Northern Mountains [Side Event/Jahangir/Ariella/Diego/Yakuroro]

Yakuroro spoke to Ariella as the child began to collapse to a sitting position, seemingly staring off in space. The Blue Magician spoke to Ariella. Halfway through his response to Ariella's remark the child began to stir once more. Though the voice of the child did not change, the tone set behind it seemed to have matured to an incredible degree when he spoke. "Brother, you and your friends should calm yourselves. I apologize for my outbreak earlier... I have been fighting to keep a dark Djinn from taking over our body, alongside the young boy...." He stopped speaking, and a confused look passed his face. "I... I can't remember a thing. My memories... All I have are that of the boy's..." He looked back up to Yakuroro. A flash of recognition crossed his face as he continued to speak, albeit slowly. "Marax... I know your name..."

The artifact that had given a feeling of serenity and peacefulness pulsated, and Sallos looked to it shaking his head. "The child had to stay awake for quite some time... Months. I did all I could to sustain his body and mind... This orb. What is it? It has put the dark Djinn to sleep." It seemed that all hostility towards Yakuroro had left, and its words jumped from one place to the next.

It was a relief when the warmth dulling Yakuroro's senses faded and his consciousness laid eyes upon a subdued boy staring blankly. His attention turned to the floating orb which was the cause of the mutual pacification and immediately found it to be suspect as such. Sadly, a verbal bombardment assaulted the Imuchakk as he woke from the orb's trance. It was like being stirred from a slumber to be chastised. The experience was unpleasant, but it had it's use. Ariella's outburst served to help Yaku's mind become present with each insulting word. Feeling a profound comfort now that the boy no longer seemed on the verge of going berserk, Yakuroro found himself with an opportunity to respond to the woman's troubles.

"Your emotion's are well meaning, but naevity shrouds your judgement. I understand this power well enough to know that had I not acted all of us could have been killed. Including you. You may be willing to gamble Diego's life on this boy. But I am not."

Yakuroro said in a sober tone. There was more he could have said to the woman such as pointing out that he had tried words first, but as he spoke to her the djinn clad magician noticed that the boy showed signs of stirring. Yakuroro immediately tensed up and prepared himself for another violent episode only to find a much more different kind of reaction. "Brother?" Yaku muttered to himself as he listened to the boy speak as though he were a different person entirely. The Imuchakk remained silent and took in what the boy was saying. The words suggested a hard to believe reality, but somehow the situation demanded faith in what the child was saying. There was a dark djinn inside of the boy. The source of his black rukh no doubt. But if there was a dark djinn and a boy, then what was speaking to them now?

The boy paused and Yakuroro saw his chance to ask but faltered when the boy showed confusion and revealed that his memories were not whole. Hearing the name of his own djinn spoken and remembering the way the boy referred to Yakuroro as kin allowed Yakuroro to reach a hypothesis. Yakuroro now spoke to the mind of a djinn if his guess was right, although how such a thing were possible was beyond him at the moment. A mischievous look came over the six floating eyes as they narrowed with internal glee. The boy...djinn...or whatever it was, had mistaken Yakuroro for Marax himself. Temptation to take advantage of this burned strongly through Yakuroro but another pulsation from the orb served to pacify his deceitful plans.

There was much Yakuroro could have said, but the boy posed a question which he could not answer. For now, Yaku kept his silence so Ariella could perhaps offer an answer as the orb had been in her possession after all.

Magoi: 270/300

Spoiler:

Ariella growled and shook her head at Yakuroro's words.

"Black ruhk is not inherently bad and can be pacified or purified. You sought to sacrifice a boy out of ignorance."

When the boy started speaking with a totally different demeanor and cadence, she frowned and looked at him, her head cocking to the side. His thoughts seemed... broken, disjointed. When he asked about the orb, she gave a sheepish grin.

"Honestly? I am not entirely sure. I found it in a cave... or rather, it found me. It floated up out of a crevasse into my hands and when I touched it, all around, plants and flowers bloomed and everything felt... peaceful, serene. Everything around became so tranquil, I fell asleep. When I awoke, the orb was still with me, but it has not activated since that day, until we were transported up here from the dungeon."

She turned to Yaku, waving a hand idly at him.

"He also carries one, but it seems to be a map, more than anything. Mine reacts to his, but I do not know of their origin or purpose. I am sorry I do not have more information for you... what is your name?"

The child frowned, confused. "Sillas. No.. Sollas? No... Sallos..?" He looked up at Ariella, his brows furrowed as he desperately attempted to recall his name. "I think... Sallos." After he spoke the name he decided upon, the demi-Djinn child took a step closer to the artifact and looked upon its surface. The Alma Toran language written across the circumference of the orb seemed to ignite memories, and the child took a deep breath before holding it for a moment.

As if seeing something more than just the writing on the orb itself, Sallos' eyes continually shifted from left to right and back to left. It began to slow down and the child let out a breath of relaxation. "This... This is an artifact, one of six. All of them together are able to remove impurities and cleanse a person of black Rukh..." He frowned, thinking for a moment before looking to Yakuroro, Jahangir, Diego and Ariella, in turn. "I... I think this could be used to separate the three of us from each other. Or at least remove the dark Djinn. Would you all... Would you all be willing to help us? To find the remaining four artifacts, and bring them here?" The look in the child's eyes seemed to suggest that it believed the answer would be 'no'; there was little to no expectations that held the demi-Djinn's hopes high.

Ariella's retort further solidified the appearance of a delusional woman overcome with emotion in the eyes of the Imuchakk King Candidate. It was oddly accurate that she picked up on his distaste for the black rukh, but it was wrong of her to believe that it was the primary motivator behind his actions. The "power" to which Yakuroro had referred was the one that had littered this very prison with holes and reduced much of Heliohapt to hollowed out remnants. Were she to simply look around and gaze past her heart for but a moment, it wasn't hard to see that this demi-djinn could erase them all in a flash. But it would do no one present any good to waste time trying to correct Ariella or to educate out of her own ignorance. Instead, Yakuroro observed as Sallos began to reclaim his memories and revealed further information about the artifacts Gremory had mentioned not so long ago. The vertical eyes of Yakuroro's Djinn Equip seemed to reflect a smiling expression as the Imuchakk became aware of the great boon he had been holding within his possession all this time. The very tool needed to expel the black rukh from the world was already within his hands. Or at the very least, the map he needed to find all the pieces.

At the mention of his own orb Yakuroro moved to retrieve it from his sleeves and realized that while Djinn Equipped his armor made such action impossible. With the threat passed and no reason to maintain his form, Yakuroro released the shroud of magoi fueling his Djinn Equip and the armor glowed with a bright light that faded as quickly as it had shone.

"I found mine in a Torran ruin north west of Remano."

The magician stated as he revealed the orb and fed it just enough magoi for the map to display. "I assume that the lights it shows are the other artifacts. If what you say is true and it can exorcise the corruption of black rukh, then I shall accept this task." He then peered at Ariella from the corner of his eye and spoke passively having already put her irrational behavior behind him, "I doubt it could be easily accomplished by myself however. The more help, the better." He was of the mind that if the orb had found its way to Ariella then despite whatever questionable actions she had shown, fate had plans for her. Rather than waste energy trying to steal her orb it would be better if he could enlist her assistance in finding the rest.

Regardless of how the others would answer the mission requested of them, Yakuroro would turn his attention to Sallos. "Don't expect that I would do this for free though. WHEN the artifacts are gathered and you are freed from perversion trapped within your body, I expect you to tell me everything you know about the secrets of Torran and how to use the artifacts to purge others."

Ariella looked from her orb to Yakuroro's after he released his form and then back to the boy. When Yakuroro made his demand of the being inside of the boy, she gave a large sigh, her voice calm as she looked around at the destruction the boy had managed to inflict.

"I will leave this orb with you, to help suppress the darkness inside. Black rukh may not inherently be bad, but that level of manifestation... I am impressed you have kept the boy surviving this long."

She would turn a sharp eye to Yakuroro, her tone curious, if a bit scolding.

"Are you implying you would allow this being and the boy to suffer if he refuses to give you more knowledge? Knowing what the other creature inside of him is capable of?"

She pinched the bridge of her nose, shaking her head slightly. Taking another deep breath, she gazed up at the map Yakuroro held up, noting one of the dots was outside of Magnostadt, in the Plains.

"I am willing to help, if I can. I may have to soon go to my home country, Magnostadt. It appears there may be another orb there."

Turning her attention back to Yakuroro, she arched a brow.

"Would you be willing to seek the orb in Heliohapt?"

She tried her best to hide her irritation with the Imuchakk, his demand for answers from everyone like it was owed to him made her want to shake sense into him. He was so singularly focused on his own desire for information that it made him seem to forget how to have courtesy or any type of consideration for those around him. She wondered what Azix had seen in the giant to leave the Workforce Initiative in his hands while she managed the Grumptoes, but perhaps she was simply seeing a stressed side of the Imuchakk. People often acted poorly while anxious or under duress. She would trust Azix' judgement that the Imuchakk was capable of more than simply demanding answers for his curiosity.

She turned to look at Diego, offering to boy-beast a gentle smile.

"What say you, Diego? Will you join this quest to help this... boy... being... Sallos?"

She would then look at Jahan with an arched brow.

"And you, impulsive, but good-hearted Jahan? Perhaps this journey will help you obtain more strength and knowledge... are you up for that challenge?"

While Ariella and Yakuroro bickered over the child, Sallos began to rouse. At the mention of black Rukh, Diego briefly wondered if it had anything to do with Purple Rukhies, before his attention was drawn back to the child. The Fanatiga listened as Sallos spoke, noticing a difference in his manner of speech. It was soon revealed that the voice speaking was a different entity other than the child, which happened to host a dark-djinn as well.

Diego was fascinated to learn the orb that each of the two magicians possessed were part of a set of six. When Sallos asked if they would help, Yakuroro was up to the task, but of course demanded knowledge. The Imuchakk seemed to think that the child had information about Torran, something Diego wasn't familiar with. He was curious to learn what a Torran was and why Yaku was interested in it, so Diego nodded when Ariella asked if he would join.

A thought suddenly struck him and he glanced towards Yakuroro. Diego hoped gathering the orbs wouldn't take too long, the Fanalis couldn't afford to have Jagang slip away again. He didn't think he could bear to have the weight of another disaster like the slave auction on his shoulders. Diego also needed to get stronger before he could stand a chance at getting revenge.

Sallos looked at Yakuroro and cocked his head to the side. The demi-Djinn looked at him with an inquisitive curiosity, but said nothing to his requirement of knowledge in return for his assistance. Ariella spoke next, and he looked towards her with surprise, relief, and perhaps a bit of happiness. "Thank you. For leaving the orb behind, and offering your assistance." The demi-Djinn turned his head back over to Yakuroro. "I will tell you what I can, but I do not even know if it will be successful..." He silently listened to the group continue to speak as he sat down. He, too, seemed exhausted. His balance wavered before he fell back, out for the count.

It seemed that the group would have to determine what would be best to do from here on out, without any further nudging from the child.

OOC:

You may choose to make your exit posts now.

Yakuroro smiled through the disappointment that the demi-djinn didn't seem to know much and nodded towards his thanks. The same deceptive smile braved through Ariella's judgement over Yakuroro's choice to leverage an advantageous situation. The Imuchakk had his reasons and if they made him seem unreasonable then that was an acceptable risk. The fate of the world was at stake as well as the countless lives across the nations. Now was not the time to let an emotional woman plant doubts. Yakuroro simply smiled wider at her question speaking aloud to play the role she had projected upon him. "Yes, I would." Crossing his arms together, Yakuroro turned away from Sallos and began walking towards Diego.

When Ariella asked if the Imuchakk could take the artifact in Heliohapt, Yakuroro waved and agreed despite having no intentions of going there himself any time soon. "You can leave it to me...Come on Diego, we had best start down the mountain now while we still have day light." The large Imuchakk then stopped by Diego's side and reached down placing a big hand upon his feline shoulder. During a brief pause in movement, Yakuroro would whisper to the fanatiger. "I'll explain in private." What exactly he would explain was unclear, but Yakuroro had shown Diego his djinn equip and witnessed a seemingly sinister act from the magician. Yakuroro was sure the youth had question.

Yakuroro left the prison alongside Diego after reuniting with Akatetsu and the treasure filled carpet.

Diego looked at the passed-out child before turning to Yakuroro, finally deciding to speak up. "I don't think you're going to get anymore answers out of him in this state. We should get to work on finding those orbs, but first, I'd like to ask you a favor. I'll be waiting outside."

With a click of his tongue, Diego signaled for Trixie and Zanzibar to follow him as he headed to get some fresh air. Along the way, the Imuchakk caught up with the Fanatiga and wrapped an arm around his shoulder, offering to explain once they were away. Diego nodded and left the prison with his friend, but not before waving good-bye to Ariella.

After they were some distance away, Diego explained what he had been doing before he had gotten distracted by the dungeon. He revealed how he had found Ella at a brothel, rescued her only to be saved with Ariella's assistance, and then offered to help the yellow magician watch over a small town. From there, he explained how he had agreed not only to find Ella a place to stay, but because Jagang was rumored to be nearby. As he spoke of the battle with the zombies, Diego shuddered, remembering the infant baby's head flying away as it was decapitated. He finished his story with how he had battle the magician Juniper and nearly lost his arm.  "Anyway, I was hoping you would go visit that town with me and see if we can find any clues."

Ariella sighed at the answer from the Imuchakk man, shivering in the cold as he and Diego left. She made sure to leave the orb with the child before heading out into the blistering wind. She grumbled as she watched the two men take off on a flying carpet, they could have at least offered her a ride. Shaking her head, she made her way down the side of the icy expanse, teeth chattering as she walked. At least she had managed to complete a dungeon without dying, so that was something.

Her hand raised to touch the necklace the Djinn had given her, opening it and smiling to find Azix showing through the locket back to her. Maybe thoughts of the light magician would keep her warm on her hike down the forsaken mountain.

[exit]