Scene #3091: Roses Lillies and the Deep Dark

Owner	Pose
Faruja	Faruja Senra has called Kyra Hyral, and by extension, Nero Augustus, to Burmecia. As seems to be par for the course for the rodent, there's few details other than 'suspected Heresy' and 'be prepared'. Inquisitors are annoying like that. The rodent gives the location of a bar in Burmecia, in what was once the poor section of town. Right across the street from his home, in fact. Faruja can be a sentimental person, and it's close to their target anyway. Burmecia is a study in contrasts and the effects of war: beautiful arches, aqueducts, statues, and all manner of engravings on walls show what was once a culture dedicated to martial prowess and every form of artistic outlet that exists. With the success of the crusade to reclaim it, the shattered arches are being rebuilt day and night as the rain ceaselessly pours, humanity and nezumi work together to forge a new dawn, and despite tensions, there's the air of hope. A beautiful city shattered by invaders, and its inhabitents once more laying claim to their own lands. Though now the nezumi occupying it are outnumbered by their human allies, every shop owner, every soldier, every stone-worker has a shared look: hope to rebuild, and make their city even grander and more proud than before. The ramshackle bar, patched together from some old cobbler's abode, is no less driven by artistry. The few patrons are either soldiers, or those few nezumi that stuck out the war and hid away. Rough-hewn faces are the norm, but they're as proud as any other person here, and welcome the duo with raises of glasses and smiles and greetings. They're led to a room in the back, where Faruja sits at a chair with a smile. "Lords blessings ye two! Good of ye to come! Right, ye both know me by now, so let us get down to business. There hath been reports of problems with the water as of late: people growing sick from drinking from the various wells. Not entirely odd, given the state of our aqueducts, but something felt bloody off. Too many cases, and when I had a Union science team inspect the source and filtration, all fine and well. But what they did find was magical residue." He holds up a vial to Kyra. To a White Mage, it'd feel quite a bit like a Poison spell, and a rather nasty one at that. "Bluntly put, I suspect we art being poisoned by magic. A few nights of a tight guard, and nothing. So I may only conclude 'tis a result of some kind of ritual." He pulls out a folder, offering it to the two. There's pictures of women in white-mage robes in a small Church. The duo in fact might have passed it on the way to the bar. "Enter the Order of Ajora's Eternal Grace. An Order, by the way, which is not listed in the Church's archives. Now, I had an Acolyte of mine, Sister Annita, pay a lovely visit to them. She never returned." Faruja's smile turns feral, and angry. "Certainly ye two see where I am going with this. Shouldst ye both accept, we shall be paying the Order a visit, and discussing these...discrepencies and finding out if these two things are related." His hands spread. "Well? Feel up to it, my dear Ladies?"
Kyra Hyral	Though she's not sure what 'suspected hersey' could have to do with her (other than her sordid excommunication in Galiandia), she does at least trust Faruja and knew Faruja was aware of her skillset. If she herself was being called in, there was likely something of medical expertise she could contribute to. White magic was a discipline this world was already familiar with so her presence here could not be to share in her skills for that. Burmecia, quite franktly, is a little depressing to Kyra. The poor part of town, or what was left of it, was an illustration of a recovering city that had lost its former glory and struggled to reclaim it. Given her own privleged background, Kyra felt more than a little out of place. Despite that, she strolls over to the table set out by Faruja, slipping into a seat immediately, no doubt followed by Saber. "Magical residue, you say?" Her green eyes flick to the vial, which she reaches out and takes. "This is poison." she says the moment it's in her hand. "This is a very potent poison and you are right, it is magical nature. I don't suppose a casting of esuna's had any effect on it or anyone who has consumed tainted water, has it? Though if it is a ritual, a dispell might work more effectively. But I doubt you have the resources to post white mages at every water source for continual dispells." Kyra takes the folder and lays it out on the table so both she and Saber can look at it. Kyra steeples her fingers as Faruja explains what happened to the last person sent to investigate. "Hmm. I see. Most certainly we're going to accept, aren't we Saber? The experience is going to be valuable, I'm sure."
Nero	Saber was not pleased with this. It was raining like a madman! Unconceivable! How ill fitting for one of her grand stature! And so, she accompanied Kyra through the city in spirit form. Why bother getting her glorious garments wet? Nonsense! Eventually, they arrived at their destination. At that point, Saber saw fit to become corporeal again, hopefully not surprising anyone too much. But then, she hardly minded. They were led into another room and sat down before Faruja, whose voice she came to recognize from radio conversation. "Dispicable. Using such underhanded means." The Servant muttered, crossing her arms as her Master went over the files. "There is no beauty in poisoning a populace over time!" Saber threw out an arm at that point, with great flourish. "Face your enemy head on, and with great grace! That is the only way to engage in combat! Anything less will not, can not be permitted!" Without even looking over the information present, the blonde Servant smirked and nodded. "Mm! Very good, Praetor! We will certainly crush those who deign to lower themelves to using such cowardly tactics! Let us become like a force of nature, doling out swift justice!" Suppose she agreed.
Faruja	If the denizens of the city recognize the class divide right now, it's something that's very low on their priority list. The presence of a healer in a city in sore need of such services is a Faram-send, and Kyra is eyed with wary-but-welcoming looks. "Oh, both hath been effective in treating the symptoms. But come back two days later? Again ye see the signs, and the cycle repeats, as if clockwork. Now, I am no white mage, but from my readings this would indicate some form of magical runoff. And there is nay nezumi more interested in the health of the denizens of this city than myself, however, ye art quite right. We possess few persons of your skills Lady Hyral...and Faram love ye, if we all survive and ye wish to linger a few days to help the injured and diseased, then ye hath mine blessings! But I fear something far more sinister is at work." He frowns. "Annita said she was claimed by nightmares. The same for myself not a fortnight after she went missing." His voice is low, his authority and anger gone to pure humanoid terror. "That is why I need ye two. Dear Lord, but I fear some foul ritual is being held in this ruined city, and with our stretched resources 'tis the three of us that must rip it out." He slumps back in his chair, simply smiling to Kyra as she accepts. He crosses his chest, and bows to the woman, then peers his eyes to Saber. Faruja can't helpt but notice how similar Red Saber looks to a certain Artorias. His single eye squints for a moment. And then she speaks. Less similar than first impression implies. "'Tis bloody cowardice is what it is! Whether they intend the poisoning or nay! Only godless heathens enact such scemes, and 'tis our duty to uproot it, mine dear agents of the Inquisition!" Rejoice, oh Nero, you now have actual authority here. Her theatrics aren't helping Faruja's own tendencies. "And to think, after I so kindly knocked upon their doors with my servant!" Faruja stands, bows most gracefully at Nero's sweeping of hands, and then leads the way. He even offers umbrellas to the two women like a proper gentleman. No fear of being drenched now. ~Ten Minutes of Walking Later~ The trio stand before the small Church, with it's doors unkempt and rotting from the rain. Faruja scowls. "Swift indeed." There's a strange sense of magic from behind the door. And yet, there's utter silence. By this time of day, Mass should be in full swing. There's foreboding in the air, mixing with the rain. Faruja taps his staff to the right door, and motions Saber to the left. "Letting a Church go to rot? Fah! Time for pleasantries art at an end! Kindly make us a proper entrance, Your Radiance?" And then he speaks a spell, and the right door is ripped apart by gravitic magics, and the Burmecian walks forward confidently with his voice raised high. "INQUISITION! Surrender thyselves or be put to the torch!" The small Church, with its pews and leaky roof, is utterly empty. Faruja sighs. "Well. Nay grand entrances for us. Right! Lady Hyral? To the source of what lay beyond!" Kyra, for her part, would feel that same poisonous effect, only magnified one hundred fold. Just beside the altar with its bent cross, there's an opened hatch, carelessly thrown forth. "Shall we?" Comes the rat, his eye growing wide as his fur stands on end. Anyone magically sensitive, even a Servant, might catch the feel of wrongness, and something wishing to /emerge/ from elsewhere.
Faruja	The opened hatch leads the trio down a crude earthworked tunnel. It ends in ancient stonework, and into something grand: a shrine of stone, depicting a woman of great size and beauty upon rocks shaped by flowing water. The horrid feeling eminates from within. There's chanting in the air behind the double doors that lead within the shrine, and Faruja peers in shock and horror. "Dear Lord in Heaven, this is a shrine to an Esper! And Lady Annita is a..." The chanting reaches a climax. "INSIDE THAT SHRINE, NOW! DO WHAT YE MUST!" Howls the Inquisitor, looking to the Servant. After White Mages and Servants have made new openings, the group is treated to a sight: a black ball of magical energy floating above a woman tied to an upside down Ajoran cross in front of a statue to the same woman depicted in the shrine. This is no Poison spell. It's a Summoning one, inflicted by twelve mages standing in circles, and with four horned creatures standing guard. They smell of corruption to the sensitive, and Faruja immediately wretches. The woman is garbed in Inquisitorial robes, much like Faruja, blood running from her eyes. "Kill...the mages!" Coughs Faruja, as he points his staff, and one of the mages is seized in the air, being bent backwards by his spell.
Nero	The trip to the church was not a long one. Saber followed Faruja's lead and took her place at the left door. A moment. And then the right door is ripped apart. Saber follows and a flash of flame bursts through the right door. "We have come to exact justice! In the name of grace and beauty!" Wait what? But the church was empty. "Ridiculous." All of that setup and no one to witness it! But she could easily feel something amiss here. Their target was definitely here. It soon became clear when they found an opened hatch nearby. Well, that would certainly do the trick. Saber lowered Aestus Estus and stepped forward. "After me, Praetor." She instructed, following Faruja into the crude tunnel. Definitely not something that should be under a church. The stone tunnel, leading to a strange shrine was fit for a cult. And apparently a cult it was. That certainly did not help to alleviate the horrible feeling permeating about. They find several mages chanting an ominous scripture. Saber narrows her eyes. "Such ill omens cannot be allowed to persist!" Eyeing the group of mages, Saber held Aestus Estus back, gathering Prana into her blade. The flames it was cloaked in intensified and she frowns. "Your end has come!" And she swung, sending out a furious jet of flame for the horned guards present. "Rejoice that it was me who has deigned to engage you! There is no greater honor for cowards such as yourself!"
Kyra Hyral	It hadn't been long before Kyra realized Servants were capable of going into 'stealth mode' and disappearing from visible site. This was very well illustrated when Saber decided to watch classes in spirit mode while Kyra was attending them. Of course, because of that Kyra did end up loooking like a crazy person to her classmates. But at the very least, if Saber wasn't happy about the rain, at least she's also happy about the poisoning attempts. At least Kyra could count on Saber tonight! "Agents of the Inquisition..." Kyra repeats with a slight bit of dismay, though not too much that Faruja would notice. "How terrible. Clearly this cannot persist." she does mean the offshoot-church, right? The feeling hits her immediately when she enters the tiny church. She doesn't linger much, drawn to the altar, drawn to the hatch that is opened. "Yes, Faruja. Let's. It's down there, no doubt, I can feel the same poison as you had in your sample." She climbs down, the tunnel blow lit from one of her flashlights seconds later. "A shrine to an Esper? As in a psychic or..?" She immediately springs after the chanting. That was usually a bad sign, especially where cultists are concerned. Case in point, it looks like they have a human sacrifice set up of the poor woman that went missing earlier. Calmly, Kyra steps aside as Saber moves forward. She's confident that the Servant can take out /all/ of these Cultists and the horned...monsters (?). But nonetheless, Kyra withdraws her gun-one of the real guns and not a dart gun-so she can start taking out some of the mages from afar until the guards move to shield them from her bullets.
Faruja	One of the mages is quick to react. There's a burst of flame sent Faruja's way, and while the Inquisitor manages to teleport out of the way, his concentration is broken. The mage in his grasp falls limp, the nezumi off-footed. The quartet of guards roar in unheavenly voices that send the holy rat of the group to hands and knees, thankfully voided of his last meal. Still, he's truly on his last, and there won't be much from him. His hand reaches forth, and as the ritual's power reaches a zenith, the Summoner vies with the power gathered. Wounds appear on Faruja as he directly intervenes in the summoning. "Oh Holy Esper, I beg ye cease thine fury! Lend ye naught spirit to these Fell Voices! Take thine wrath upon me!" And then his body is rent with further wounds, the black ball of magic destroyed, and Faruja writhing. It seems he's taken the ritual upon himself. Kyra and Nero will have to keep him alive and end it all. Nero's flame-strike washes away the demonic guards, falling to the August Flame of Rome. The demons howl! 'Curse ye ruler!' 'Die in fire!' 'To the Abyss!' The way is cleared. Kyra draws her true gun, and more than half of the wretches die by her shots! At the end of dull crumps of gunfire lets but a trio of mages. Annita falls unconscious here, and the power in the room dissiapates. "...They follow the same names as those that make up thine lands, Lady Hyral." He offers, barely conscious. Faruja shouts. "...I shall hold back the Summoning of the corrupted Esper! Finish them off, Praetor Hyral!" Seems the name has stuck. There's two mages apiece, full if ice and thunder respectively, for Nero and Kyra to end.
Kyra Hyral	"Faruja!" Kyra calls out alarmed. "What are you doing? Don't-" She wouldn't recommend anyone to take that corruption in, especially given what she's see absorbting corruption has done to her BESTEST FRIEND EVER!!1. She was still smarting from that ice spear, in fact. Though laying down some cover fire for herself as she moves, it's not exactly well aimed and more meant to intimidate the remaining two mages coming at her. The primary purpose is to buy her time to get over to Faruja. "Saber! End these miserable cultist bastards!" she calls out, doubtful that Red Saber needed the encouragement to put down the remaining cultists. Given what she's seen recently, Kyra's confident that Saber can dispatch even these superior numbers with ease. Instead, Kyra moves to Faruja, quickly placing a cure spell on the ratling. A hand reaches out and grasps his firmly. "Stay with me, Faruja, we're almost there." she encourages, frowning as corrupted versions of her 'continents' are mentioned. Granted, it isn't quite the same, but the scale is still similar and still enough to draw a hiss of anger from Kyra. "Ramuh! They are trying to summon a corrupted Ramuh, aren't they? We'll they're not going to have it!" she squeezes Faruja's hand a little harder and channels more healing energy into him.
Nero	Saber's attention was entirely on the battle. She was aware that Faruja was doing something patently Stupid(tm). But she'd let Kyra handle it. The Servant stood in front of Kyra and Faruja, taking a stance. "Yes, Praetor! I shall deal with these fiends myself!" Aestus Estus was raised to the air, amid ice and lightning magic. Some struck her, but she did not mind. Not for now anyway. Servants were resilient. She'd survive. Plus, she could not move and endanger her Master and Faruja! The demonic sword was lowered, and Saber turned the blade, as if turning a key. There was a sound not unlike a door unlocking, and the blade exploded into a furious spiral of flame. Now prepared, the Servant resumed her stance. "Laus Saint Claudius!" Once there was a lul in the magical assault, Saber struck. Similar to her battle against Avenger, the slash happened in an instant. One moment, she was there, the next, she was gone. Behind the group of mages, Saber stood poised in post slashing posture. A moment of silence, and then a glorious explosion of flame and rose petals followed, enveloping the unfortunate mages in sheer magical might.
Faruja	And yet, the Inquisitor sees fit to do so. He's smirking at Kyra, in a world of pain, and only her spells keep him conscious. He'd thought he would need a competent healer, but in no way this much! The cultists shrink back at the fire from Kyra, the quartet of remaining creatures at her mercy! No, the White Mage offers the Summoner exactly what he needs. That hand is taken, tightly, and squeezed in turn. "R...right...oh God!" There's coughs filled with blood, as Kyra offers her healing magics. The corruption rips into his body and soul, seeking that which the Cancer Stone already wounded. But Kyra and Nero are there. "Something like that!" Gasps Faruja, trying to show calm and confidence, and utterly failing in the pool of blood he's found himself in, boneless and useless. But her words catch him. "Faram right they shan't corrupt an Accolyte and Esper in the same night! Dame Saber! Dame Hyral! Teach these HERETICS a lesson!" He howls, in pain and rage, and then the power of Kyra's flowing magical healing that keeps him alive. Without her, his veins and spirit both would have emptied in turn. Valiant Saber of Red takes up her blade, and with the speed of her Class, she lashes out with flame and fury! The mortal mages, offering ice and lightning, crash upon her magical resistance with nary an open wound. Their voices howl with triumph to the demons below and the corrupted Esper drawn forth with the poor Acolyte's being. The cleansing flame of Saber's demon blade rushes through spell and cultist alike, rending both in twain, as fire and roses light the air. The falling petals end upon the quartet of survivors: Acolyte Annita, Faruja, Kyra, and Saber herself. Very, very slowly, Faruja manages to shove himself towards the Acolyte as the last of the cultists fall dead. He ends an inch forward. "...Your Radiance...Dame Kyral? Kindly untie my Acolyte and bind her wounds?" He sounds more concerned for her than himself. "And after that pray drag me back to the tavern. Ow." Thunk. Faruja is out cold. The Summoning ritual is ended, and the Shrine made safe. Discretely, Templariate knights will guard the small Church, and more importantly it's tunnel to the holy shrine. Both Kyra and Nero, at the end, will find themselves inexplicably considered heroes in the city of Burmecian, even if the pair aren't exactly tied to a singular incident. Kyra might smell Faruja's influence at this point.
Kyra Hyral	"C'mon, stay with me." Kyra continues to murmur, not unlike a doctor executing a difficult surgery. Saber was right with her earlier assessment though. The draw of the Servant does not eclipse Kyra's vast reserves of mana. She has more than enough to supply her with the power needed to attack while still being able to provide healing spells to the Inquisitor. With a sigh of relief after the last cultist is executed, she finally releases Faruja's hand. Confident that he will not drop dead, she moves to heal the poor Acolyte of her wounds shortly afterwards. Although earlier she has hinted her magic isn't the most stable, today it seems to be functioning perfectly well. Faruja collapsing shortly afterwards draws a sigh. "He certainly overdid it. Anyway, that was fantastic, Saber. Everything I could have hoped for."
Nero	Saber relaxed her post swing stance once it was all over, Aestus Estus dissipating into plumes of flame. And then she brushed a lock of her own hair aside. "Hmph! As to be expected! I am a peerless swordsman after all!" There was no such thing as a bad time to compliment oneself. Not for Saber anyway. She smiled and turned, approaching her Master. "Very good, Praetor. Let us continue to work together efficiently in this manner!" Faruja is given a glance after. "...He has heart, but his endurance is sorely lacking if he has fallen from just this." She sighed and shook her head before kneeling down to lift the rat up and carry him off. "Be grateful, Sir Senra. For a magnificent existence such as I has seen fit to assist you in such a mundane manner!" Not that Faruja was conscious to respond.