[Thread; Closed]

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

Characters: Rydia, Edge, Kain, and Matoya.
Progress: On-going
Summary: Meeting the seer, then a scuffle.
Location: Matoya's Cave
Date: April, 1804, after departing Guadosalam
Warnings: Violence, just after the meeting

Following Tifa's directions, Rydia eventually landed the Lunar Whale just outside Matoya's Cave. This was the end of the line; if the seer could not give her any insight about her soul, then she won't know where to turn after this. Perhaps her quest would have to be temporarily abandoned for the time being, leaving her free to return to Troia or perhaps look for a mark on which to take out her frustrations. The green-haired summoned hoped otherwise, however. She had invested too much time already in this to see her efforts fail.

After a moment, she stepped away from the navigation crystals and strode toward the exit, slower than when they had landed at Guadosalam. This time, she waited for the pair, a single look to them that any bickering would result in a Toad spell being cast. By this point, she had perfected that look, having grown tired of verbal threats. Hopefully, they could manage to be civil for just a little longer.

Without further ado, Rydia headed for the cave. She slowed down upon reaching its entrance, willing to let Kain and Edge go first. Just in case there were hostile creatures inside, the summoner hung back--ready to do her part, but also aware of her limitations.

Once inside, Rydia blinked, taking a moment to adjust to the light.

"Matoya...?"

Comments

[tidesnpcs.livejournal.com]

The cave stood much as it had for untold years, centuries even. Lit by torch and candlelight, and filled with animated brooms which whisked around the room and mumbling to themselves. No monsters worth remarking, save the ancient woman bent over her seeing eye at the table. It had a layout not unlike a small house, with with a smaller open area which led to the second. Within, nothing to occupy the space but a solitary bed and the table itself.

Without lifting her blind eyes towards her guests, Matoya addressed them, "You came with questions. Ask them."

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

Ah, the blunt approach. Rydia could deal with that. She stepped forward, since the area around them seemed safe enough. There was a brief glance to her companions before she faced Matoya and spoke. "I and one of my companions died in this world, weeks ago. We revived, but have been told by one I trust that a part of our souls is yet missing. Is there any way to regain what was lost?"

There were more questions on her mind, but one thing at a time. She wasn't sure if Kain or Edge had wanted to ask anything either, and so held off for the moment. The summoner bit her lip, trying to be as patient as she could.

[arrogant-flirt.livejournal.com]

Edge couldn't believe Rydia shot him that glare. It wasn't like he had started anything on this trip.

He paused near the entrance to the cave, surprised by the living arrangements seen inside.

It shocked him with the bluntness that Matoya responded. He didn't really have any questions for the seer, but it baffled him of which of Rydia's companions could have died. He hadn't heard of Rosa dying, and Cecil had just arrived. He figured it must have been one of her new friends.

[dragoon-rising.livejournal.com]

Perhaps not this time, but Kain was waiting for something to go wrong between him and Edge. He was managing to keep restrained, himself. Somehow.

Kain kept alert and wary in case Matoya turned out to be hostile- or have some unseen threat hiding in the depths of the cave. He didn't think they had anything to fear, however. When Rydia finished talking, he thought a moment to decide if he had anything to add.

"...And are there any effects to be wary of in the meantime?" Since Rydia had started a great deal of paranoia regarding that.

[tidesnpcs.livejournal.com]

Now this, Matoya could deal with. A small group of people with direct questions, not speaking one on top of the other. Still, they were to find that her blunt approach was only temporary, as her answers were seldom clear. "Who can say? Never before have the dead returned to life, save the intervention of the Fiends, until the arrival of those who do not belong to this world. This must thwart his plans."

Whose plans or what those might be, she left unspoken. Rather, Matoya placed her hands on the ball before her, lapsing into silence. "What you seek is gone. Lost into the depths of the Mist."

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

"Then, there is nothing we can do." Rydia's shoulders slumped a little at that. Not an answer she wanted to hear, though she was grateful for the directness involved. If there was a way to disprove this woman's words, the summoner couldn't think of one. So far, this was the first time they had received anything in the way of answers.

Silence for a moment, as she absorbed that information. Then something Matoya had said echoed and got her curious. "'His plans'? Do you mean Garland, or another?"

[arrogant-flirt.livejournal.com]

Everything was still fairly new to Edge, but at the mention of the search being fruitless he managed a quick glare towards the dragoon.

He placed an arm upon Rydia's shoulders in reassurance before returning his attention back to Matoya with a quiet, "Never before..."

[dragoon-rising.livejournal.com]

Kain folded his arms, his gaze focused on Matoya. His plan was to ignore Edge, for as long as possible... or at least until they were done spealing to Matoya. As for what she'd said... He wasn't too surprised, so her words just confirmed his pessimistic view of the situation. It wasn't like they'd noticed anything unusual, anyway.

"Yes, tell us more about what you mean by that."

[tidesnpcs.livejournal.com]

Either Matoya chose to be vague on purpose or simply enjoyed ignoring the questions at hand for what she decided her visitors needed to know. There were questions, and then there were questions behind questions. The ones that followed deviated from their stated purpose.

"Mist is created by the disruption of the flow of souls back to Gaia, it is stagnant souls not allowed to be at peace. The purpose, to remove all souls from Gaia, to make room for Terra to take over. Garland is the overseer of this process. Five hundred years ago, he attempted to shortcut the process, and failed. His newest failure stands before me."

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

Though not a direct answer, it was informative and Rydia listened with all due respect. Though preferring blunt speech whenever possible, her time with the Eidolons had taught her understanding of less direct forms of communication. Some of them could be terribly cryptic.

She leaned into the arms placed around her shoulders, though her gaze remained fixated on Matoya. "...Kain and I. And then the others who have died...."

The summoner crossed her arms, brow furrowed.

[arrogant-flirt.livejournal.com]

At the mention of the word failure, Edge's eyes immediately shot towards Kain before relaxing only after Rydia's lean turned his attention back to Matoya.

His thoughts drifted to the deaths that had occurred and he blurted out without pausing to think about his comrades, "But will the Mist reclaim those souls?"

While he could handle losing Kain, the thought of Rydia dying before his eyes was not a thought he wished to see possible.

[dragoon-rising.livejournal.com]

"His... failure..."

Kain was aware of Edge glaring at him yet again, and tried very hard to once again ignore it. This wasn't fully possible, however, and he ended up clenching his hands into fists. He was trying hard not to snap while in here, but once they left the cave... Then he would deal with Edge.

Though he had to admit, Edge's question was something he was now wondering, as well.

[tidesnpcs.livejournal.com]

How irritating. Asking a question she'd already provided an answer for. Now Matoya showed her true colors, sighing at the lack of insight amongst others. Her blind eyes lifted from the ball within her hands, and they fixed hard on the men. "Fight here and you will be forever denied entrance. Don't break my brooms either. You have the answers you seek. Now leave."

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

Rydia darted a Look at them both. She wasn't about to let their clashing natures and mutual disdain prevent her from ever seeing Matoya again. Strange as the woman was, her words were useful. Turning back to Matoya, she gave a low nod and backed away. "Thank you for sharing your insight."

She turned and headed back towards the entrance. Once outside, she paused and crossed her arms instead of going to the Lunar Whale. Her frown was for them both. "If Matoya hadn't said something, I would have. I don't care how necessary you thought it was, it could have waited. I just hope that there wasn't more she meant to tell us, that was cut off because of that tension."

[arrogant-flirt.livejournal.com]

Somehow Edge made it out of the cave before Rydia, flipping a dagger as he glared at Kain. He had hoped that Rydia would linger longer to give he and Kain time to settle their spat.

Instead, he found himself dropping his dagger and staring at the ground when Rydia chastised them like little kids.

[dragoon-rising.livejournal.com]

Kain tried to look apologetic toward Matoya, but feared the damage was already done. He knew it was information that he really needed to know, as well, which made it all the worse that he'd let himself be agitated by Edge.

As they left the cave, Kain drew his spear. But unlike Edge, he didn't immediately drop it when Rydia began lecturing them. "She said she gave us all the answers we need. That's good enough for me." Kain turned his gaze to Edge and leveled his spear on him. "...If you want to deal with this, now is as good a time as any."

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

If Rydia was treating them like little kids, in her mind they had done everything to earn it. Perhaps this was bound to happen -the two could only remain near each other for so long without snapping- but that didn't mean she had to endorse their behavior. She glanced to them both, her frown deepening.

"You're serious? Here?" She huffed, crossing her arms. Something told her that trying to stop this would be akin to running up a waterfall. "Do what you want, then, but I'm not healing you." The mercy of Asura or the sylphs could be spared on those who didn't waste their time with stupid rivalries. She began to head past them; no point in giving them fuel for the fire by being an audience.

and just throwing this in because... i can't resist! XD

[dragoon-rising.livejournal.com]

There was a point past which Kain had snapped, and now that he was beyond that, he couldn't stop himself. He'd warned them all time and again about his dark side and now it was surfacing. It wasn't enough to simply fight Edge while in this state of mind. No. He needed to really hit him where it'd get to him.

He lowered his spear and looked to Rydia. "You're right, naturally." As he turned to approach and catch up with her, a sinister smirk crossed his face. It was too easy. He reached to grab at her. "You're entirely right, and Edge should respect you."

...Then he proceeded to lean in and kiss her.

[arrogant-flirt.livejournal.com]

Edge's face turned red with anger, as he pulled out a shuriken, pausing only for Kain's head to rise from Rydia. At the moment of truth he released the weapon aiming straight for the chink in the shoulder armor.

His fury continued to boil as he felt the power within him begin to rise. It didn't surprise him so much that Kain had snapped, only that Rydia had been his intention!

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

To say that Rydia was surprised was an understatement, as well. She expected Kain and Edge to give into their idiotic display and fight each other, not to be used as a pawn in the conflict. Too late did she see Kain's intent, stiffening when his lips met hers.

Her cheeks were thoroughly red when they parted, and for a moment Rydia was speechless. She mentally scrambled for something to say, but time was not on her side. Only when the shuriken flew toward Kain afterward, did she (somewhat) snap out of the shock, automatically stepping away.

[dragoon-rising.livejournal.com]

But Kain expected retaliation, knowing full well how much he was provoking Edge. So as he pulled away from Rydia, he barely missed having that shuriken embedded in his neck, as he dropped into a defensive stance.

"What's the matter, Edge?" He hadn't done so much evil smirking in a long time. "...Jealous?"

This was the side of him that would kidnap and backstab to get his way. And he was more than willing to push Edge right now and use Rydia to do that. Without another word, he sprang from the ground into a Jump... targeting Edge as he soared down.

[arrogant-flirt.livejournal.com]

Edge was getting really ticked off. "Jealous. of you?"

His only surprise was that he was the source of Kain's wrath. He had always believed Cecil would take the full brunt. Still, he wasn't about to back away from this fight. He watched as Kain began to jump. Recognizing that he wasn't going to be able to dodge the attack, he waited until Kain was directly upon him with the lance to let loose a blitz aimed directly at Kain. Hiding any pain from the attack, he grinned as he rolled backwards setting a ready stance.

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

Once the shock wore off, rage replaced it almost instantly. How dare Kain behave that way towards her, just to get at Edge! The ninja himself was barely faring better in her eyes, at the moment. All this stupid, pointless posturing over a mutual, equally pointless hatred. She'd had enough. If they insisted on dragging her into it, they were going to pay the price.

And so, as Edge's Blitz went off, Rydia began to concentrate. She was a fast caster when she needed to be and hoped that timing would work in her favor now. It was time to turn them into toads.

[dragoon-rising.livejournal.com]

Kain had no motive other than pushing Edge, at the moment, and Rydia had just become a means to an end. But let Edge think what he would. He didn't care. He was beyond caring. As he came flying down, right smack into that blitz, Kain felt it was well worth taking some damage in order to harm Edge in the process.

...but then right after that hit him, something else slammed into him, and he felt the world suddenly shifting around him as his form shrank to a very angry toad.

[arrogant-flirt.livejournal.com]

Edge was so angry that it took a moment to recognize that he had been turned into a toad. In the time it took for him to learn of the dastardly deed, he had already hopped forward and attacked Kain one more time.

Once he realized he had become a toad, he was angry... angry that a toad was not strong enough to hurt Kain.

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

Rydia glared down at them both, fists clenched. "I'm sick of both of you. There was no reason for any of that! I--no, I don't want to talk at either of you right now, but don't think this is over."

The summoner reached down and picked them up, one by one, despite any struggling. In they went to the shoulder bag, different compartments. She didn't look to see which. After that, she stalked over to the Lunar Whale, mentally promising that they would not be turned for at least a few days.