+Duty: Ezzo Rescue

It has been quite some time since the Apocalypse, and yet the boats first organized to go to Ezzo are still running. The number of refugees, both Lander and Adventurer, likely numbered in the hundreds of thousands in those early days. However, far fewer still remain. It seems that rescue efforts may, at last, be nearing some measure of completion.

That doesn't mean that the job is over, just yet. Adventurers are still needed to brave the seas in order to make those last, perilous journeys to the shores of Ezzo, bringing back the last of those still trapped there.

A boat is anchored in Carmina Gadelica Marina, hiring on all who will come for the voyage. Food and supplies are being loaded aboard by the ship's crew, while the first mate seems to be trying to gather Adventurers.

Kita is among those who have decided to come on this journey, having been rescued by one such voyage, herself. It seemed right to return the favor. The black mage a bit quiet, watching the seas from a place at the far edge of the deck. Most people seem to be giving her space, her tail flicking behind her.

Goldenblade is here and has signed up to help with the relief effort. She's all about helping out, she likes to be involved with things, and helping people is partly in thanks for the help she received in the beginning of the game. She will come aboard with a crate of supplies on her shoulder, stack it away where the other loaders are stacking crates, and she'll stand aside with the folks travelling over, standing by with the first mate. She'll nod to him, give the very short version of her name, "Goldenblade," and she smiles to the others that have assembled. "Hey!"

Always determined to do the right thing, BlackRose is quick to arrive at the location. She knows that this will not be easy, but she is not the least bit afraid. In fact, her concern is more on the refugees than her own safety. She checks a few things in her menu before looking around at those gathered. "We'll get these refugees to safety! I guarantee it!"

Cyrus had gone off for a little supply trip while the rest of his team was resting. The tournament had taken quite a lot of Mikage, and though she'd told him she wanted to talk to him - the youth had mentioned that he needed to head out for a while. He'd be back within the day.

In truth, he was looking to get some extra money, to pay for the present he'd gotten the ladies for White Day. Stepping up to the plate, as one may, the alchemist youth steps up along the plank joining the travel. "The Monsters still haven't gotten any less nasty around this route huh?" He asks the rest of the team as he gets on.

Some might recognize the youth, thanks to his presence in the Tournament. He'd like to believe he got into a shared Third place, so not all that bad. "Cyrus Frost - Astrologian. I'll be taking care of support, hopefully." He offers to the people present.

Refugees from Ezzo have been instrumental in bringing much-needed manpower and residents to the town of Tolbana on the first of the Aincrad Tower's many floors. But to hear them tell of it, there are still those trapped in the distant, fallen kingdom-- some of whom may be relatives or friends who couldn't get to the first set of caravels in time. In the interest of continuing to foster good relations with the new citizens of Tolbana, certain members of the Scale Emblem Alliance have seen fit to personally see to additional escorts.

And so Prophylaxis is here, aboard this particular vessel, with a set of emergency medical supplies just in case they happen to be needed.

"I wouldn't expect that anything to do with former Lia Fail is going to at all let us off easily," the doctor says to Cyrus with a shrug. "Prophylaxis, medical professional and Magus. I hope this trip isn't too eventful, but I've heard enough about the voyage that I've prepared myself for the worst."

    Merek was coming to assist in the rescue of people from Ezzo. With the obsidian plate adjusted to his belt he makes a way to gather with people, and walking up into the boat while he looks about the place. He nods to people he knows, then he adjusts the Shadow Eclipse to his back while he offers a little wave, pulling the hood which he wears about the features.

"Kita Blackthorne, Artist and Elementalist." The black mage pushes herself up from where she'd been leaning against the ship rails, inclining her head to the others. Something in her voice is a little 'off', but she manages to put on a smile that has a slightly forced edge to it. "I came from Ezzo, myself, so it's about time I gave something back."

With the introductions out of the way, the Captain begins barking orders. For those with nautical expertise, some of them don't exactly make the most sense, but the crew is well trained and soon get the boat on their way.

However, it doesn't take long for the crew to begin whispering amongst themselves. The Adventurers would easily be able to overhear comments like: "So, who is this new captain?" "No idea, never seen him before." "Did he just pull out a book of sailing terminology?" "Why does he keep laughing like that, it's really unsettling."

They begin to gather, obviously not comfortable facing the dangers of the journey under what might be an unfit captain. The man, who seems to be dressed as if he were cosplaying as a pirate, doesn't have Lander identification. In fact, he appears to be an Adventurer from an INSPECT glance. He raises his hands, "Come on now, we have work to do! Back to your posts!"

    Merek looks to the Adventurer that has clearly taken over the boat, walking up to him. "Sir, I think you should let one of the Landers assist, would probably be a lot safer for everyone involved," he notes, nodding a bit. Diplomatic about it, as many of the people from the New World Alliance are.

Goldenblade slowly works out that the skipper is just a rogue player and has no clue how to run a ship. The conversations among the crew are kind of pointed, and he definitely doesn't talk like any of the sailors she's known, who would have accused the people that need to get back to work of skylarking. There's even a scuttlebutt, and that's not mentioned, and this one's actually the butt of a scuttle, which she hadn't actually seen before. This guy's definitely a faker, and when the others go to confront him, she'll back them up, pushing back on a few of the Fake Captain's loyal bully boys, keeping them from interfering with the ouster of the fake skipper.

Cyrus rubs the back of that messy hair of his, as Prophylaxis joins the crew. "Glad to have another support to back this team up." He remarks. "And you're right - I suppose Lia Fail is a mess. Though I never did see it personally." He notes. "Some of my friends went over though." He looks around. "Anyone who had that place as their Kingdom? I'd love to learn more about what happened on the way out." Cyrus offers up.

Kita, thanks to her introduction, gives him exactly that intro he was looking for. "You came from there? I'm glad you made it out of there alive." He offers to her. "I..." He then glances back at the captain as he starts hearing some weird Nautical words that don't make sense. Confusing Starboard with Aft for goodness sake.

Stepping around, he inspects the cosplaying pirate Adventurer. "Are you kidding me?" Cyrus takes a moment to realize what is even going on. "Come on man, get down from there! This isn't Cosplay hour!" He mumbles to the side, "I am telling you, the Chuuni situation is getting worse." As he begins to step up with the others to try and pull him away.

"If you can't even tell Aft from Starboard, you're going to way to at least study up some first! Come on, we're trying to save lives here."

Unlike the New World Alliance, BlackRose can be rather aggressive when she feels that there's something definitely not right. Rather than confront the captain directly though, she decides to assist Goldenblade with the bully boys as well. She hates to use violence, but sometimes it's necessary when you're dealing with imposters. Especially when refugees' lives are at stake.

"All I know is what I've heard second-hand from people who've been there," Prophylaxis answers with a shake of the head. "Unfortunately everything that we've heard about what happened in Ezzo basically amounts to 'shit went bad real fast' and, other than that it's a great big mystery. Kita over there might be able to tell you a first-hand account though."

But just when it seems that an interesting conversation is about to occur, something... becomes a distraction. Or rather, some/one/ does. The captain over there, what... what is he doing, exactly? Prophyaxis might be a doctor (not a captain, damnit Jim), but even he knows some basic nautical know-how.

This man looks like he can barely tell the difference between larboard and starboard, nevermind keel and sail. The corners of the good doctor's mouth twitch downward just a little bit. A tiny spark of flame leaps from his fingertip...

...and goes to set the seat of the man's pants ablaze.

After all, if he's going to be a liar, he might as well have his pants set on fire.

"Mmm." Kita makes a soft sound of acknowledgement to Cyrus, but her heart doesn't seem to be into it.

Merek's words seem to catch the attention of the 'Captain', who seems to all but ignore Cyrus, as if the cat weren't even there. "We're perfectly safe!" He tries to argue, but the fact that there seems to be many, Lander and Adventurer alike, ready to object to his presence, tells otherwise.

Prophylaxis proceeds to then, make very clear, that the man is not only a liar, but a liar-liar-pants on fire. The man starts to flail around, trying to put himself out while clapping ineffectually at his rear end.

Physical confrontations are not exactly something Kita is fond of, and she certainly had wanted to avoid some of that by coming on this particular journey. So, rather than trying to confront the Adventurer who is badly playing the role of 'Captain', she instead, pulls out a guitar.

Leaning against the side of the ship, she strums her fingers across the strings, then begins to chant in a sing-song voice:

" o/~ Once there was a man, who thought himself a pirate...
Ill of fashion and wisdom, fool-hearty was he...
Nothing more than a stinking bilge rat...
So the crew chucked his ass, into the sea... o/~ "

One of those standing near Goldenblade and BlackRose looks around, "Yeah! That sounds about right. Maybe we should put that fire out by tossing him overboard." So... the Crew heft up the hapless adventurer, and overboard he goes. Luckily, they aren't too far from shore.

Things seem to quiet for a time after that, leaving a time of relatively easy sailing, with the First Mate at the helm. Then, from above in the masts, the shout of: "LEVIATHAN!"

It brings everyone back to attention. They'll need to avoid the roiling water that the massive creature gives off in its wake, while trying to chart a way around the massive creature.

    Merek looks to the waves that are coming, while he begins to shift a stance, the waters moving about with assistance from the man to strike away along the boat. He then shifts them to begin a little rolling, and will try to use a little extra and maybe it will bring that Adventurer back to shore with the wave!

Goldenblade acks at the sight of the leviathan, and everyone's scrambling. She wants to help, too, and it looks like with the captain gone, no one's actually plotting the ship's course. With no one else trying, she checks the old captain's charts, looks blank, and takes a wild guess as to the best path given currents and such, to get away in the right direction. "Uh, anyone else read maps?" she asks. "I can, sort of, but this one's kinda squirrely..."

"Figures..." Cyrus remarks as the captain all but ignores him. Luckily, the others are having a better time at dealing with the captain. Letting the others deal with the matter, he steps to the side of the boat to look over it. Right as...

Leviathan.

His heart just about jumps in his chest, as that wave begins to rise. "Shit shit shit. Ehmmm." He tries to come up with a better plan of approach, to help figure out how to best alieviate the size of that wave - not quick of mind enough to think of using water to speed things along himself.

"If we can angle further to the... left... starboard..." Now he's forgotten which is which! Darnit!

"Uh, I can try but..." BlackRose attempts to get a look at the charts, but it's no use. Despite her best efforts, it's all Greek to her. "No use. Someone else please?" She looks at the Leviathan with a sneer and a twitching eye, trying to brace herself against the water.

"I'm not going to say that I was planning for ol' barnacle beard to get himself tossed overboard," Prophylaxis chuckles, flicking at his finger until the lingering embers extinguish themselves. Fire aboard a boat is not a particularly good idea, after all! "But I'm certainly not going to argue with the result. Now, let's get underway?"

And for a while, underway is exactly what they get. Calm seas and calm skies make the venture seem a little more pleasant than the good doctor had been expecting. It's too bad that the seas were just waiting for them to get complacent before throwing the party to the allegorical sharks.

Or, in this case, leviathans.

"I can read an anatomical chart, but when it comes to nautical maps, I'm all washed up! But calming the waves /is/ something I'm able to do!" Even if all that amounts to is simply casting a number of water spells into the larger whitecaps, blasting them apart before they can connect with the boat.

But that doesn't exactly help them find a way /around/ the enormous sea serpent. They may just have to wait it out...

Leviathans are one of the known dangers for those who frequent the seas. Kita's eyes go wide at the sight of the massive creature. "Shit." it is the first sign of real emotion out of her the whole trip thus-far. It likely isn't her first encounter with such creatures, and neither time had gone particularly well.

When Goldenblade gets to the maps, it becomes clear that the so-called 'Captain' had been messing with things. Blackrose finds that the pages are all out of order, some have been scrawled upon, others look to be for entirely other parts of the ocean. Rocks seem to stick up out of the water around them, making the navigation that much more precarious. Kita isn't able to be of much help, either. She starts to search around for the right map, but it seems to be to no avail. Perhaps the faux Captain took it overboard with him...

The Leviathan rears up nearby, the massive wave rolling towards the ship, threatening to smash it against the nearby rocks. Not even Merek and Prophylaxis' water magic seem to have much in the way of effect. Luckily for the party, and all of those onboard, some of the nearby rocks seem to break up the intensity of the wave.

However, just when it seems like they might be in the clear... SCCCRRRREEEEEAAAAAAAPPPPPPEEE. The sound of the hull being dragged against one of the rocks is enough to grate on the ears. Though the ship survives, there is clear damage in a large gash on one side. "We've got water in the lower decks!" One of the crew reports.

There is little time to see to that, though. Scaled, wet hands clamber over the edge of the ship, perhaps drawn by the Leviathan's wave. Soon, an entire group of fish-men have found their way onboard, threateningly shaking spears and nets towards the Landers, muttering in a bubble-like sound that must be their language. Soon, the ship is under full attack.

    Merek looks to the Mermen while he shifts a bit and looks to them, the longcoat which he wears shifted back by the winds which he calls to knock a few of them back into the water, swinging the gloves to make a downward strike while lightning rains across the deck into a few of them, "Fight them back!" The man maneuvers along while he dances with the magic, then arcing electricity about the enemies while he does as well.

Goldenblade may not be any good with maps; not good enough anyhow, and she clings to the rail as the ship scrapes over the rocks. She rises up after the shivering ship stops, and the call of flooding is almost expected. The call about boarding is not, but that's something she can actually do something about. She leaps to the rail, both swords out, and she'll hack at the boarders. Hopefully the landers can keep the ship afloat until the attackers are dealt with, at least. With both sword flashing, she's able to clear the railing before any can come aboard in her section.

The Mermen are definitely not related to anyone named Ariel... nor do they look friendly at all! Fortunately, BlackRose always comes ready for a situation like this. Her sword is activated and she uses it to her advantage. "Get off this ship!" She yells as she attempts to slash at the Mermen in hopes of showing them that they don't mess with BlackRose!

If only they had some kind of leviathan-murdering spell! Giant sea serpent sashimi would probably sell for a sizable sum on the market. But alas, it is not meant to be- and indeed, it seems that their efforts are for naught. Prophylaxis pitches backwards as the ship smashes into the rocks, falling hard onto his backside in some kind of cruel karmic retribution for his transgression against the pirate player's posterior poopdeck. He groans loudly as news of water belowdecks reaches his ears. "Shit. We're going to need to seal up those leaks if we don't want to capsize. Someone get me some pitch, we'll go down below and--"

*Splash!* Some Innsmouthy-looking jerks leap aboard, clearly looking to take advantage of the chaos caused by the leviathan's emergence. Prophylaxis gives the horde of fishmen a dirty look before gesturing in a grasping motion. The air suddenly chills around each of the fishfolk, temperature dropping rapidly as he goes about brutally freezing a number of them solid.

"Shiiiiit." Cyrus curses when he hears that scrape. "This is not how I want to have my first death in this game." He rumbles and quickly makes his way down into the bottom. He's leaving the creatures to the others while he rushes down to the lower decks.

Once there, he sees the water already. "Damnit." He curses. "I wanted to be a support... but oh no, there's leaks to be dealt with!" He complains out loud, even though he sets to his task with fervor. Grabbing a pair of planks, and some nails, he pushes against the holes and starts trying to nail the boards to the walls to stop the leak, while adding pitch to the matter.

It may be working out for him, but he's being soaked while doing it. His tail is getting all wet. And splashes of water gulf onto his face, making his entire expression look like...

Well...

What you'd expect wet cat to look like.

Electricity slams into a couple of the nearby mermen, causing them to shudder and blink as the current passes through them. In the aftermath, smoke rises up from them and they back off a bit.

Others find themselves facing Goldenblade and Blackrose, who are both more than capable of dealing a good amount of pain in a fight. Slashes of red cross the fish-men, causing them to spark into pixels and disappear, while others burble and point at the two, as if warning the others of the danger.

Prophylaxis manages to turn more than a few of them into frozen fish-sticks. Emboldened by the success, the Landers join in the fight. They push some of the frozen intruders overboard, or brandish simple weapons at them to try and drive them back.

Eventually, through their combined efforts, the fish-men are driven back or killed. The crew lets out a cheer at their success. Below, Cyrus and Kita join forces with the Landers already there. The cat ends up drenched, slipping through the water coming in, but Kita manages to use some ice magic to freeze the water in place along the walls, giving enough time for the crew to help patch it from the inside.

Unfortunately, their success is short-lived. As they begin to approach Ezzo, it becomes clear that there is damage to the longboats that are needed to bring both supplies to the continent, and people to the ship. As Cyrus and Kita rejoin the others, it becomes a race with time to try to get them repaired well enough to be used for landfall.

Even when things seem hopeless, BlackRose is always willing to give it her all with things. She doesn't know if she can do well handling fixing up the woodstuff, but she gives it her best. "I think I can figure this out... Let me see..." Surprisingly, she finds herself having an easier time than she thought.

Goldenblade gaahs as it turns out the longboats are damaged to. But she's got a talent for construction, having done that for over 30 years in real life. It's a simple matter for her to direct the repairs and restore structural integrity to the longboats. Patches, pitch, and a bit of wadding help restore the stricken longboats to working order. "Here, like this," she'll demonstrate to some of the others helping out.

    Merek walks to the boats while he takes a hammer and begins working. He's not great at this at all, at the moment he can't find materials which he needs, and looks like he's not familiar with that kinda boat.

Cyrus nods at Kita as she manages to freeze the ice and help patch up the rest of it. "Thanks, ehmmm, Kita, was it?" He asks, trying to memorize her name. "Couldn't have done that without you." He proposes to her. Which gets him a look from the Landers. What are they, chopped liver?

"Let's head back up. The fighting might still be going on."

But luckily, after some travel, it becomes clear that the fighting is largely over. Instead, they have to deal with something utterly different. The longboats had gotten damaged during the wave and the battle. "The Landers remaining there are going to be /pissed/ if they don't get to come back with us. And I really rather not deal with angry Landers." He sets to get going and help the others. Grabbing a hammer and setting to work.

... Only to slam the hammer too hard on one of the nails, and breaking the bottom out of the boat. His face goes white.

"Shit." He grunts, before stepping back. "Ehmmm... I think I am going to leave this to someone more qualified."

Prophylaxis isn't sure if he's quite up to having fishman-flavored popsicles for dessert today. He's /pretty/ sure that still constitutes as some sideways form of cannibalism, and while they're currently stranded in some kind of virtual universe, he's still got some standards to uphold.

That is: not being Hannibal Lecter.

But in the wake of the fishman attack, it seems that they're still not quite in the clear. The hole in the boat might have been patched, but the vessel did endure quite a beating there-- and who knows what havoc the fishmen might have caused during their brief stay? One casualty seems to have been... the longboats. Prophylaxis regards the splintered wood ruined oars, and then craaaanes his neck over as Cyrus just straight up breaks the bottom out of one of them.

"How... does that even happen?" He asks, shaking his head. "It's fine. I'll fix it. This isn't anything I haven't seen back in Tolbana. Just apply some pitch, a bit of wood-manipulation magic and..."

Voila! A fixed vessel! Now Pro just needs to duplicate the result a half-dozen times.

"You're welcome." Kita replies to the cat as they walk back up to join the others on deck. Once more, her voice seems to lack something in the way she speaks.

While Merek seems to struggle with finding the right materials to be of help, others seem to be ready to scrap whatever is necessary to be able to repair the longboats. Barrels used to carry supplies are broken down for scrap wood, the Landers lending a hand to aid the work of the Adventurers.

As Cyrus makes more holes rather than less, one of the crew grabs the hammer from his hand and pushes the feline out of the way. A similar scene plays out as Kita tries to help, but her complete lack of construction knowledge has her offering pieces of wood that aren't even remotely helpful, to the point the crew start ignoring her.

It isn't long before they start to follow the lead of thosee like Goldenblade and BlackRose, who seem to know what they are doing when it comes to repairing the ships. Another team seems to start ofllowing Prophylaxis' lead. Lucky for the crew and the waiting refugees, these Adventurers know what they are doing and are able to patch the boats back together again.

Just in time, too. The chaotic shoreline of Ezzo comes into view. For those who have not seen it before, it becomes clear why people are fleeing this place. Beyond the shore, there is a dome that seems to surround most of the continent. Within the dome, huge, glitched looking monsters wander. Strange buildings seem to appear, toople over, then appear again as if generating and destroying over and over again.

The refugees seem to crowd forward. These people have been here for months now. They are thin, haggard, and look hopeless. Yet they still want to rush forward, pushing at each other to try to get to the boats and get out of this hellscape.

    Merek looks to all the Landers that want to make it on board, taking the time to consider. "Listen, all of you. We should be polite to our fellow men, we need to be orderly. We've come to save people, we can do it, we need you to cooperate." The man adjusts that longcoat while he nods a bit, taking the time to speak with each of the landers. "Alright, we'll make a way."

Cyrus ends up standing next to Kita, while she's holding up a board of wood that is far too big. "Ehmm, looks like we're not too useful on this front." He proposes to her. "Do I ever hate feeling useless. But then, I suppose this isn't where my strength lies. So... I guess I just gotta hope for the right thing to roll along." The male rubs along his hair, awkwardly standing near her for a while as the others manage to get their work done. Prophylaxis luckily fixing his big error.

"Good... phew." He pants as the boats are finished up, and they start their landing party.

---

Approaching the front, with the rush of people being dealt with by others, Cyrus begins to use his Ice Potions to try and create sheets of ice along the water to try and make it easier to get to the longboats and create small temporary ports...

Which then float away, because the ocean water is far too harsh.

"..." Cyrus squints at the sheet of ice that floats away. Almost as if it had betrayed him personally.

Goldenblade is helping row the repaired longboats ashore and picking up refugees when they begin to mob the boats, and she fends them off with an oar, trying to keep order as best she can. "Form an orderly mob," she shouts, but really, the only thing the panicked Landers respond to is an oar in the chest pushing them sharply back so the boats can get back into the surf and return to the ship. "We'll catch you next trip," she shouts, and she'll do her best to make sure that whoever she pushed off gets picked up in the next trip.

Boats are repaired, wood is mended, and soon the party is away and finally making landfall on the chaotic landscape of Ezzo.

Emphasis on the 'chaotic' bit.

"It... it looks like everything is just /broken/. Glitchiness like this I'd expect from an alpha or beta build, but this is just..." A tower appears out of the ground and in an instant is replaced by a crumbling gazebo and then what looks to be a pagoda. Prophylaxis blinks and shakes his head. "...No wonder they all want to leave. I'd want out, too. What could have caused all this, though...? If the servers are still active, then why hasn't it been fixed? Unless..."

Unless they /can't/ patch the gamedata with everyone still trapped inside. Or maybe, if there aren't any servers to patch...

Prophylaxis is silent with thought as he goes to conjure a series of brambly walls to try and form an orderly queue. It... doesn't go well, considering how distracted he seems to be at the moment.

Whenever things get tough, BlackRose rises to the challenge. She's stronger than she looks, just look at how she hefts that sword. And when things call for physical assistance, BlackRose is there to help. It's not easy, but she somehow manages tokeep things going.

Unbothered by her lack of construction prowess, Kita just shrugs and sits back, allowing the Landers and the others to do the repairs. She perches herself on the side of the boat, legs dangling, eyes looking out in the direction the boat is sailing. There is a moment where Kita just stares at the chaos of Ezzo. She spent almost a month stuck here. Stuck like these people who are trying so desperately to get to the boats and find their own escape. "It's worse closer to the root town." Kita's voice is soft, but Prophylaxis might just catch it.

Merek's attempts at reasoning with the starving, scared people might not seem like enough, at first, but many do stop pushing. It is like he is offering them a reminder of their own humanity. A few begin to make way for those who are more in need, the sick and injured being ushered forward.

Elsewhere, where his voice doesn't reach, it is an oar to the chest that keeps some of them back. Pleading eyes look to Goldenblade, voices crying out and begging for their chance to escape. Yet, this group seems to be mostly Landers. They wouldn't stand a chance against an Adventurer, not in their condition. BlackRose does the same, making sure people are let on the boats in an orderly fashion.

At the last moment, it seems as if some of those that remain might rush the boats, but Kita steps forward. Maybe Cyrus' idea gave her some inspiration, but she throws up a wall of ice, keeping the Landers back. "I'm sorry. We can't take you all. More boats will be coming. Please... just hold out a little bit longer." She pleads with them.

In the end, the Adventurers return to their ships, carrying hundreds of souls from the chaos of Ezzo. It is a crowded trip back, but largely uneventful. The Landers from Ezzo just seem grateful to be free from that hellish place...

"What could have happened in Lia Fail that would have caused all this? The kind of system instability I'm seeing here... Did it spread beyond Ezzo and we just haven't noticed? Is... Is this why the Chaos Gates are offline? A failsafe to prevent the corruption from spreading...?" Prophylaxis is talking to Kita as much as he's murmuring to himself. "If they bring the servers down for repair to prevent the spread, what happens to us? /Is/ there a server to bring down? The landscape certainly suggests a badly glitched database, or perhaps... a virus...?"

Another Flash of Death... He'd long been concerned that it had been a possibility, but seeing the tortured terrain of Ezzo for himself seems to have reawakened the old fear.

"Kita," he says, once they're all onboard. "When you get the chance, if it's not too much trouble, I'd like to hear anything you might have to share about what happened in Lia Fail. If there was anything you noticed, or... Anything of the sort. What was happening in Ezzo-- it wasn't normal, and what happened to the language parser recently has me wondering if we haven't seen the last of the database's instability."

All this between passing out information to the Ezzo rescuees about residence and employment in Tolbana. These people need a place to go now, after all...

Normally, Kita is the sort of person with an easy, outgoing personality, but this whole trip she has seemed quieter than normal. So, as Prophylaxis talks, she is mostly listening. It's hard to tell if she is pondering what he is pondering, or if her mind is elsewhere.

It isn't until he directly addresses her by name that she looks in his direction, pushing her glasses up on her nose. Her hand motions vaguely back in the direction of Ezzo. "A strange tone, then the cannon appeared and it blasted the 'Dark Wave' across everything." Others certainly experienced the Dark Wave, but might not have known where it came from.

"The Bandit King seemed to have some idea what was happening. He lead us through as the city and landscape started crumbling around us. Helped us avoid the mobs which had gone glitched and immortal. Lead us through the tunnels that got us to the shoreline." She takes a slow breath, "We theorized that he knew more than we did. Maybe that he was GM controlled. I don't know. The last time I saw him, he was resting on the shore with the refugees, but I haven't seen him since."

So there was a strange tone, and then the cannon manifested and fired the Dark Wave. Then the Bandit King appeared. Prophylaxis' brows knit, thoughts whirling through his head. Then: "...I wonder where he went to. He can't have just left, unless... Did you happen to Inspect him when you had the chance, Kita? We'd recently encountered a mysterious Lander-Adventurer and I'm... curious about the nature of this Bandit King."

But more importantly--

"I wonder why Lia Fail. Was it chosen at random? Or was the cannon necessary? I'll... Maybe it would be a good idea to look into the lore to find answers. Lore about the Kingdom of Ezzo, and Lia Fail specifically. If the cannon was used to deploy the Dark Wave, then there must be some significance to it, don't you think?"

Kita closes her eyes, reaching a hand up to tap on the side of her head. It's a motion that suggests she's trying to search back through her own memory. "He had... the Castle and the I." Her brows furrow for a moment before she opens her eyes again, blinking as if trying to clear her thoughts. "But his name was glitching sometimes. Strange characters kept showing up, then disappearing."

As Prophylaxis starts to delve into that mystery, Kita offers, perhaps, another. "It went away after the shield went up. The glitched name." She pauses, as if uncertain about this last part, but adds it anyways, "And... he acted differently, too. I don't know how to describe it."

A fanged tooth catches her lower lip, thoughtful. "I never really thought much about it. I was too concerned with getting out. Then with finding Jurou. Then with Tolbana." The Imp has thrown herself head first into many things since returning from Ezzo, as if she didn't want to have too much free time to dwell on what happened there. "There might be." The Imp acknowledges. "I just have no idea what significance there is. Everything was pretty... messed up."

A glitched name that stopped being glitchy the moment a barrier was erected around Lia Fail? Prophylaxis taps at his chin. "Could be something, could be just a side-effect of whatever was coming out of the Root Town being contained. It sounds like he's a Lander, but maybe some kind of Hero...?" But he acted differently too-- could that be a side-effect of the Apocalypse occuring, or something more?

"Mm. I think we won't be able to learn much more about the Bandit King unless he's mentioned in some lore that we can track down out here. Still, I think... For everyone's sakes, the refugees and the players alike, we need to figure out whether or not whatever happened to Ezzo is still a threat."

And, the part he doesn't say, whether it can happen again in some other Root Town. Whether whatever had begun in Lia Fail was never intended to stop short just at Ezzo's borders.

Unfortunately, this is where Kita runs out of answers to offer. "I wish I could offer clarity, but I don't have any for myself, much less anyone else." The blue-haired Imp shakes her head. "If you need help looking into anything, let me know." As she has been throughout this entire adventure, Kita still seems a bit 'off', herself. Maybe she's just tired from the journey...

"I'll... see if any of the new refugees need a place in Tolbana. This trip, it's solidified just how important the town is. What we're doing for these people." Her brows furrow, as if she were struck by some sort of inspiration. "We should dedicate something in Tolbana to the harrowing experience people faced, and their new lives." She reaches for her sketchpad and a pencil, already starting to draw out some preliminary designs. All too quicky, she seems lost to the world. An artist in their element...

"And to think some of us still think that they're nothing more than NPCs," Prophylaxis shakes his head slowly. "Even if they are, the people that we see exist within our own hearts and minds. That's all that we need to give them something, isn't it...?"

"If you come up with an idea for a memorial of some kind," he adds as he moves back toward the teeming masses of digital humanity, "I'll sponsor it as representative of the Divine Dragons. Maybe we can put it in the amphitheatre or something. And..."

The good doctor's expression softens a little, then. "Thanks. For sharing what you know, even through the trauma. I know it's not easy, but it helped, really."

At the very least, it helped to give him another avenue to investigate, and that alone is worth plenty.