The Forgotten Zodiac

Right, right. He doesn't like any of them except for Cyan. And Cyan didn't always used to be mute.

Well, no. Of course not. It would have happened in the last... Three years, I think. We should ask Bun how long Borey has been in power.

Boring Borealis. Ho ho ho.

Boring Borealis.

Lucia nodded, smiling at Leanne in response. She'd never been close to the female Heron, but it was nearly impossible to dislike them. "Soren did send me to invite you, if you think it would be acceptable. Kieran and Syl and sparring before Soren and Syl are, so there may be some," she paused briefly to think of how to phrase it to Leanne. "slip-ups. They'll be at the training yard now, if you want to come." She was fairly certain the Laguz would come anyway, but it was her decision. If her escorts asked, Lucia could say she had no idea it was so improper; she'd had absolutely no idea that it would be so terribly objectionable.

Marche shook his head, responding immediately. "I wouldn't miss it. Let me just grab Mewt." He stepped inside the library and came out shortly with Mewt. The other two mages chose to stay in the library, going over arcane magical textbooks in an attempt to find something more useful. The more research they got done, the closer everyone got to going back to normal.

Mewt exited the library and paused slightly when he saw Geoffrey. "Oh. H-Hello. Mewt Randall, in case you missed it last night." He extended a hand toward Geoffrey to shake, and he had a surprisingly good grip for someone who spent most of their time avoiding windows and doorways while studying archaic magical techniques.

"Ow!" Ike jumped back, though he didn't try to grab the staff from Mist. She'd fight for it, and that wasn't worth the effort. He turned to Elincia, pointedly ignoring his sister. "You aren't used to it already? The way Mist keeps opening her mouth, I'm surprised she doesn't fight with more people."

Leanne only smiled, nodding quickly. She headed off down the hall in the way that she recalled the training yards to be. It wasn't too hard for her to get around - while most beorc's auras were similar, she found Kieran's to be a little more distinct that the others. It seemed to her that she could sense it from farther away, and she supposed it might be a direct reflection of Kieran's... robust-ness.

Geoffrey waited the two out in the hallway, and when they appeared, he smiled. Gripping Mewt's hand in return, he said, "Pleasure to make your aquaintance. I'm Geoffrey, Captain of the Royal Knights. If you'll follow me, the training yards are this way." He released Mewt's hand and backtracked a bit in the way he and Marche had come, then turned towards the training yards.

Elincia laughed, while Mist scowled. "Other people aren't as annoying as you," she retorted, moving to hit him with her staff again. She stopped mid-swing, though, when she heard a voice call her name. "Mist! Ike!"

Soren could be quite loud when he wanted to be. He looked over the three for a moment, ensuring that he had their attention, before turning back to the young valkyrie. "There's going to be a sparring match in the training yard, and we may need a... properly qualified healer on hand. Would you accompany me, Mist?" he asked.

Mist looked surprised. "What, is Kieran involved? Sure, yeah, I'll come," she said. Shooting her brother one last look, she trotted across the courtyard to Soren, then the pair set off.

Lucia followed Leanne down the hallway and the two women soon reached the training field. Syl was there as well, waiting for Kieran to arrive with his horse. The mage rose when Leanne reached the field and smiled at her. "Hello, Lady Leanne. It's nice to see you again." He glanced at Lucia and smiled at her as well. "Hello, Lucia. Have you seen Kieran? He's supposed to be on his way here."

Mewt hurried after Geoffrey and Marche, moving slightly faster than they did to keep up. They were both significantly taller than he was, but he said absolutely nothing. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Geoffrey. Marche, who is Syl fighting again? You neglected to tell me."

Marche rolled his eyes, stepping back so he walked behind Mewt in the hallway with Geoffrey in the lead. "Geoffrey's second in command, Kieran, I think. If Kieran is anything like he looks, they'll probably end up ruining your training field, Geoffrey. I hope you're prepared for that." It was true. No one in Ivalice fought with any intention of protecting the landscape; people fought to win.

Ike couldn't resist one last taunt at Mist. "Soren, you might want to find someone else! I'm not sure Mist qualifies as a talented healer!" He then turned and lifted Elincia into his arms again, looking at her and smiling. "Shall we go see what they're doing? I'll bet Kieran's fighting one of the new people, either Marche or Syl. What'd you think?" He marched off after Soren and Mist without waiting for her answer, assuming everyone's second favorite thing was watching people attack each other in fun. Everyone's favorite thing would be actually hitting things themselves.

Leanne smiled warmly at Syl. "He should be here soon, I think," she said, glancing in the direction from which she sensed Kieran. "Ah! And so he is," she said, pointing at the knight as he rode his horse over to them.

"Hah! Ready Syl?" Kieran challenged, smiling widely. He took pause for a moment, however, seeming to remember something. "Ah, we should wait for the spectators, yes? I'll bet everyone will want to see this!" he said, sounding excited.

Geoffrey only smiled at Marche. "I'll start preparing myself, then," he said. "Thanks for the warning. Kieran has a tendancy to break weapons and the like in training, so I'm used to that. But I suppose I'll have to see how this plays out for myself," he said. He turned and arrived in the training yard at about the same time as Leanne and Lucia. He nodded to the pair of Ladies, then leaned against the wall, trying to make himself comfortable as Kieran rode into view.

Mist turned and stuck her tongue out at Ike, while Soren merely rolled his eyes at the sibling's antics. He rather appreciated it when people acted a bit more mature, but he tolerated. Not accepted, but tolerated. "Come on," he said, glancing at the threesome that trailed after him. "We'll be late."

He picked up the pace a bit, knowing that the others could keep up. After all, Mist was fairly energetic herself, and one of Ike's paces matched two of Soren's. Thus, the group found themselves in the training yard only a few minutes after the others, but Kieran was already growing impatient.

"No more waiting!" the knight declared suddenly, turning to Syl. "Let us spar!" he said, sounding all to eager to get on with the fight.

((The first thing that should happen: Syl should totally just knock him off his horse and Kieran has to get back on while the others (mostly Mist and Leanne) laugh.))

((Have Kieran hit Syl with his axe. Syl can do a blocking spell in this post, so the recoil will knock Kieran off his horse, and Syl won't have to do anything.

OH GOOD GOSH. MEWT HASN'T MET ELINCIA OR MIST YET. -shoots self- I'm so tired of introducing these people.))

Syl nodded and closed his eyes while he took a deep breath. He opened his eyes then, fully composed, and faced Kieran. "Let's begin." Without waiting for a reply, he started in on a spell sequence, words flowing out of his mouth faster than any of the mages could follow. Even if they'd been able to follow it, they wouldn't have been helped. He wasn't speaking the Language of the Forest; he was speaking the Grimoire Tongue.

Mewt watched his healer carefully, noting that he hadn't drawn his weapon or started any offensive spells. "He's Protecting first. How'd you think he'll finish, Marche? Holy Blade or Saint's Cross? I guess he could just use normal combat, but that seems unlikely."

Marche thought for a second, also watching Syl. "Holy Blade. Look at his stance; he's leaning forward more than he would with a Saint's Cross. Those require a more level stance than that." Of course, no one around them had any idea what they were talking about; but that was the point. Even if Kieran heard them, it wouldn't help.

Ike did hurry slightly, and he reached the training field level with Soren and Mist. He carried Elincia over to the group and set her down again. "Hello again, everybody," he greeted them. "Kieran's fighting Syl? Any bets yet?" He then glanced at his wife and went over his question again. "Not that I encourage gambling or would bet myself. I'm just wondering."

"I'm betting against Kieran," Soren murmured, glancing over at Lucia with a knowing look. He and the knight had reconciled since their last fight, and Soren had to admit that, without Kieran, he might not still be standing here, but... "Syl seems like he knows what he's doing, while Kieran's style is more.... ...adaptive," he finished, for lack of a better term.

Geoffrey elbowed Ike slightly. "I don't know that I'd bet, only that this'll be interesting," he said, smiling a bit. He watched as his Second in Command paused, watching Syl as he tried to figure out what on earth the Paladin was saying, before deciding it might be best not to let the spell finish. The red knight urged his horse to gallop at Syl, swinging his axe at his arm.

Lucia nodded at Soren, but paused as she watched the fighters. "That could hold him back as well. Kieran is adaptive and unpreditable; he's more likely to get through his opponent's guard because they can't predict him. If Syl is using a certain series of moves, an intelligent opponent could pick up on it and use that against him." She stopped, remembering it was Kieran he was fighting. "That doesn't mean the opponent will, of course."

Syl did something none of them expected, except possibly Mewt and Marche. Instead of stepping out of the way of Kieran's attack, he stepped into it while flooding energy to his defensive spell. The weapon struck him square in the chest, to the horror of those watching. The spell recoiled immediately, increasing the force Kieran had struck with and sending it back the way it came. Syl didn't even stagger.

Ike's jaw dropped when he saw the mage's technique; even from that distance they could tell there had been no effect on the mage. "Did he just- Is he okay? What'd he just do?" It was incredibly impressive. Even the strongest defense spells would have slipped some under a full-force blow from Kieran.

Mewt and Marche were the only ones appearing unimpressed. They had, indeed, expected Syl to do that as soon as he started the round with a fully defensive spell. His typical opening was a Holy Blade spell; they were useful and versatile.

Kieran let out a yelp as he was knocked backwards, falling off his horse and losing his grip on his axe; it fell to the ground, shortly followed by the knight.

Soren straightened and Mist jumped, both simulaneously reaching for their heal staves, but pausing as Kieran merely got up brush himself off, chuckling. He grabbed up his axe and glanced at Syl for a moment, wondering if he was going to try an attack before the knight got back on his horse.

Meanwhile, Geoffrey did his best not to laugh. "Quite a start there, Kieran!" he called, watching as his Second in Command barely glanced his direction with a scowl before turning back to the match.

Syl did nothing but step back and watch Kieran get up; he didn't even start a new spell. Once Kieran was back on his horse, Syl started in on a series of hand motions. These were harder to recognize compared to the incantation. Magical incantations were easier to discern; the words had a way of resonating throughout the room. The Paladin watched the red knight semi-curiously, wondering if he would simply attack him without forethought again.

Shockingly, Mewt stepped forward to Kieran's defense. "You can hardly expect him to predict that. Syl's one of the only people in Ivalice to be able to utilize that technique, and you aren't even familiar with our techniques. It could have killed him, though; if your weapons were better a piercing magic than ours."
Marche nodded in agreement, discussing Syl's strategy the way Mewt was. "Personally, I'd've just gone after him with a Holy Blade. You can get a weapon's magic piercing ability from the way it blocks a Blade, and you don't have to be on the defensive."

Ike nodded along as they discussed the fighting styles, following all but the magical theory involved. "How many times could he do that, do you think? Is it a one time only, or could he repeat it?"

"Who knows?" Soren said, seating himself against a nearby wall, sitting down his two staves beside him. "We might just find out here, soon," he remakred.

Mist sat down by Soren, watching the match with far more intrest than the mage. When Kieran cantered his horse around and charged at Syl again, though, she got to her feet, excited. Beside her, Leanne let out a small squeal of anticipation. The girls were clearly having more fun watching than the others were, but the pair, as one had stated only just before, didn't get to watch sparring like this often. Sure, Mist had seen Ike fight plenty of times, but watching someone fight on horseback was a bit different.

At the last minute, Kieran pulled off to Syl's side in a feint, then turned in his saddle to swing at the boy's back.

Here Syl did something impressive. He jumped straight into the air and planted his hands down. Sunlight solidified under his finders and, using that, he swung his legs up, avoiding Kieran's axe strike and letting the horse gallop underneath him. He let go and dropped onto the ground in a crouch. He stuck out a hand and more light appeared to solidify into his hand, this time forming a sword shape. The mage jumped into the air, swinging the sword directly for Kieran's throat.

Lucia gasped slightly as she watched Syl control himself, clearly rather impressed with the gymnastics. Most of the crowd watching appeared to be; and it appeared to be growing. Servants were pausing in their work to watch the strange new arrival combat one of their favorite knights.

Marche was one of the very few to not be impressed. He let out a brief snicker and shook his head slightly, more amused than anything. "He's showing off. That's terrible strategy; any decent archer would have him out of the air in seconds, not to mention all the attention it calls to him. He'd be dead in seconds."

Soren smirked to himself as he overheard Marche's evaluation. The mage could easily see how the words were true, and he vaguely wondered where Shinon was. Probably sleeping off last night. Turning his gaze from the fight, Soren began thumbing through his tome, wondering if Syl would be up to sparring with Soren after this match. Not that the mage wanted to, as Marche had so aptly put it, "show off" his skills, but Syl had expressed intrest in Tellius magic, and Soren knew that he himself had mastered a good bit of it.

Meanwhile, the match went on. Kieran quickly parried Syl's attack with his axe and kept moving along with his swing, angling his horse so that the knight's shoulder collided with Syl's chest, left open after the parried blow.

Leanne cheered and clapped loudly, calling encouragement that no one really understood or paid attention to.

((Leanne is so... Bloodthirsty. She may be of the wrong race.

What time is it? Syl and Soren get up early, and then they woke everyone else up. So, by now, it's eightish? They should eat soon.))

The battle waged on for nearly a half hour longer; each fighter balancing the other well enough that neither was able to land a solid hit. Kieran's movement was faster, and his attacks were stronger; but Syl had the advantage of magical backing. By now, those watching had noticed two many tells. Verbal magic was defensive or healing; hand signs were offensive. They couldn't tell which spells he was going to do yet, but the intent of the spell was more clear.

Syl was about to finish a spell and attack Kieran when a voice cut across the field. "Leanne? Where are y-" Reyson had awkoken and gone to look for his sister. His rooms had been on a different wing of the castle, so it had taken him longer than otherwise expected. Of course, he was shocked to find his sister watching a sparring match with the no escort. "Leanne, what are you doing here?" the Heron Prince demanded.

Syl stopped, defusing the spell he'd had prepared, and watched Reyson approach the group. Since the Heron had been at the gardens first, he came straight across the training field to reach the group of watchers; and it was polite to stop fighting when a civilian was on the field.

((She's not bloodthirsty. She's excited. She doesn't actually want them to get hurt.

Yes, breakfast soon.))

Leanne jumped as she heard her brother's voice, the girlish grin she had been wearing sweeping off her face. Kieran had to pause mid-swing as Reyson suddenly walked through he and Syl's match. The knight might have complained about that, had the offense not been committed by the Heron Prince.

Quickly following the White Prince were Janaff, Ulki, and Bastian. The Count looked a bit amused at the action that was taking place; Janaff and Ulki, on the other hand, looked worried and a bit irked at the Heroness.

"Brother, I was only... watching," she said quietly, glancing over to the other spectators for their support.

((Shall one of the more diplomatic perhaps Elincia, offer it?))

Syl resheathed his sword and followed the group across the field, watching the Hawks with interest. "<i>Is there a problem</i>?" he questioned. "<i>Kieran was helping me demonstrate the magical combat techniques of Ivalice, for mutual instruction</i>." Like a true noble, his face was completely composed and his voiec was level as he told the... reinterpretation of the truth. It sounded much more acceptable than what they'd really been doing. Luckily for him, the only ones who spoke the language had a vested interest in being believed.

Mewt wrinkled his brow slightly when he heard Leanne speak, frowning deeper when he heard Syl address Reyson. "Marche, does that sound like..." he trailed off, not entirely sure he wanted to discuss that in the current public setting.

Marche nodded slowly, agreeing with Mewt's unfinished question. "It's the same thing Ritz speaks to Shara when she wants to make me mad." Due to his curious nature and Ritz' teasing one, it was a language he would recognize, even though he didn't understand it. "Interesting that they speak it here. I would what it is."

((Sounds like Syl's got it covered.))

Leanne nodded in concurrence with Syl. "<i>See, brother? And I was well protected out here, you needn't worry</i>," she added, glancing to Janaff and Ulki.

The older of the two hawks spoke up. "Princess, we know that you're safe now. But we don't want you making a habit of running off like this! I don't understand how it is that you slip out of my sight... Ulki and I can sometimes only hope that you prove just as elusive to people who may wish harm upon you."

Kieran, meanwhile, had dismounted his horse, looking him over. "...Syl," he called, when he deemed a pause long enough for him to interrupt. "I believe we'll have to call this match. Same time next week?" he asked, grinning lightly.