• Closed • The All-Taverns Tournament: Ilaren's Box

[Faith Augustin]

The truest wisdom.....

She just had to do two things.

She had to hold on, and she had to trust. But as she felt the tiny pin pricks sinking in to her flesh, as she felt the hot blood diluting the pure water with its vile corruption, as the claws just grew sharper and sharper, it took all of Faith's endurance and strength and determination for her to hold on. She could no longer stop herself from crying out, but she didn't care about that. The sound which escaped from between her tightly clenched teeth was a bitten-back cry of rage and pain and fear.

But it barely escaped. Because she held on, and she trusted. She trusted that Vivian would do what she could. She trusted that Lovalus would protect her and provide the waters needed. She trusted that Famula, Vri and Moseke would guide her. She trusted.

But most of all, Faith trusted herself.

She was doing the right thing, the thing that she was resolute about. She knew that she had to do this and that if it meant that she died, then it was her time and that was fine. Faith knew that, but still. She also knew that she had a responsibility to minimise her own risks. She knew that too.

And so, more than anything, Faith trusted herself.

Beacuse, when Famula had granted her the chance to have a Companion, Faith had made the deliberate choice not take one. She had no wish for a ghostly companion, it felt wrong to her and so, she had chosen instead to allow a soul access to her bloodFamula's Companion [...] For those who do not choose a soul as their companion, Famula can also grant a Blood spirit to her chosen. This spirit lives within the Zuuda, within every drop of blood. When cut or stabbed a Zuuda only bleeds when they will it, and can manifest their spiritual companion in the form of a small animal or weapon created entirely from their blood through any wound inflicted. The versatility of its shape is the Zuuda’s greatest strength when pushed into a corner. which meant that - in this moment, Faith did not allow herself to bleed. She did not will it and instead she willed her blood to act like a shield, to push the claws out - to push like a shield pushing against her flesh, forcing the claws out.

And - if she was still conscious - when she was sure that the beast was fully submerged, Faith activated the Zuuda-granted ability Wisp BodyWisp Body Approximately once a trial, when the sun has left the sky, the Zuuda is capable of taking on the night form of a Wisp for a single Break. This ability can not be used at all during Saun but is able to be activated twice per trial in Cylus. Their form grows insubstantial, glows the ethereal glimmer of active ectoplasm, and the marked becomes capable of walking through non magical barriers as easily as pushing through water. While the marked is unable to meaningfully interact with any physical object while in this form, neither can they be interacted with, and, although they can hear the world around them, they can not communicate verbally. Some Zuuda have used this ability to escape physical altercation, blades and weapons passing through them harmlessly. A Zuuda is unable to cast magic in this state (if they dared to learn it in the first place), and can drift at their jogging speed in any direction. While not swift, this does impart a kind of flight. At the end of the break, the Zuuda comes quickly back into physical form, no matter where they are. Most Zuuda are cautious to make sure they won’t end up between objects or suspended in midair when they return to themselves. A Zuuda can return to themselves at any point before the Break, but can only use this ability again once a Trial has passed. , which allowed her to float upwards from it, not risk pulling any of it with her. She wanted all that critter submerged in all that water.

But, aware that it was rather spooky, she drifted herself on to solid ground and returned to her physical form as soon as she could, where she would stop herself from bleeding out as long as she could and trusted herself.

Assuming, that was, she was alive and alert enough to do so.

... is resolute determination.

[Tristan Venora]

All the time while Tristan and the others were trying to secure the Infirmary, the sounds of people fighting and dying could be heard, and on top of that there was the terrible roar of the monster in the Bloodworks. The young duke who had lived through a civil war and the shadow beast attacks listened to them, of course, because he needed to know if they were coming closer, but he tried not to let them affect him too much. If they made it out of this alive – and he refused to doubt that they would – he would likely be shaky, or just very tired, but for the time being, he would not lose his composure, or slow down.

“Make sure that any and all doors are barred”, he told the others, healers as well as fighters, in a firm and confident tone of voice. “As long as all the doors are barred, and as long as we all work together, we will be safe. I doubt that any of them can just walk through all that stuff. Thank you”, he added, so that they would feel appreciated, and because they were absolutely great in his opinion. Some of the fighters had likely faced each other in the arena at one point, but here, they were on the same side!

When he saw how the Wall helped one of the healers move over a large cabinet bureau, he smiled at the man and inclined his head before he continued to help. Tristan didn’t look physically imposing, and he was no fighter – he just knew how to handle a crossbow to some extent - but he wasn’t a total weakling either. He could do a bit of lifting!

“Thank you so much, Fastia. You are a hero”, he told the Ithecal with a smile when she agreed to climb out of the window and try and alert the Lightning Knights. He didn’t doubt that she would get help. He refused to do anything but see the best in other people, until they gave him a serious reason to doubt them and stop trusting them.

“You all are”, he said, once the doors were as barricaded as they were likely to get, because he didn’t want any of them to feel left out, and because it was true. By securing the Infirmary, they were saving lives that trial. Nobody would get through if he had a say in it!

His optimism waned slightly when Chester described the monster in the Bloodworks to him though. He knew what it was. Aeon had told him of the monster that had taken his arm and his eye. Peake had been attacked by a Sessfiend as well and lost a leg to it. Both of them had survived though which was a good thing, he supposed. Still, he wasn’t sure how exactly he was supposed to deal with the Sessfiend if it managed to break though.

Maybe … he remembered Aeon saying that it was vulnerable to water – even though that conversation had happened arcs ago, he could still remember every single detail due to Vri’s blessing, and would never forget anything again. Vivian had mentioned a Brightgleam and that it had healing waters. That, he decided, would likely work even better than normal water. He doubted that such a dark beast would like something that positive very much!

So, instead of panicking because there was a Sessfiend on the loose in the Bloodworks, Faith and Vivian were in there with it, and Ilaren was still nowhere to be seen, he made a plan.

He had just opened his mouth in order to ask the people in the Infirmary if anybody had a Brightgleam (He had no idea who exactly could conjure one!) or some other sort of magical water that they would be able to douse the monster with if it managed to break through their barricades, when Chester informed him of the newest events in the Bloodworks.

“The monster has been killed”, he stated in order to give those that might be afraid hope. A dead Sessfiend was a reason to be happy and celebrate a bit in his opinion. “But there may still be another creature in the Bloodworks, and what more, Faith Augustin has been hurt”, he continued and paused slightly because that was something that he found harder to deal with than a Sessfiend or some sort of weird hound of rage. Faith was one of the people that mattered the most to him outside of his immediate family.

“I’ll try and see if my diri can contact Faith and help her – I’m almost positive that he can - but if he can’t, how do you want to proceed? Do you want to try and send a healer into the Bloodworks? It may not be safe there yet. Vivian Shiryu is there with Faith though. She is a Lightning Knight and unhurt, from what I know”, he informed them.

A part of him was tempted to rush to Faith, right now, and no matter what was going on there. He didn’t care much if he got hurt, but he felt that he was responsible for all the people in the Infirmary now. Removing the barriers, at least temporarily so that a healer could get through, might endanger them all, and thus, he had decided to ask for their input.

Faith seemed to be doing something though – Chester’s description didn’t make a lot of sense to him; he was not familiar with wisps or what kind of abilities exactly a Zuuda possessed.

It sounded as if she was becoming kind of ghost-like though.

He furrowed his brow in confusion for a moment before he addressed his wonderful bondmate again, “Chester, you are truly amazing, and I thank you so much for helping me! Could you do one more thing for me though, please? Are you capable of contacting Faith? I’m not sure what exactly that floaty thing she’s doing is, but if she can, I want her to float here. If not, tell Vivian to bring her, if she isn’t still dealing with that other thing. Do you have any idea if the hound Vivian was fighting is dead? Anyway, we'll heal her, if she still needs healing”, he decided on a confident tone of voice because he absolutely refused to let Faith die this trial.

“Faith is one of the most famous people in the entire world”, he added, just in case that information helped convince Chester to give it a try. His diri seemed to like famous people!

“Alright. I told my diri what I need from him”, he said, addressing the people around him once more and took a deep breath before he continued. “We might get a new patient soon, no matter what happens, and there will likely be more coming from the arena once this here is over. How many medical supplies that are safe to use do we have?” he wanted to know, remembering that Faith had been suspicious of the equipment the Mistress and her handmaidens had been using – which made him remember something. “Does anybody have an idea where the Mistress and her people went?” he wanted to know. It seemed even stranger to him that they had evacuated the Infirmary than before.

“No matter what is going on, I want you to keep being on your guard and be ready in case you need to fight. The monster is dead, but there’s more going on, and I’d like you to make sure that our defenses will stay in place until we can be completely sure that the Lightning Dome is safe again. It shouldn’t take much longer for the Lightning Knights to arrive”, he added, reminding them all of the fact that Fastia had gone to get help. Everybody seemed very calm and focused, but he wanted to continue to keep their spirits up, and telling them that help was very likely already on its way was a great way to do that!

[Vivian Shiryu]

The Sessfiend died, taking the Rage Spirit with it as far as Vivian could tell. The unholy morass left by the mingling of Lovalus's waters and the Sessfiend's dissolving body was truly wretched, enough to make even her stomach churn, but she turned away from it as the demon of Syroa expired. She didn't have time to concern herself with a defeated enemy, and instead she called the knights she had brought into the Bloodworks with her as Faith...turned herself into a ghost and tried to float away from the morass before turning back into a living person. Vivian had felt the part of her Mortalborn powers that relied upon the day fizzle out, so she her regenerative aura was no longer in effect to help the doctor recover.

Instead, she called over the lightning knights that she had brought into the Bloodworks with her. If Faith managed recover her physical form, or if she hadn't been able to turn to a ghost at all, she point at the injured healer. "Take doctor Augustin to the infirmary, now!" she said, and she'd be very clear to Faith, if the healer were inclined to protest, that she was not going to be indulging a protest from her. "You're a Rharnian citizen, Doctor. Your safety is our job and you've done all you can here." she would say, if Faith tried to push the issue.

Once Faith was taken care of, if she could be taken care of, Vivian would turn her attention to the Bloodworks. "Lady Ilaren? The Sessfiend's dead!" she called out, wondering where her liege was. Was there more trouble that the Immortal had needed to attend to? If so, they still had problems. For now, Vivian went looking where Ilaren was supposed to be, to see where she had gone if she'd had to leave the Bloodworks.

[Pig Boy]

8th of Zi'Da 721

Faith gradually removed herself from the spiked bones and thorns that pierced her body at several points. As she did so, the jagged edges of those spikes and claws carved on the retreat. Blood loss was not a concern with her condition as a Zuuda inhabited by a spirit of blood. But nerve damage and muscular damage was. And the Sessfiend took more than his share of that out of her, before she ever got to turn from a wisp back into physical form. She'd find that her left leg was entirely incapable of supporting her weight, the nerves and muscles there having been rendered too weak, and her right arm was flopping at her side, the brachial nerve pierced by a claw that narrowly evaded a large blood vessel. She was helpless as Vivian directed her knights to take her, and though she might fight against them, she'd find herself incapable of putting up much resistance as she was. She'd have to pull out another trick to get them to put her down. Otherwise, they were carrying her to the infirmary, as Vivian ordered.

Clashing of steel could be heard in the Brig, as the echoed screams of the Sessfiend were drowned into the waters of Lovalus. Vivian would catch glimpses, beyond that doorway, and heard Ilaren grunting. "Shiryu! Get over here!" She appeared to be fighting someone, and seemed to have the upper hand. If Vivian moved toward that threshold, Ilaren would shout at her, "Grab that glowing rock in the corner, now!"

Sure enough, in the corner of the cell, a shining stone was sitting in the middle of the floor. Large as a fist, it was, and green glowing faintly in the torchlight.

Ilaren was facing against a woman, a Naer with white hair, who seemed to be a fair combatant with a blade. Ilaren could've easily dispatched her, but for whatever reason she wasn't. "I need her alive, now get the stone!"

Chester watched all of this of course and reported back to Tristan, including what had happened with Faith.

He responded to Tristan's question, "The Hound is gone! But there's a white-haired lady fighting Ilaren down here. Ilaren seems to be handling her though, for the moment. You may want to send some healers down for Professor Augustin."

[Faith Augustin]

The truest wisdom.....

She had needed to do two things.

She had needed to hold on, and to trust. She had done both of those things. But it had come at a cost and Faith knew that the cost was large for her. Her arm, her leg. She knew that things here were difficult. She was a medic, after all, and a medic the like of which this world had - if she was honest - not seen before.. Faith had dealt with pain the like of which most people could not even conceive of but she knew what this meant. Her ability to discern tiny differences stood her in good stead in most of her life and, also now.

So, when Vivian gave the order she gave, Faith's mind immediately began to work. She had to absolutely maximise the use of this , the idea she had. But her idea did not come from the pain which seared her body, the plan had ~ in her mind ~ nothing whatsoever to do with her. This plan was because of PB.

PB, her Diri, who she had ignored for the last few moments as she had spent her time hugging a sessfiend. PB who was trying to head to Tristan. "Love, there's people dying here," he said. It fed him, she knew, but it saddened him too. "They have no... they needed... love, don't come here.". No swearing, no flirting, Faith knew it was serious.

And then, in front of her eyes as her vision blurred from pain, Faith saw the faces of her children. But she knew what she had to do.

"Don't take me to the Infirmary, now. I need to..." Her teeth were clamped together tightly. "Please, please I need to be.. please? Up top. I need to be up top." If they'd take her, then she'd let them. But if they wouldn't then she would argue, she would cajole, she would beg. And if all else failed, she'd get up and move by herself. Because she needed to be near the ground. "Please. I can heal myself if I'm there," it was true. She could.

And then, when she got to the arena (PB would carry her if needed), Faith lowered her head in prayer. "I offer myself, Moseke, that these others may live. Please, I beg you, Mother of Life, take my sacrifice and let these people be healed. "

The prayer continued as Faith lowered her head and dug her heels into the ground. Then, with a sudden burst of energy, she threw her head back and shouted the word in the Ancient Tongue. And as she did, Faith gave herselfThis ability is given only to those appointed Champions of Moseke for this ability requires the ancient tongue to use. This ability shouldn't be used lightly, and only when all other options are expired. The character, through the use of divine energy, is able to form a massive tree - that resembles their mark - onto the earth. This tree blooms white leaves that shed onto the ground and any who stand beneath its massive umbrella of branches. The leaves of this tree heal any and all things, though the leaves cannot be taken from the tree. These leaves are made of pure energy that disappears after a few short moments. The character is enveloped within it's nearly indestructible trunk, the shape of their body formed into the tree as they are preserved inside it, unable to be harmed. There they remain for an entire season, until the tree is able to remain standing on its own, at which point the Champion emerges, totally rejuvenated. This ability may be used in battle to heal a massive number of people. It may also restore life to a dead forest. as a willing sacrifice so that those who were here might be saved. Let the dead breathe, the injured walk and the scarred be healed.

And the price she paid, she did so willingly.

... is resolute determination.

[Tristan Venora]

Tristan had planned on getting Faith to just move through the barricades and into the Infirmary where she would be healed while she was still doing that floaty thing. He had no idea what exactly she was doing, but if she could float, she might be able to move through solid objects as well in his opinion. By the time that his message (or Chester’s?) reached her, she had become the Faith he knew again though, and she was just as hurt as before – at least that was the conclusion that he drew from Chester’s report. He wished he were able to see what was going on as well so that he wouldn’t miss an important detail!

He gulped as he wondered what he was supposed to do now, and if he should send a group of healers down to Faith, or if he should rely on Vivian bringing her, and he fervently hoped that it wouldn’t be too late when she arrived. When Chester informed him that the Hound was gone, he breathed a sigh of relief regardless because that meant at least one less problem to deal with, and he might be able to let people through to the Infirmary without endangering everybody that was there in the process. And what more, it seemed as if Vivian had tasked a group of Lightnings Knights with taking Faith away now!

So, since things started to happen – although the sounds of people fighting, and possibly dying, could still be heard from the arena – he sprang into action rather than being stressed out. He had another goal to focus on, besides keeping everybody in the Infirmary safe, alive and calm until the help that he has asked Fastia to get finally arrived.

“The monster damaged one of Faith’s arms and one of her legs. I can’t tell if it’s just muscle damage, or if she has suffered nerve damage on top of it without examining her, but I’d like you to prepare a bed for her – and tools, in case we need to operate. Take equipment from Faith’s or my medical kit if you can”, he told the members of the Order of the Adunih that were with him, remembering how Faith had not trusted the Mistress and her people again. He didn’t want to save her only for her life to be threatened by whatever questionable substances the Mistress and her people had used, and by the Immortals …

… he had never operated on anybody like that before. He knew a decent bit about medicine nowadays, thanks to a variety of circumstances, but medicine had never been his focus!

“The others, help me here, please! We need to remove enough of the barricades that Faith and the people carrying her can get through! Once they are through, immediately put them into place again. Things still seem to be crazy in the arena, and I'd rather not take any more chances. I know that you are all very capable, but we also have people that definitely can’t fight right now here”, he pointed out and gestured towards the Angler. He had no doubt about the Wall and others, and he wanted them to be aware of that, but the Angler would probably just die if those masked people managed to make it here somehow and started a massacre!

Ilaren seemed to be back now, and she was fighting a white-haired Naerikk. She seemed to have things under control, and thus Tristan decided not to waste too much time on what was going on in the Bloodworks or beyond. Faith was coming, and he needed to be prepared. No more people would die that trial if he had any say int that matter. He wasn’t the doctor that he wished Faith had – he wasn’t sure if he could even call himself a doctor – but by the Immortals, he’d operate on her personally if he had to, and he’d save her!

Except that everything changed again within the matter of moments. Faith arrived in the Infirmary, but she apparently didn’t intend to stay there and get treatment. She wanted to go to the arena. Had anybody else made such demands while having such injuries, Tristan would have refused. He might even have called them crazy and forced them to stay. He trusted Faith explicitly though, and he always would. He just took a look at her to make sure that she wasn’t at immediate risk of death before he turned to the others and told them, “Let her through. She is a Champion of Moseke. If she says she can heal herself, she can”, he added, in case they needed a bit of extra persuasion.

“Can we open the door without immediately being attacked?” he asked both Chester and the other people in the Infirmary.

Assuming that the Infirmary was not at risk of immediately being stormed, he would ask people to let Faith and whoever was carrying her through before he told people to secure the Infirmary once more. In the worst case, if they needed to act quickly and had drawn too much attention to themselves by creating an opening in the barricades, well …

… he had an ace up his sleeve.

As a Blessed of Zanik Tristan was capable of enormous feats of strengthSteadfast: When this ability is in use, character is able to perform enormous feats of strength for a short amount of time. (Between 2-5 minutes) for short periods of time, so if he had to, he would use that ability to help close the door and barricade it again before he turned to the Angler and took a look at him once more. Faith was capable of healing herself – he would always trust her word – but the Angler definitely wasn’t, and he would make sure that those people would all make it. He would keep them safe until the Lightning Knights arrived. He had told Fastia to let them know that he was holed up in the Infirmary with the healers and the wounded fighters, so, hopefully they’d come here!

[Vivian Shiryu]

Vivian sighed as Faith seemed to be okay, then frowned at the much more obviously damaged arm and leg. She went over to her friend and knelt next to her. "Maybe leave the fighting to me next time? You make me very nervous sometime, Faith." she said, her voice strained with worry until her knights came and retrieved the doctor. Still, Faith wasn't bleeding, some sort of Zuuda power, and she could hear the doctor talking to the knights as they took her out of the Bloodworks. Faith would be fine, even if she had to operate on her own limbs to get them back into working order again.

But she couldn't focus on that now. Her knights would protect Faith if more trouble came their way, and she had her duties to attend to still. Ilaren called out to her and Vivian ran towards her liege's voice, finding her in a fight with a Naer with white hair and a sword. Vivian could tell that Ilaren held the upper hand, and she nodded at the Immortal's order. Ilaren was the best fighter in Rharne, if her opponent was still standing, it was because Ilaren didn't want to drop her yet.

So she went for the stone that the Immortal had indicated, using Rising Lightning to leap towards the stone as she had used it to move around the Bloodworks. She made small leap forward this time, she didn't want to risk knocking herself out on the walls after all, and dropped to her knees as she landed, taking the blow to her legs on the Brightgleam Armor. Reaching down, she let her shield vanish and picked up the stone with her offhand, ensuring that she didn't drop the Brightgleam Sword she was carrying.

Turning around, she held the stone close to her and kept her sword out in case the Naer tried anything. Vivian was, admittedly, an amateur combatant when it came to hand to hand fight. With a sword, however, she was one of the best in Rharne, and she was prepared to fight if the Naer turned her attack at her. "I've got it!" she called to her Immortal, so that Ilaren could do whatever she needed to do next.

[Pig Boy]

8th of Zi'Da 721

“Hmmmm…” A familiar voice sounded within Vivian’s mind, one she hadn’t heard for a few arcs, and yet had all the subtlety of a hammer against an anvil, and a pride that was earned. “Shoddy workmanship, domain magic, it’s a wonder they thought that such a pedestrian trifle would somehow contain the power necessary to put an Immortal to rest.”

“Yes,” Aeva said to Vivian’s mind. “They intended to fashion a weapon to kill an Immortal with the Delana Gem. A trinket that can hide one from any Immortal and any Immortal’s servant? Crafted by the power of domain. Pride in a job well done is one thing, but such ill-informed and blind arrogance, that’s unforgivable.”

“Still…” Aeva sighed, “One cannot be too careful. Should you think it prudent to destroy the Delana gem, I have just the tool for you.” And Aeva showed her what the tool looked like, allowing her to create it from her hands, using her mark, if she willed it. It resembled a pair of pliers, with the ends fashioned into a pair of claws. It looked capable of breaking a rock in its grip.

Meanwhile, in the other side of the Brig, Vivian could hear Ilaren instantly disarm the Naer, a smash, and a slap and a thud. “Apprehend her, and put her in paradigm cuffs before the Ether Draught ends! We’ve finally found the Witch Doctor!” Ilaren called to the other Lightning Knights, a couple of whom had stayed on to watch Ilaren best the Naer.

The Lightning Knights immediately obeyed, and put her in cuffs. They put her in two cuffs, doubled up, just to be safe. This was a monumental arrest, and would doubtless have great consequence throughout the city in the coming seasons.

Ilaren made her way through the brig, to the cell where Vivian was holding the Delana Gem. She looked haggard, and upset, and she made no effort to hide that she was not happy with the deaths that had happened today. Yet this was still a great victory won at a cost.

“Commander Shiryu… Do as Aeva says. The Delana Gem, whether they think it can be turned into a weapon or not, cannot be allowed to exist in my city.” She requested. Time was growing short, and Famula’s Tear would not keep the domain magic at bay forever. Vivian probably didn’t want to know either what would happen when an Immortal’s marked handled the Delana Gem.




The barricades blocking off the Bloodworks were moved in time to allow Faith entry to the Infirmary as she was carried by the Lightning Knights. Faith arrived, and then made the claims to change Tristan’s mind, even as the healers prepared a place for her. Everyone stood in awe of Faith as she described what could only be a miracle. Some few gave incredulous looks. Yet Tristan, at least, had trust in Faith.

Chester relayed back to Tristan that he could indeed open the Infirmary doors without risk of incursion. “There’s fighting, but it’s mostly the Rharne soldiers, and a few of people in the Arena. None of them are anywhere near the door.” Tristan could hear Chester sniffing in his fear, and then saying, “You can open it safely.”

And Tristan did just that. Summoning the might of Zanik, Tristan moved the barricade singlehandedly, a large cabinet of stone and wood that had taken a team of the patients and healers to even get to move a few feet, he handled with ease. So the way was opened for Faith, and into the Arena she went…

Tristan had only to watch, or to seal the barricade once more. But no masked meanies were making their way toward the Infirmary. In fact, they all looked as though they were defeated. All that was left was for the Lightning Knights to bring Faith to the center of the Arena…

OOC: Faith’s part to be continued in Fury’s Gauntlet.

[Tristan Venora]

“Faith, oh Faith“, Tristan murmured and smiled at her when she recognized him and beamed at him in spite of what had to be a great amount of pain. He moved a little closer to her and briefly touched her hand. He squeezed it reassuringly before he took a look at her in order to try and make sure that she would survive until she had arrived in the arena. He had no doubt that she would be able to heal herself once she was finally there – he would never doubt anything that she said – but she had to make it there alive first.

“Who?” he asked when she wanted to know if that was his twin and looked at the Lightning Knight that was standing next to him, the Lightning Knight that didn’t look anything like him. He did not point out that they were definitely not related though. Faith was in a lot of pain, and she probably wasn’t thinking clearly because of it. Instead, he smirked slightly and remarked, trying to sound light-hearted in spite of his concern, “Who knows? There are probably more doppelgangers were the first one came from.” He was talking about his half-brother Hart that looked almost exactly like him, of course.

“Thank you very much”, he replied when she promised not to pin him by his entrails and added, briefly glancing at the Lightning Knight she had taken for his twin, “It’s good that you are friends and have each other.”

That was all that he said before he turned to Chester and listened to his statement. There were so many things that he wanted to say to Faith, but he didn’t want to risk wasting any time, lest whatever plan she had in mind in order to heal herself from those terrible injuries wouldn’t work anymore. They would be able to talk about everything later on.

“Thank you, Chester”, he told the diri when he assured him that he would be able to open the door safely. “You are very brave”, he added. He really meant that. It was obvious that the diri was afraid, but he had listened to him and helped him regardless. In Tristan’s opinion doing something in spite of the fact that he was afraid was a sign of great bravery.

Once he had cleared the door, he quickly let his gaze sweep over the area in front of it. There were no bad guys waiting on the other side, waiting for an opportunity to storm the Infirmary and slaughter everybody that was inside. In fact, it looked as if they had all been defeated.

He watched the Lightning Knights carry Faith into the arena and met her gaze once more, returning the smile before he quickly let his gaze sweep over the area in front of the door. There were no bad guys waiting to enter the Infirmary and slaughter everybody. In fact, it looked as if they had all been defeated, and what more it seemed as if …

“Fastia, you are back!” he exclaimed, his excitement and his gratitude obvious, and came closer. “Thank you, thank you so much for coming”, he proceeded to tell the Lightning Knights that were with her and that were making their way towards the Infirmary now.

It seemed as Fastia wanted to check on Elisabeth, so he decided to thank her more later on. In his mind there was no doubt that a lot of lives had been saved that trial because she had climbed through that window and convinced the Lightning Knights to come and help them, and he would make sure that she got the recognition that she deserved for that.

For a moment, his gaze also fell on the majestic tree in the center of the Lightning Dome – the tree that held the shape of Faith in its trunk. He didn’t know what had happened, but he had faith that she would eventually return and that she would be healed, as she had said.

He didn’t pray for her because he knew that she would be safe, wherever she was and whatever had happened. Instead, he made a promise to her, that he would take care of whatever people still needed healing and that he would make sure that everyone would make it out of the arena.

“Tristan Venora. I’m the one who sent Fastia”, he told the Lightning Knights as they probably didn’t have any idea who he was. “We might need your help here. Most of the people in the Infirmary are fortunately not seriously hurt, but there is at least one patient that was critically injured and requires continued care in my opinion. He was poisoned”, he continued as he led them into the Infirmary. He had decided to update them on what had happened – he didn’t know what exactly or how much Fastia had told them.

“There was a Sessfiend in the Bloodworks, but Faith Augustin managed to kill it. Ilaren and Vivian Shiryu are still down there, but they seem to have everything under control. I don’t know who the masked individuals were”, he admitted as he stepped across the threshold and into the Infirmary proper once more in order to address the people there.

“The threat has been taken care of”, he told the healers and the wounded fighters before he checked on the Angler once more to make sure that his condition had remained stable. “I’d like the Angler to be transferred to a nearby hospital and remain under supervision until he has fully recovered now. Where should we take him?” he asked the healers as they were likely more familiar with such things than he was before he decided as he felt responsible for the man now, “I’ll accompany you there.”

“I’d like to thank you all for working together and preventing something much worse”, he told the people he had been in the Infirmary with before he turned to the Lightning Knights once more. “Is it safe outside? What does the area outside the Lightning Dome look like? And”, he continued in a polite tone of voice, having just thought of something. “Do you need reports on what we witnessed from any of us? As I said, I don’t know who the masked individuals that attacked us were, but I’ll do what I can to help regardless.”

[Vivian Shiryu]

Vivian paused when she heard Aeva's voice in her head. She had a great deal of respect for the Immortal of Forge, for all that their first meeting had been quite contentious. So she listened as Aeva told her how she could break the Delana Gem. She had to drop her brightgleam armor and sword so that she could take off her gloves, but that wasn't a particularly huge problem, since Ilaren had her opponent well in hand. But still, Vivian was shocked by the implications of what Aeva said about the gem. "I get that it's not great work, but it's still dangerous." she said in response to Aeva as she formed the tool that Aeva had shown her out of her free hand. "Though you'd think they'd have taken some precautions to make the thing harder to break." she said as she put the Delana gem in between the pincers of the tool.

Then Ilaren disabled her opponent, the infamous Witch Doctor as it turned out, and came over to Vivian. She started to tell her to do as Aeva said, but before the Immortal of Lightning had finished the first sentence, Vivian had started to squeeze down on the gem, cracking and destroying it with the tool Aeva had shown her. When it was done, Vivian shook her hand and returned it to normal, bits of rock falling from her fingers. "That's a new experience." she muttered to herself, before shaking her head. "But yes, that's not something we want running around." she said, before she nodded to herself. "Thank you, Lady Aeva, for showing me how to destroy it. I haven't forgotten that I still owe you a hammer." she said to the Immortal of the Forge.

Turning to Ilaren, Vivian gave an annoyed huff. "You think Syroa and her followers are still mad about the Mummer's Ball?" she asked, her tone showing her own displeasure at the current situation. Then additional lightning knights started pouring and Vivian let out a relieved sigh. "Oh good, reinforcements." she said, her tone calm. She peeled off a small group of the ones who came to deliver reports, however. "Gather up that body in the Bloodworks, let's see if we can find some way to identify who that Sessfiend used to be." she ordered, her tone calm. Apparently followers of Syroa could take their own Sessfiend forms at will, but it was also possible that the Sessfiend was some innocent victim who'd had a demon shoved into them to keep Rharne's defenders busy. Either way, it would be good to know. Then another report came in and got her attention. "What do you mean "she turned into a tree"?" she said, some more clear irritation in her voice that point. Faith was her friend, and she was definitely not supposed to be a tree.