It all seems to fall at your defense.
Jan. 21st, 2015 01:44 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
theschemer posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
spira_rpIenzo ached all over.
He wasn't sure he could remember the last time that he felt so exhausted. He had slept well enough in the hotel bed, but a single night's sleep was nowhere near enough to soothe away the strain of travel. He had, thus far, been unsuccessful in his request for a second one.
Just under a week ago, he had been informed that one of the Ryoka had defected from the main group and relocated to Daguerreo, an ancient, vast and half-submerged library out in the wilds of Nabradia. The Ryoka in question, a man described as being tall and very similar in appearance to an Al Bhed, could only be Vexen. Or Even. Whatever he was going by now -- Ienzo didn't know.
Under ordinary circumstances, Ienzo would have pointed out that Vexen was a scientist and that a trip to a repository of information like Daguerreo would not be out of character for him, certainly not enough to count such a trip as being a defection. However, these weren't ordinary circumstances, not now. He remembered Ulquiorra's recording of the battle following the Fall of Midgar. More precisely, he remembered Axel's participation in said battle, and the fact that he was fighting alongside Saix. That, Ienzo was sure, would definitely be enough of a push to get Vexen to cut ties with the group once and for all.
After the revelation came to light (something that L was responsible for), a quiet meeting was held with some of the other members of Khamja. From there, it was decided that he should be ... collected. It wasn't that Ienzo was concerned about him returning to the Order that had made him agree to do it, it was more that he wouldn't put Vexen's elimination past certain members now that he had shown a desire to leave them behind. Clan Khamja was not exactly safe, but it was certainly safer than going it alone in a still unfamiliar world, with enemies behind you, even in a remote location such as he had chosen.
A brief discussion later and a small party was decided upon. It was a carefully picked group of powerful fighters, friends and, it had to be said, enemies.
The group that left the Desert Palace consisted of Lumi and Marluxia, a pair of full Khamja members with enough firepower between them to subdue an unwilling addition to their ranks; himself, due in part to his long association with Vexen, his similar circumstances and the knowledge that Vexen would not trust Marluxia or his partner in the slightest without someone to vouch for them; Ulquiorra, now known to be an associate of his and someone Aizen could trust not to let him escape; and Neliel, because she was strong, non-antagonistic and it was safer for two of Aizen's minions to go on a trip such as this than one, especially given the company.
So far, the journey had been arduous, at least as far as Ienzo was concerned. For a start, it had all been taken across ground, or under it, instead of by airship. They had travelled more of the Zertinan Caverns than Ienzo had known existed and, in spite of the fact that some of it had been undertaken on chocobo-back, there was rather more walking on his own two feet than he would have liked. The second leg had been across the desert, all mounted. The longest part thus far had been through a great tunnel called the Fossil Roo.
That had been the worst.
The Caverns were bad enough, but the tunnel was long to the point of being seemingly endless and, as if that wasn't bad enough, it was also full of air so stale that it had been recommended that masks were worn for that part of the trip.
The aspect of it that had unnerved Ienzo the most was the fact that the Roo stretched from one continent to the other. Underwater. The idea that there was no hope of escape in the event of a cave-in was not his idea of a good time. The huge Gargants that scurried along the long-dead root systems that sprawled across the ceiling was not much fun either and they had, at least to begin with, spooked the chocobos quite as much as they had spooked him.
Well, they were giant spiders.
It had not taken him long to work out that, when the tunnel was built by whichever ancient culture had carved it out, the path between Dalmasca and Nabradia had probably not been submerged at all. Indeed, the sea above them was very likely to be considerably shallower than the rest of it. It had, to his reckoning, been some sort of land bridge recently enough that an intelligent culture had made and, for the duration of their stay, maintained the path. It was a minor miracle that it had survived for so long without its integrity being compromised.
Alternating between riding and walking, they had made the trip from one end to the other in a few long and, after a while, rather painful days. The only positive aspect of the Roo was that it was, for the most part, free of monsters brave enough to bother a party of their calibre.
They had come up some distance inland on Nabradian soil. The nearest city and, as luck would have it, their destination, was Luxerion. It took the group more than a day to reach it, but it was visible long before that thanks to the sky-piercing spire of the city's Cathedral. Luxerion may have even lived up to its name if it wasn't permanently overcast and swirling with Mist of the sort of density that could probably be described as 'low-to-moderate-risk-to-foreigners'.
They arrived late and in darkness. Luxerion did not have much of a tourism industry, not since Nabradia's fall, so the party had no trouble getting a hotel room for the night.
With dawn having broken, the city was beginning to come to life again. Shops opened their doors as the cathedral's bell tolled and, an hour later, Ienzo found himself sat inside an open-fronted café in the railway station, nursing a cup of rapidly cooling tea.
He wasn't sure he could remember the last time that he felt so exhausted. He had slept well enough in the hotel bed, but a single night's sleep was nowhere near enough to soothe away the strain of travel. He had, thus far, been unsuccessful in his request for a second one.
Just under a week ago, he had been informed that one of the Ryoka had defected from the main group and relocated to Daguerreo, an ancient, vast and half-submerged library out in the wilds of Nabradia. The Ryoka in question, a man described as being tall and very similar in appearance to an Al Bhed, could only be Vexen. Or Even. Whatever he was going by now -- Ienzo didn't know.
Under ordinary circumstances, Ienzo would have pointed out that Vexen was a scientist and that a trip to a repository of information like Daguerreo would not be out of character for him, certainly not enough to count such a trip as being a defection. However, these weren't ordinary circumstances, not now. He remembered Ulquiorra's recording of the battle following the Fall of Midgar. More precisely, he remembered Axel's participation in said battle, and the fact that he was fighting alongside Saix. That, Ienzo was sure, would definitely be enough of a push to get Vexen to cut ties with the group once and for all.
After the revelation came to light (something that L was responsible for), a quiet meeting was held with some of the other members of Khamja. From there, it was decided that he should be ... collected. It wasn't that Ienzo was concerned about him returning to the Order that had made him agree to do it, it was more that he wouldn't put Vexen's elimination past certain members now that he had shown a desire to leave them behind. Clan Khamja was not exactly safe, but it was certainly safer than going it alone in a still unfamiliar world, with enemies behind you, even in a remote location such as he had chosen.
A brief discussion later and a small party was decided upon. It was a carefully picked group of powerful fighters, friends and, it had to be said, enemies.
The group that left the Desert Palace consisted of Lumi and Marluxia, a pair of full Khamja members with enough firepower between them to subdue an unwilling addition to their ranks; himself, due in part to his long association with Vexen, his similar circumstances and the knowledge that Vexen would not trust Marluxia or his partner in the slightest without someone to vouch for them; Ulquiorra, now known to be an associate of his and someone Aizen could trust not to let him escape; and Neliel, because she was strong, non-antagonistic and it was safer for two of Aizen's minions to go on a trip such as this than one, especially given the company.
So far, the journey had been arduous, at least as far as Ienzo was concerned. For a start, it had all been taken across ground, or under it, instead of by airship. They had travelled more of the Zertinan Caverns than Ienzo had known existed and, in spite of the fact that some of it had been undertaken on chocobo-back, there was rather more walking on his own two feet than he would have liked. The second leg had been across the desert, all mounted. The longest part thus far had been through a great tunnel called the Fossil Roo.
That had been the worst.
The Caverns were bad enough, but the tunnel was long to the point of being seemingly endless and, as if that wasn't bad enough, it was also full of air so stale that it had been recommended that masks were worn for that part of the trip.
The aspect of it that had unnerved Ienzo the most was the fact that the Roo stretched from one continent to the other. Underwater. The idea that there was no hope of escape in the event of a cave-in was not his idea of a good time. The huge Gargants that scurried along the long-dead root systems that sprawled across the ceiling was not much fun either and they had, at least to begin with, spooked the chocobos quite as much as they had spooked him.
Well, they were giant spiders.
It had not taken him long to work out that, when the tunnel was built by whichever ancient culture had carved it out, the path between Dalmasca and Nabradia had probably not been submerged at all. Indeed, the sea above them was very likely to be considerably shallower than the rest of it. It had, to his reckoning, been some sort of land bridge recently enough that an intelligent culture had made and, for the duration of their stay, maintained the path. It was a minor miracle that it had survived for so long without its integrity being compromised.
Alternating between riding and walking, they had made the trip from one end to the other in a few long and, after a while, rather painful days. The only positive aspect of the Roo was that it was, for the most part, free of monsters brave enough to bother a party of their calibre.
They had come up some distance inland on Nabradian soil. The nearest city and, as luck would have it, their destination, was Luxerion. It took the group more than a day to reach it, but it was visible long before that thanks to the sky-piercing spire of the city's Cathedral. Luxerion may have even lived up to its name if it wasn't permanently overcast and swirling with Mist of the sort of density that could probably be described as 'low-to-moderate-risk-to-foreigners'.
They arrived late and in darkness. Luxerion did not have much of a tourism industry, not since Nabradia's fall, so the party had no trouble getting a hotel room for the night.
With dawn having broken, the city was beginning to come to life again. Shops opened their doors as the cathedral's bell tolled and, an hour later, Ienzo found himself sat inside an open-fronted café in the railway station, nursing a cup of rapidly cooling tea.
no subject
Date: 2015-01-27 02:18 am (UTC)Vexen was going to be unhappy enough to see him. If he was confronted with himself and Lumi, he might jump from unhappy to scared, and a scared Vexen was prone to doing something stupid and regrettable.
They needed to avoid that if they wanted to bring him in alive, in one piece, and willing; that being the ascending order of preference.
no subject
Date: 2015-01-27 02:32 am (UTC)He wasn't going to go in with Vexen. There was no need. Between Zexion and Marluxia, they should be capable of subduing Vexen should things go awry. If they weren't, however, he, like Nel and Ulquiorra, would step in.
He was there largely to make sure nothing happened to Marluxia. He knew he was strong, but should Zexion, Vexen and Zexion's new friend decide to rid themselves of him, he wasn't sure he'd be capable of fighting off the three of them. Ulquiorra was there for Zexion's protection, mostly from Marluxia and himself. Nel, he suspected, was there for Vexen's benefit. She was, functionally, the mediator.
He was going to wait outside. Should Vexen prove unable to be controlled, he would be on hand to put a bullet in his face.
"Of course," he said, quietly. "And, should Vexen not answer the door, I can handle the lock."
His job as a hitman was a secondary form of employment for him. His speciality was infiltration, breaking and entering and theft of information and, more rarely, tangible property. He was more than capable of breaking into his hotel room should it become necessary.
no subject
Date: 2015-01-27 02:44 am (UTC)"All right," he said, happy enough with the plan. "If you feel Vexen's reiatsu spike, don't worry too much. He's a defensive fighter. His weapon, if you can call it that, is a shield. He ..." he paused, trying to phrase his next line in such a way that didn't imply that the same type of weapon generation as Saix had demonstrated. He gestured as though grasping for the word. "... imbues it with his element. If you feel anything, he's likely putting that between us."
no subject
Date: 2015-01-27 11:16 pm (UTC)Honestly, she wouldn't blame him for reacting offensively, either, but he would probably be too intelligent to try an attack unless pushed, knowing there were reinforcements nearby.
"We'll watch for yours," she said, looking at Zexion, and then acknowledging Marluxia as well, since he also counted. "If you let yours go, we know you're having to respond."
They weren't going in guns blazing, so to speak, so they'd be silly to respond to someone's defensiveness with escalation. It also meant that no one was going to get away with trying anything while they weren't exactly looking.
no subject
Date: 2015-01-27 11:22 pm (UTC)His ego would need a lot of placating, first, in any event, and then there would be the discussion of terms. He'd probably also be in for a little information, once he'd agreed, that it would be beneficial for him to have immediately.
Such as not pulling out his shield where the Arrancar could see it.
no subject
Date: 2015-01-27 11:26 pm (UTC)He'd be keeping a watch on Marluxia's reiatsu in particular; it was him that Ulquiorra didn't trust. With Zexion out of his sight, he wasn't going to stop observing the reiatsu levels for even a second until he was in Ulquiorra's sight again.
no subject
Date: 2015-01-28 12:27 am (UTC)The landscape had grown darker during their conversation as the sun had continued to descend. The Mist had thinned out slightly the further they got from the Nabreus region, but it never completely disappeared. The landscape had steadily grown less and less warped the further out they got.
An hour or so on and they were crossing a long and rather ancient cantilever bridge to the island on which Daguerreo was located. Daguerreo Island's lands were relatively normal looking, at least by night. By the time they reached the station it was pitch dark.
no subject
Date: 2015-01-28 01:04 am (UTC)Now that the train ride was over, the really hard part was coming up. This was the bit where they had to physically track down their target. Neither she nor Ulquiorra were familiar with Vexen's reaitsu to try identifying him that way, although they would be able to home in on strong individuals, and, once near enough, the chakra type of them, which would make things easier. It wasn't, however, a guaranteed quick find, so there was still legwork to do.
"He's Ice elemental, isn't he?" Nel asked, double checking with Zexion because now would be a really good time for any addenda like 'Yeah, but he's got Wind subtype' or 'Actually he's just really good at it, and secretly he's Poison elemental', although she doubted they were coming. Ice was, at least, one of the less common chakra types.
Daguerreo itself loomed ahead in the darkness; a lurking patch of darker shadow ahead of them.
no subject
Date: 2015-01-28 01:29 am (UTC)"He is," he confirmed. "Pure Ice. No subtypes. He's probably the most powerful Ice Elemental you're ever likely to meet and he knows how to use it to its full potential." Somehow, that still felt like an understatement. "He doesn't look like much, but he's powerful. He's a mage and a true Master of his element. Don't underestimate him should it come to combat."
He remembered Ulquiorra's recording and how Axel had looked on it. It was as though he had the Fire he wielded entirely under his control, even in that volume. Vexen was, in Ienzo's opinion, better than Axel with Ice than he was with Fire. Axel lacked Vexen's precision control and relied on physical attacks as heavily as magical. Vexen did not.
"Now we just have to find him," he said.
He looked at the yawning darkness ahead of them. Daguerreo was built into a giant, hollow rock, or possibly a dormant volcano, probably thousands of years ago. It was said to pre-date the War of the Magi. Ienzo could hear rushing water up ahead of them and he could see the moonlight that managed to penetrate the Mist glittering on what could only be two waterfalls either side of the mouth of the cave. He smelled nothing of interest, not yet. The scent of the sea was strong, but even that was dampened by the ambient Mist.
no subject
Date: 2015-01-28 01:35 am (UTC)The moonlight was thin and pale, but it was more than enough for him to see by. He could see a gigantic rock up ahead of them. He would have described it as a mountain, but the climb was nowhere near gradual enough for him to use that description. It looked like a vast, mountain-sized boulder, or inland cliff, hard and grey and unforgiving.
The short and mercifully rough-paved walk from the station took them to a long bridge suspended over a large lake, into which a pair of wide-spaced waterfalls drained, one higher than the other. The cave entrance was obvious enough. It was a good few storeys high and sat at the opposite end of the bridge.
He scowled to himself. Who built a library in a cave?
no subject
Date: 2015-01-28 02:01 am (UTC)Potentially on second and third time visitors, too.
There were no lights visible that would indicate windows, he noticed, suggesting that someone considered wall space more valuable than natural light; a common affliction of many libraries, and their patrons. Of course, it would have been difficult to put window into rock anyway, but someone had made the effort to build inside it, so they hadn't been averse to labour. Only, it seemed, to sufficient amounts of natural light.
no subject
Date: 2015-01-28 02:30 am (UTC)He was already tracking reiatsu, although the Mist, and the shell of Daguerreo kept it too muffled for accuracy out here. Marluxia's was steady, with only minor fluctuations; Ulquiorra had been observing what was normal for him over the course of the journey so he could catch anything unusual before it began, just in case.
no subject
Date: 2015-01-28 02:38 am (UTC)She was good, and Ulquiorra was frighteningly good at judging how strong someone was. The Ryoka always seemed to embody their elements more than normal, she'd noticed that, and if a Ryoka was strong, and of an uncommon element, that gave them a better edge when it came to tracking them.
She led the party inside, and gave the place a once over before she turned to Zexion and said, "Remember to breathe."
no subject
Date: 2015-01-28 07:51 pm (UTC)For a moment he felt almost numb in his surprise, half convinced that he'd fallen asleep on the train and had yet to wake up.
Daguerreo was vast. The main chamber rose up on multiple levels and each of those contained more books than Ienzo had ever seen in his life. Floors upon floors held hundreds of bookshelves, each packed end-to-end with thousands of books. Everything from the ground floor up was packed out with volumes of varying ages, but those below were no longer in use. Ienzo could see why. The old chambers down there, visible either side of the carved bridge, were flooded.
As if to combat the damp, everything inside was hewn from stone. Columns and alcoves were carved into the rock itself, while other structures were made from blocks of shaped stone left over from the excavation. Centuries of use had worn away the toolmarks and smoothed off any rough edges.
"This..."
He barely noticed the desk and clerk at the other end of the entrance bridge.
no subject
Date: 2015-01-28 08:35 pm (UTC)Daguerreo was more than merely vast, and the reality of tracking down a single individual here was looming uninvitingly. Nel was willing to try anything that would make it quicker.
no subject
Date: 2015-01-28 08:40 pm (UTC)Zexion would be impressed; he knew that before he heard him try to talk, and fail. It was not often, in Ulquiorra's experience, that Zexion was lost for words.
He kept one hand in his pocket, the other stabilising his bag, and pressed on, sticking close to Zexion. Daguerreo was rampant with the ghosts of reiatsu, some more ingrained into the surroundings than others, and over the top of that was the fuzz of Mist, belonging to no one, but playing tricks on perception. It was hard to identify any single individual from the noise, right now.
no subject
Date: 2015-01-28 08:44 pm (UTC)No wonder Vexen had come here. It would be easy to get lost here, especially if you were trying to get lost here.
He cast a sideways look at Lumi, sharing an extremely brief glance that communicated both that this was where the work really began, and that he was a little impressed, and not surprised, with Vexen's choice of hiding place.
They might need the Arrancar to pry Zexion back out again afterwards, too.
no subject
Date: 2015-01-28 10:20 pm (UTC)Ienzo watched as Lumi returned a look from Marluxia. Nothing was said, but apparently nothing needed to be. He did notice that Lumi, very lightly, touched Marluxia's hand with a fingertip, communicated something with a look, inclined his head and strode forward towards the desk without a trace of apprehension on his face. Lumi, ordinarily quiet, asked where a certain book section was, quite politely and scarily casually, and went off in that direction with Marluxia once given the information.
Ienzo had a sneaking suspicion that he may have even given the clerk a smile, but if he did, he didn't see it.
Once it was their turn, Ienzo and the Arrancar went up to the desk. It was Nel who asked the clerk about him and Nel who got what little information the clerk was willing to give based on his description. It turned out that, despite the fact that he had checked in under a false name, using neither 'Even' nor 'Vexen' much to their frustration, not many around middle-aged men matching the description of an Al Bhed chose to visit Daguerreo, certainly not recently. She apologised about not being authorised to hand over a spare room key, but she did give them the room number in case their friend wanted to come out and see them as Nel claimed he would.
Vexen was staying in the area dedicated to visitors rather than residents, which made Ienzo rather sure that his time at the library was intended to be a temporary gathering of his thoughts rather than a decision to move into Daguerreo on a permanent basis. That was interesting.
Lumi and Marluxia met them on the appropriate floor. The group, using the Arrancar's unnatural ability to detect even suppressed Reiatsu with enough effort and Ienzo and Marluxia's familiar recognition of Vexen's, found that the door they had been given was, indeed correct.
Ienzo rapped on the wood and waited.
no subject
Date: 2015-01-28 11:00 pm (UTC)They met them again to find they'd been, very conveniently, given a room number, and once they were nearby, it was clear that they had even been given a correct room number.
It was Zexion who knocked. Marluxia doubted Vexen would answer. If they could tell he was inside, then he'd be able to tell they were outside, and he'd only let them in if he wanted to see them, which seemed unlikely.
He looked to Lumi when the door wasn't opened after a few seconds too long, and gave a single nod. "It seems he's struggling with the lock. Perhaps you can help?"
They had expected that this would be necessary, and Lumi had some useful skills when it came to gaining entry to places the owners would prefer you didn't.
no subject
Date: 2015-01-29 01:09 am (UTC)He wasn't surprised that Vexen had decided not to open the door. He could feel Vexen inside. He was clearly powerful, appropriately suppressed and very obviously Ice Elemental, an Element that he himself was intimately familiar with. If he could feel Vexen, someone he didn't recognise, and know him for what he was, it made sense that Vexen would recognise the chakra of two ex-associates and that of two Arrancar. The Arrancar, in his own experience, were distinct from one another, but also shared something in common. Vexen had encountered Arrancar before, albeit different ones. If he was as intelligent as Zexion suggested, he would know what waited for him on the other side of the door.
Lumi pulled back his coat and reached into an inside pocket for a small thrice-folded wallet and opened it. It was a selection of lock picks of professional quality, suited to all kinds of locks with the exception of keycards. On Spira, that wasn't too much of a problem. Few places used them. This place was old and the locks were aged accordingly.
He crouched by the door, took a moment to select the tools for the job, and went to work.