her self to her madness and vengence" he said speaking to Aria/Alex. "And now that darkness and rot is gone forever as that......no words can express my contempt for that woman" he said and took another sip of his wine.

"Then perhaps with darkness though my own is lightening slightly. But I still need the power to fight the true evils out there as now I have been put on to the game board of the gods. And perhaps I have payed the price with solitute as those around me have left. I am pretty much the only one here aside from the household staff I have heird for my home. And with you though I don't fully trust you. You may not do something to fated general.....but there is a on going thing you have rolling that just unsettles me. As a footpad your nature is lies and trickery to confuse those around you. Plus you seem to know far greater then anyone....combined it just makes you a puppet master. It makes me worried on the people that we both know. That your pulling them in for some grand scheem. Even though it could be for the greater good.....its coming off way to much as something shaddowed and vile. Its going to take something far greater to bridge and get true trust between either of us" he said taking another sip of his wine.

The blond was not a totally psychopathic power hungry monster, at times just miss guided and well hot blooded. And just trying to survive in a very hostile world where there beings that could smite you from the sky. Again there was always something on her that just unsettled him. There was a time that he had trusted her, but the world had given him several revelations that acted as a wake up call that Teair Nova was not a game world like final fantasy.

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Aria’s tail twitched, and then stilled, he had plans for a future project? Hopefully not another king killer….. Really she was becoming quite attached to the idea of Noku being family. ”My mate seems to be into blacksmithing; perhaps you’ll find competition…though for your sake I hope he never catches a glimpse of you using that rail gun. I’ve neglected to mention I had knowledge of who wielded that shot; though personally since I returned it I feel we’re even on that field.” Her expression became puzzled when he mentioned that he was feeling no ill backlash from his master being deemed a traitor. Her eyebrows narrowed; this clearly wasn’t a response she had been expecting. But one that got the wheels turning in her head never the less. ”You’ve had no backlash from the crown at all?” That and a transfer of championship in such a way was not how things operated usually….ironic he was champion of Fate…here she was hoping to settle some grievances not add more. It wasn’t like she was on friendly terms with fate….”You talk about schemes…..Are you aware of the big picture then?”

So far Kail was pretty good so far; not blurting out names. With a little training perhaps he’d be good at picking up the vague game……..then again she had saw that potential in him when they had first met. However abandoned any hopes after her attempt to guide up during their last peaceful talk around a campfire. His thirst for power and the need to be recognized struck a wrong chord with her. She still didn’t have much hope for the path he had been walking, she had expressed so much to Lilith. But for Lilith’s love for her friend, she had kept her concerns to herself. So taking that into consideration she hadn’t been expecting the speech that came from him next. She blinked…struck into stunned silence as he went on. At the end of it all she let out a large breath of relief, he wasn’t after Noku.

”Well I’m glad you’re not after him anymore; he’s not a bad guy. Just….isolated…the voices closest to him have a larger sway then what they would have if he wasn’t.” Her face blanked for a second as he called her a puppet master…..she blinked and just stared. Before bursting out in laughter. ”That was by far one of the best compliments I’ve received. You give me too much credit, not a very good puppet master if my puppets realize it.” Her tail wagged; clearly amused. ”As for trickery and confusion; those are my tools for survival….learning a person’s past can often greatly explain their personality and often give light to motives as well. Mines a bit twisted…As for knowing…at the risk of sounding arrogant it’s because I do. In a sense. I would like to ask how much you’ve figured out so far; but I’m going to give you some credit because you were her apprentice and assume you know enough that would worry the general public.”

She looked at him with a serious expression as she took a sip of her drink. ”I would love to pick your brain more, but this is not the location to do so and I’m highly reluctant to go elsewhere. Pizza is something I would really like to try. But first off; to help you better understand my motives. Back when the hunt for the fated were announced. Were you there? Did you ever wonder why I was captured in the first place. If I’m crafty as you say I am, wouldn’t it have been easy for me to avoid capture?”

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"Oh that thing......its going to be used for lets say bigger threats. I might need to think of different ammo for it. Thank you for reminding me" said Kail as it was his first major weapon he made. Then the look on Aria's face when no retribution came down apon him. "I might be a minor threat to them. Or the other possibility is that I am being saved for being another scapegoat for a scheem. Or the third thing is, that they did not want want to ire me. Since I fought Helena when she brought in her zombie hoard. I had managed to slice off two of her wings while she was distracted. Since a very powerful mage had dispelled the zombie mist. If it was not for that man doing that I would have been more seriously hurt or be able to land that strike on her. We both took a wing and I have it displayed right now at my shop" he explained his reasons as to why retribution was not brought down on him. As well as tell his story of being able to send a goddess packing. He had major help and was greatful on that matter.

"Vaugely my predasessor as champion told me a story of a certain thing that was......the center of all things of this world. I am assuming with every major conflict right now, is going towards this center. Fate and us fated are connected to this. Just from the actions of Helena has taken against us. Again this is conjecture and from what I have seen.I jut don't know what the end is. But whatever it is, its not good either way" Kail said to Aria and would make another point very shortly. "The thing is as to why its a negative thing as to a puppetmaster. You may think that you may not harm your friends or keep them out of it. But eventually you will not be able to keep them out of it. And have to make them puppets so they can avoid your machinations of the bigger con. To the point that eventually you don't care and its everything for your plans" said Kail as he began and was going to begin a slight explanation.

"Let me explain with why I took that shot on you back at that place. I knew that you and Rivers were in some kind of group when he called you boss. Which was a year ago, I think. Next at that camp fire in which you tried to sway me from getting power. It made me question you a lot. Back then I had next to no magic or anything that would allow me to take on a dangerious beast. I had only seeked power to defend myself. Then Severine issuing that statement on having us hunted down and making Claire a scapegoat. You then gave yourself up to settle the masses, yes I was there when you did that, I was in the crowd at that time" he said and gave another sip of his wine as his speaking was drying out his tounge a bit. Plus he had a lot to say on this. "Then later on when Rivers came up to me and started to talk about guilds and what not. It made me add up that you were apart of some kind of...rouge's guild. Later on though Serenity came to our table. At that time, me and Serenity were still rather confused about the world. More so when he asked if we were a item" he said and then sighed.

"At that time, the idea of a relationship I was unsure. So I tried polightly three times for him to back off. So on the last time...and we all know when I go off. Its not pretty....anyway he used it for some kind of test. Which I failed....as he needed people to save Claire, you, and the other Fated. I was on board with it. Now what changed you may ask? While we were trying to knock off the guards. You were protecting these people and partially blocking all of our escapes. My rational mind was not working in the right way. So I took the shot on you so we could get everyone out" he said and then went on. "There was another situation with Rivers that showed how minpulative he was and by extention you" he then went to the bigger thing.

"Now here is the thing, if you had escaped with the rest of us. I would not have shot you. Since that would be a thief's thing to do. Escape during the chaos of that terror. But no you went around trying to save the guardsmen. Then I found out you got placed into a very high rank by the king. So it made me think to some extent, did you and Rivers plan for me to shoot you so you could be in the nobility to do your plans? This is why being a puppetmaster is bad, I would have been a good friend to you. But you did things and situations made me think otherwise. As well saying a puppetmaster is a compliment and saying your view is slightly twisted" he said and then saw a large serving tray with the pizza on it. And it smelled really wonderful as it was set on the table for the two.

"Although on your hand you might think of me as some power hungry paranoid person. Perhaps I am, but coming from a world where something like this is" he said and hung the word out and fromed a ball of water from the water gem on his bracelet. "Unheard of or unearthly and fighting a goddess......I have to grow strong to protect myself and others. This world is brutal and I had to adapt to it. For you it was buisness as usual, for me it was survive or die. Even then I know that even good intentions can pave a road to hell. I am still hot blooded at times I have at least matured somewhat then I was a year ago" Kail said and then saw two smaller plates and cut himself and Aria a slice of the pizza.

"But with everything going on though. We are going to have to work together, I have grivances but there are going to be bigger fish to fry" he said and then poured himself another glass of wine. "Anyway, this is going to blow your mind" he said as the pizza was a basic neopolitan pizza. With cheese, basil, tomato sauce, and a bread like crust.

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”The scapegoat thing is what worries me; Mysteria has served the Norus for hundreds of years; in my time she gave everything to protect the city. Or well gave everything to at least stay in the castle….her being kicked out just doesn’t fit. It means someone other than Severine is pulling strings because Severine’s opinions have been discredited numerous times over now. By the fact you were not included in her punishment means either you have a connection in the castle that I’m unaware of, or you very well might be being saved as a scapegoat. That or there hoping to find Mysteria through you since she’s gone missing” Her eyebrows rose as Kail mentioned his feats; and gave another mage equal credit. He was growing humbler. But the mention of the incident did cause her eyes to glaze over, she returned to look down at her cup. The loss of her child still heavy on her shoulders. If it wasn’t for that siege; her little one would be in her arms at this moment. She took a deep breath and pushed her mind away from the if only’s. ”You’ve grown a lot since we last spoke, protect that wing. That other mage did questionable things with his.”

So he knew about the center; and now was giving her a lecture. She listened patiently until he had said what he needed to say. She did not interrupt him once. When he finished for the most part Aria spoke. ”Rivers betrayed me that day….Rivers is from the same time as myself. I’ve known him since I was sixteen. The reason he called me boss was cause yes, he did use to work for me. I use to own the Bloody Mary; I caught him cheating in my bar and blackmailed him into working for me. An odd sort of friendship grew from there. However I kept him at a distance for years; I needed allies when I came over here. I helped stop the center at a great cost in my time once….I was set not to have to make that kind of sacrifice again. I needed someone who could move large masses of people to safety if it came to it. So I let him in on the secret that I had kept from him for eight years.” She rubbed the bridge of her nose. ”We could have gotten Claire without so much death….Rivers went directly against my orders that day. Just for the sake of making a story a little more flashier. All he needed to do was put a portal a few feet away from the bottom of the whole. Toss some meat in right as she dropped; the beasts would go for that at the same time as she disappeared through the portal. No one would have been the wiser. But no….he had to mass murder so many innocents. Exactly what I’ve been fighting to prevent.”

Aria was still pissed at how things went. ”I’ll protect any innocent life; however the guard I was protecting was one who had helped me when I first came to this time. He gave me clothing, and food, and a friend. He is someone very dear to me. But besides that, that day, Rivers blew up casters sorrow. Being from another planet I don’t expect you to know what that means. If the fires caused by the explosions hit the wrong shards, the whole third district would have been gone and so would everyone in it. The only way to stabilize said crystals was for a strong elemental magic to be used. Basically when you shot me I was using fire magic to stabilize a large amount of casters sorrow to keep everyone from being killed.” Aria slammed her fist on the table still pissed ”That idiot had so little care for life; he brushed it off as me just being pissy that he didn’t go with my plan which he thought wasn’t flashy enough.”

Aria looked back at him. ”I hate the life of a noble; if I could have avoided it I would. I hate wearing shoes, and dresses…and having to behave properly all the time and not saying what’s on my mind. Becoming duchess wasn’t my plan it was Lucindas and Nokus. Lucinda wanted to protect me from Severine so I could have a chance to change the minds of the other nobles about the fated. Noku gave me to Palico to make sure I could not be manipulated by the people of his court. The reason I stayed was because if I ran; after that incident…..Noku would never trust the fated again. The order for them to be hunted would have never been repealed. I stayed to make sure that there would be a place for the fated in the city; so they wouldn’t have to hide all the time. Someone needed to be the political voice….we can not afford war….a mass killing of the fated is exactly what needs to power the center.”

She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. ”So in short; no I did not plan for you to shoot me. In fact I would have very well preferred that you hadn’t since if it wasn’t for that guard acting as he did, I would have died. That and if it wasn’t for Diamond showing up to take over what I was trying to do with the crystals, the third district would have been leveled. Basically what you saw was Rivers having his jollys and me trying to clean up the mess.” She chugged the rest of her drink before continuing. ”I’ve cut all ties off with Rivers because of that incident. His memory I erased…he knows nothing of the center any longer and should never know about it. If he was willing to do what he did during Claire’s execution to get a better story…I have no doubt he’d try to have the center activated. He may have been like family to me; but I do not think those ties are worth the lives of so many”

”When you say that I am a puppet master, and that I can’t prevent my friends from getting involved…your right. But I can certainly place my friends in positions where they will have the best chance of fighting back. I’ve already learned the hard way I cannot protect them; but I can at least give them tools to protect their selves. That is how I operate. I like to see my friends grow and find their way…..as for me being twisted. I fully own that fact. There’s no way I can’t be at this point. She chuckled as he repeated a lesson she already had the learn the hard way. ”Business as usual? My usual is to survive by the skin of my teeth. The reason it seems like business as usual for me is cause I have survived the worst case scenario already; I’d like to prevent it from happening her if I can….however I do agree. I rather be working with you then against you; I really rather not have to hurt Lilith or Serenity by having a grievance with you. Though after talking to you today; I think you’re taking steps in the right direction. You’re now thinking about the consequences of actions. Plus you’re not after my family anymore; which helps greatly. Hopefully I’ve cleared up some of your grievances.”

Her ears perked once more when the plate of food was brought out….that shit looked delicious. Though she would have to wait for it to cool before she dug in. ”Have you figured out what fish you’re looking to fry? I complied a shit ton of accusations against Severine that I brought up during the trail against Roland; so she’s out….by the way did I hear something about a pineapple at the execution?”

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"Honestly with the wing I might as well make it into a weapon. I mean my first feet that actually got my house. I had to take down a juvinile Blackskull Drake. I knew it was a wild animal and it was trying to feed. But it had to be killed, out of a odd sense of honor. I turned its body into various tools and the majority of its hide into armor. I thank myself for doing that. As one of Helena's parting shots she tried to burn me with her acidic blood. I had warn that armor and survived that little love gift" said Kail as he watched Aria a bit as her gaze went down to her cup. It raised an eyebrow slightly with him. As it seemed something happend to her from that event, perhaps she had lost someone dear to her. There had been a lot of death at that time. He had hoped that those souls were treated decently. But then it seemed that after his lengthy speech it seemed that she had her own. There were somethings he knew that went on behind the sceens and had heard that they could have blown up the third district if Diamond had not shown up at all. But there were somethings that did irk him greatly with Rivers. This reafirmed his choice on beating the shit out of that man. For being a utter and total manipulative bastard to everyone around him.

"Cater's Sorrow aka raw mana, I now know of it and how it works. My mistress taught me some things on magic in general. I am slightly ashamed that a total wipe could have happened to the third district. But everything else I am slightly conflicted, as we all were cornered rats. We had to show our fangs, to say that we were not going to roll over and just die for them. Since well Severine had struck first and for the most part had total and utter control of the kingdom. The hunting would have been done either way, even with your basic plan. There would have been a nasty conflict either way. If either of us knew what we do now. I am sure things would have been diffrent" said Kail as he had some slight realist views on the world around him and some people. Severine was one of those cases, no matter what would have happened. She would have started there hunt on them.

"I might have been the original plan to be the political side. Since my mistress had taken me a few days later as her apprentice. But since you ended up where you were at. Things changed and you were made for that point" said Kail as his slice cooled off and he started to dig into it. "I share some same sentaments with you on Rivers. Honestly even with his erased memory, I am sure he had a machination for him to get his memory back. If I ever do see him I am putting one of those spikes in his head. That asshat can go get himself screwed by zepon's man horns. But none the less things are clear" he said and then would try and let that issue drop now since they were both done on this issue. The blond would still take a lot to think over on her. But down to his core there were somethings he could not fully trust with her.

"That brings up the question of the fish. Who would reap the spoils of having both Mysteria, Severine and to a degree Rolland out of there postions? There is one person that would come to mind but I have no proof, its a hunch. But I think it might be Breton. Its always the right hand of any good ruler and he was above everyone I named. Oh and the pineapple?Yes that was me, I hope Helena or Zepon does that to her. I bet it would be rather amusing for those twisted freaks" he said and drank down a large gulp of the wine he was drinking. "But back to my point what are your theories on who would gain from the power vaccume. The only reason I thought it was him. Was that his name was writen on a letter that had originally allowed me in when my mistress was still at her station in the kingdom" he said to Aria. As that man was the only one he could think of.

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“I would save it for a bargaining chip; but that’s me” She smiled; you never know when it could come in handy. She frowned as Kail boasted that he took down a juvenile drake. “While I’m glad you put the poor beasts remains to use; It does unsettle me. Considering I talk to the beasts….I’m raising one right now. Named him Noky; sweet beast he is. To me they are no different than children who can fry you….then again I was a child who could fry people so I guess I just relate. But I do know their habit of being hard to handle and being destructive little cunts... My suggestion is if you need more armor. Head into the tunnels below the city. The ones that Claire would have been thrown into. Those blasts unchained numerous mana corrupted beasts. For magic users hunting them would be a higher risk then those who don’t wield magic. It would be dangerous. But those beasts are beyond saving….it’s like rabies of the magical sort. The armor made of a corrupted beast hide would be useful for one such as yourself…..that is unless things have changed since we were first fated here. To my knowledge you use items of magical properties but do not do the manna wielding yourself? Then again you could have grown since we last met. Either way my suggestion is not to use manna down there; could be explosive.”

”Raw Manna, chaotic manna, same difference. But let me tell you; Severine never had complete control…that control lies with Noku. When he realized what had been done, Severine was severely punished. Commoners just weren’t privy to that lovely display of glorious temper. Truly inspiring really. Severine overstepped her place. She did so again and it proved to be her undoing. Her death was sealed the moment Severine gave Lilith and myself a tea intended to make us barren. Poisoning the kings intended and a foreign noble…big no no. Princess Lucinda demanded her death the moment that was revealed during Rolands trial. As for my basic plan the hunting was already in place….and you have little knowledge regarding my original intentions. Understand this; the plan Rivers put you all up to, caused more harm politically then it did good. It just confirmed to a lot of masses already on the edge that we were dangerous. The prejudice in the city worsened considerably… ”

Aria tilted her head when Kail mentioned Rivers wiped memory. ”I know about that…but how do you know about that? As for his memories there is no going back once they are wiped. Only way is if Saden himself decided to write them back. That or someone told him them detail by detail, and only one other person other than me would be able to do that. Even then it would be confusing to him since other memories have taken their place during those wiped out periods. There should be no gaps that way….As for my feelings on Rivers…I’m deeply hurt by his actions, but at this point he has no memory of them. It would be cruel on our part now to punish him for a crime he doesn’t know he committed. As much as his betrayal hurt, he has been a good friend of mine in the past. I’m hurt and angry at him, but those memories are still intact. My lesson is don’t put him in charge of shit. He’s better off as an observer. As much as we may hate Rivers actions; he still holds a use. You can take my advice or leave it; but try to befriend him. Those portals may be the key to getting these people out if the time ever came to it. Always have a plan b.”

”Severine was a whakadoo she was on her way out, and Roland was incompetent who shrugged off his duty and lacked the knowledge on how to delegate. He is a good solider, a good man, but a bad leader. His position was not suited for him. Melania however is someone I’m concerned about; for someone as old as she is, it’s odd for her to make a mistake large enough to get her hunted. I would like to talk to her; hopefully she can clear up some questions. Breton however….he’s competent and does his job well without misstep. It’s not good to judge based on pre conceived notions; more so when they are in a position of Breton's standing.” They were still in a public area, badmouthing someone in power not the wisest of decisions. ”Breton already has the highest position next to the king; and the positions that Roland, Melania, and Severine's positions would already have been replaced. What would Breton have to gain? Doesn’t make much sense.”