3516/Siege on Hyrule Castle

Siege on Hyrule Castle
Date of Scene:	12 December 2015
Location:	The Hylian Mainland <LoZ-5>
Synopsis:	The Union lays siege on Hyrule Castle, while the Confederacy turns on Agahnim.
Cast of Characters:	Priscilla, 73, 248, 385, 513, 626, Sanary Rondel, 789, 804, 805, 864, 878, 879, 880, 891, 908, 924
Tinyplot:	Clearing the Twilight

---

Agahnim (864) has posed:
     At long last, the time has come for Hyrule Castle to be sieged. It is time for the Union to try and place Princess Zelda back upon the throne. They meet, just south of the castle, gathering under the cover of darkness. Fassad waits for the group, hiding behind various trees and jutting out rocks on the trail between the Castle and the City. He has left his horse behind today, and his Shinki. In a situation like this, he is unwilling to risk those two. It seems he is willing to risk himself, nonetheless.

     The plan is simple: Rush in, and seek out Agahnim. Fassad will use the Master Sword to break the barrier surrounding the Castle. The path forward will be open. And, they will make a straight rush for Agahnim. The problem will be stopped straight at the source.

     The sun begins to rise, and the light shines down upon the land. The vast towers of Hyrule Castle cast shadows upon the land. With the morning light, some of Agahnim's forces can be seen. About ten men in heavy armor are patrolling the walls, wearing green-colored armor and helmets that conceal most of their faces. Those with better eyesight can see the armor is, in fact, empty. These are animated soldiers created to protect Agahnim. In general, there seems to be very little for forces. Fassad's report is likely correct: Agahnim has sent most of his forces elsewhere.

     Fassad smiles, looking towards his allies. A sword is within his right hand. It, at a glance, might be mistaken for a normal blade. Looking closer, and one can see and feel a glimpse of what it really is.

     And, within the walls, it has turned out this is true. Bare bones forces are present, simply enough to defend the castle against most forms of attack. Agahnim is still present, sitting in the throne room of the Castle.The massive red-cloaked man clutches the armrests of the opulent golden throne, his eyes narrowed and looking forward. He put a call out for Confederates to come for a meeting with him. They have been gathered before him, so that he might have an audience with them.

     The look on Agahnim's face is unpleasant, to say the least. He is a man seething with fury. He is restraining it, as best as he can. He speaks as calmly as he can to the Confederates before him.

     "I have called you here to ask you but one question. I understand that our alliance is... loose. I have not officially allied with you all. You have been aiding me, in exchange for things to come down the road. You have aided me in killing three of the four Great Fairies. But. You've been doing /more/, haven't you? I learned through the Union of your destruction of the Deku Tree. Death Mountain is suffering, as well. I sent out scouts to investigate. And, I ask this of you."

     And then, Agahnim's voice becomes booming. His restrained rage is let out, and an intense magical pressure fills the entire room.

     "Why are you empowering Majora's Mask, allying with an ancient malevolent God that is almost certain to bring about Hyrule's destruction? The destruction of the land /I/ plan to rule?"

Project MORDRED (804) has posed:
MORDRED answers readily when the question is asked, and he answers very simply. "I am a Knight, my lord. When I am tasked to perform a mission, my answer is 'Yes, my lord.' I do not presume to know why this path was chosen, but if you have issues with them I will not hesitate to defend my honour." And with that, he mounts the tall black machine that is his Armour. Locking himself inside its defensive shields and putting a hand on the monofilament broadsword. "This is the first I hear of you raising issues with that path, perhaps you should have mentioned it sooner?"

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    NO WI-FI SIGNAL.

    Gudako looks up from her cellphone as she makes it through Hyrule Castle for the rendez-vous. She is accompanied by two ethereal presences, obviously powerful spirits.

    "How drab. Caster, what do you think?" 8D
    "I would decorate differently, master~." answers the disembodied female.
    "It's missing something, isn't it?" 8D

    Gudako glances down at her cellphone again.

    NO WI-FI SIGNAL.

    She finally arrives in the throne room, a bit late. She hears the outcry about a mask, the defense of the space knight. She idly chips in: "We're your allies, right? So, whatever power it gives us, you get to use too, you know? It's win-win." 8D

    Gudako glances down at her cellphone again.

    NO WI-FI SIGNAL.

    Gudako frowns.

Winedark Archer (924) has posed:
Standing amongst the crowd is a man in his mid-40s, wearing a beggar's cloak. His face is partially concealed by the hood, and his entire body is wrapped in it, hiding whether or not he wears armor. What is clear is that he's immensely magical, and that everything he wears is made of magic. Archer steps forward as Agahnim berates them, smooth and clear, but at the same time, comforting.

"Lord Agahnim, please lower your voice and calm yourself. Such stress and anger will not help anyone, especially if we are yout allies in any form, nor will it solve our issues. Yes, we give the Mask power, but why we do so, you do not truly know, nor can I say. It is not an attempt to meddle with your plans, nor to ruin your kingdom, for the alliance we are building with you, we want strong and firm until the end. Please trust us, lord, for we have done nothing but trust you and follow your wishes."

Despite not looking it, Archer seems to be specialized in words. His delivery is smooth, everything enunciated clearly and at a firm pace to allow all ears to hear and understand his words. Once he's done speaking, he steps back with the others, waiting to see what else is said.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     Sanary, as expected, arrives at Hyrule Castle fairly early in her heaviest combat gear: the Berserk Tetsucabra's armor, a kite shield on her back, a folded riot shield attached to one of her guantlets, and a gunaxe on her hip. It's a little much, but she's not wearing it because she's expecting any sort of outside interference today. Rather... Well, she has to be prepared for any possibility now that the Fairies are dead.

     Apparently, it might even be a possibility that Agahnim himself is aware of, if the question is any indication. She keeps her non-shielded hand against the side of her helmet, blocking out some of that volume before lowering it once he finishes. She takes a moment to weigh her words before finally speaking up, a tired sigh escaping her. "Better than letting it power up and actually destroy Hyrule, right? If we controlled it, though, then there's no risk of any of this getting destroyed while we both get the power involved in all of this."

     Gudako and the hooded Archer each get a nod in agreement. A light smirk crosses the cleric's face a moment later as she turns from them to Agahnim once again. "He's got the right idea. Speaking of power, though... We've completed our part of the agreement. Now it's your turn."

Nonon Jakuzure (805) has posed:
Within the throne-room is a diminuative woman dressed in pink and white, a hat that is a good foot, and also an outfit that seems to belong more in a band than it really does out in the open. Despite that, she doesn't seem to be bothered by the question is that answered. "Well, if it's a destructive force, I'm all for it being empowered. You can rule over if it's dead, you know~. It'll just be stronger because there's less weaklings cowering. Then you're only left with those worth existing."

Fighting with the unwrapping of a hard candy, Nonon tilts her head a bit before leaning back against a pillar. "I'd rather have a just a few elites than a thousand novices. If there's going to be a harmony, I don't want everyone just screaming their lungs out, they have to know what they're doing."

Then, she silences herself on a jumbo gumball.

Vergil (878) has posed:
     Vergil, arriving in his typical attire, joined the defenders at Hyrule Castle shortly, having taken a moment to observe from the ramparts or any available vantage for signs of their enemies.

     He sensed many powerful presences... in higher numbers then their own. Something that boded ill for them, and highlighted why eliminating the Union would be the first priority.

     After that... they could decide what to do about Agahnim.

     Vergil had been present for the deaths of two out of the three slain fairies and the destruction of the Deku Tree - the latter a key part of reviving Majora's Mask - and he'd advocated the idea that, should Agahnim's reward be lesser then what they could gain for making their own move against him that they should take it. But that in turn required first dealing with the threats to Confederate interests in this world - chief among them being the Union. r
     After that... then they could see which way the wind blew and take it from there.

     ... if only it were ever that simple.

     Agahnim's thunderous bellow has Vergil looking over his options, somewhat surprised that the self-proclaimed ruler of Hyrule had found out about the Mask so quickly.

     It was... unfortunate, in that whatever reward they were likely to get was probably going to be withheld by Agahnim unless someone spoke out. And given the lack of volunteers...

     "As the Knight said, we were never vowed to do anything more or less then kill the Great Fairies. As for the reason for empowering the mask... I personally don't know what the original intent for it was, though suppose you can call it an insurance plan." He gestures to the walls idly. "I don't know if you've looked out there, but with most of your army presently gone we are now rather outgunned in terms of manpower against the Union Elites"

     Vergil's words are made to appeal to to Agahnim as best he could with reasoning - it would be... ill-advised for them to have to fight two enemies at once. "If we end up having to abandon this castle for whatever reason... the Mask's power might be the only trump card left for us to play, lest you be utterly deposed without any way to maintain your rule. We've agreed to help you, and we're confident in our ability to uphold that deal... but it never hurts to have a contingency, now does it?"

     He isn't even lying, really - if things go wrong with the upcoming battle, they would need the Mask and it's power to ensure the effort put into Hyrule wasn't wasted... though whether or not Agahnim would be part of that future was subjective.

     After all, it depended entirely on whether or not Agahnim made the sensible choice here and now.

     "Anyway, it will only come down to that /if/ we get driven back. However, if that's not enough for you, I'll point out that a loss will become all the more likely if we start arguing amongst ourselves now; at the very least, we'd be better off driving back our common enemy - the Union and their 'champion' - and settling this once we're sure your rule remains uncontested."

     At the end, Vergil also gives glances of approval to Archer, Nonon, Gudako & Sanary "Like they said, we've worked with you throughout this, we all stand to gain from this, we have done all you asked of us. Our fates are already tied here - we have no need to quarrel, and any lingering reasons will have to wait until later... after the battle is won."

     Try to inspire some confidence that they either can win or believe they can - the latter being true... the former being possible. And only possible if they all stood as one. Otherwise... they'd already lost.

Frederica (73) has posed:
    Hopefully the 'good guy' plan doesn't involve stealth, as Frederica is riding up to the castle in the belly of a fire elemental. Frederica really doesn't do subtle, not if she can help it.

    And why WOULD they need to be subtle? The castle is covered by an impenetrable shield, right? Agahnim sitting happily inside his little bubble ought to be not-at-all threatened by anything approaching. He doesn't know the Union, and Fassad in particular, intends to burst his bubble. Once that shield goes down, things are going to get unsubtle in a hurry... so she figures why not arrive in style and comfort?

Yalai the Stave (879) has posed:
Two of the Hyruleans here are not of Hyrule at all. They had come from the far-flung realm of Skyloft, a time-lost land in the clouds, to lend their aid to their allies in the Union and the siege of this castle in darkness' grasp.

So it is that the shadow of great, wide wings falls over the area where the Union forces gather. Presently a great bird dives down from the clouds, before pulling up from the ground at the last moment to alight on large, stork-like feet. The bird snaps its bill once, cocking its head to eye the gathering with its reddish eyes.

As the bird tilts its head, it gives its rider a chance to stand up against the harness around its chest. Yalai the Stave's stark white hair, pale skin, and red eyes pop up from behind her bird, and she grins her familiar fox-like grin -- but this is not the Yalai that Fassad had once known. Indeed, there's no recognition in her blood-red eyes, or she might be busy trying to smack Fassad upside the back of the head for old times' sake.

Instead, she hops down from her Loftwing. Her black cloak is embroidered with the Weeping Eye -- truly, it must be an ancient symbol to come from the Sky Realm itself -- and she wears the same familiar black tunic and leggings. She does something behind her back and produces a quarterstaff, carved with pale runes. Whirling it in a practised arc, it comes to rest bobbing at her side, in perfect control.

Yalai smiles thinly, tilting her head to Fassad in greeting, the delicate chain in her right ear chiming softly. "You are having help from the Skyloft Knights, and we of the Servants of the Goddess as well, yes?" The quarterstaff rises to stand upright, halting against the bone of her wrist with a theatrical, practised /crack/. She steps forward, lightly, and comes to stop in the light before Fassad, inclining forward into a formal bow. It's just a little too articulated for human movement; too eerily agile. "The Sheikah."

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    A simple plan! Kyra likes it and can't find anything wrong with it. Except maybe the assaulting the castle part, that is always tricky due to the inherant advantage a castle has. Though from what Kyra can see, there doesn't seem to be as many guards here as expected-which actually makes her kind of wary.

    She waits, of course, at the rear atop a Chocobo Called from her summon matrix. When 'there', the bird seems to behave like a real chocobo and even paws back and forth while waiting, pecking at the ground or any floppy enough pieces of clothing to those that get too close. The rest of Kyra is obviously kitted out for some HARDCORE, AGGRESSIVE SUPPORT today, especially as she sports the GLEAMING GRENADIER'S CURE-ALL on her back.

    While she waits for the signal to charge, she starts casting the basic diagnostic spell Scan on things. The barrier. Allies. The Master Sword.

    "I'll be keeping to the back, by the way." Kyra announces, holding up her Galiandan hunting rifle, already pre-loaded with darts of some indeterminant kind. "Give me a radio with your position if you need any support, healing especially. Today feels like a good day so I promise there won't be any..." she glances to her Servant, "..uh, mishaps. Good luck everyone!"

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Normally, when it comes to assaulting a fortified castle, Yuna's first thought is El-Line. But given that the objective is less about taking the castle down and more about getting INSIDE the castle, Yuna's elected to use a smaller option. Somewhat smaller, anyway.

Rather than the regular blue-and-white of her Light Suit, then, when Yuna joins Fassad and the other Unionites wherever they, the Savior of Light is outfitted in a green-and-white exoskeletal battleframe, two larger manipulator arms mounted on the suit's shoulders while Yuna's own arms are clad in extra armor - still entirely usable, but it's Powered Form's exo-arms that do the proverbial heavy lifting. One of those exo-arms already sports her kite shield, Shugoseiheki, while Yuna's own arms hold the Matrix Divider at the ready; the suit's legs don't look too practical for running, but Yuna's used Powered Form often enough to know how it handles..

She hasn't used her Powered Form as a siege-breaker before - and technically, she STILL isn't using it for that purpose. But for the purposes of charging into the teeth of the enemy's defenses, knocking them down, and invading the castle? It should work just fine.

"Thanks, Kyra," Yuna says with a smile. "Good luck to all of us." She glances up at Frederica's fire elemental, then looks around at the other Unionites and friendlies. Hopefully, luck won't even come into it.

... but Yuna takes a moment to pray silently to the Queen of Light for guidance and support, nonetheless.

Finna (513) has posed:
    There is NO SIGN OF FINNA anywhere. Which is maybe worrying. Or maybe relieving.

    But it doesn't last. not for the sharpeyed among the group. A mouse, tiny as they get, has managed to climb up Fassad while he was busy turning to smile. And now it's sitting proudly on a shoulder, up against his neck.

    The tiny creature hoists itself upright, delicate paws against Fassad's cheek...

    And just starts LICKING an earlobe for a second.

    Then ZOOMS over to the OTHER shoulder.

    "Remember!" Sayeth the Mouse, in Finna's voice. "Dead people don't get rewarded in any way. I'll watch your back. You convince that sword to do what it exists to DO."

Sarah Parsle (789) has posed:
SARAH PARSLE stands in the forest, not really standing out much from the trees and rocks around her. She's mostly just standing there glooming around, thus repelling most small woodland creatures that tend to gather around young women in fantasy woodland settings.

A Disney Princess she is not.

"Okay, Blondie. This is it, huh?" She says, and peeks out around the tree to look out at the castle. "So we just need to get you in there, let you punch the barrier, and roll in to kick the evil wizard's ass?" She pauses, and turns to look over to the new woman arriving with the bird and unusual heraldry on their cloak. "Huh. You're new. Here to help out now that we did all the heavy lifting?" She doesn't wait for an answer. "I don't care, it's fine with me. Welcome to the pain train." She says dryly. "Name's Sarah. We're all working with Blondie McToothgleam over there. Pay no attention to the burning hellfire woman there, she's totally not the giant distraction." Sarah thumbs over to Frederica at that.

Nero (880) has posed:
     Nero was here in spirit form. No need to be materialized right now. Of course Kyra and anyone else with any amount of arcane sense could pick up her incorporeal form. She was positioned ahead of her Master, silent, but prepared.

     At Kyra's mention of 'mishaps', Nero's voice echoes out with a tone of sarcasm. "Oh yes. I shall endeavor to keep you free of any 'mishaps', Praetor." If she were materialized, she probably would have been giving the white mage a pointed look.

     She was never going to live down getting turned into a statue. Nope. Never.

     Once the time came to charge, she would materialize and do just that. But not a moment sooner. No need to waste prana just yet.

Aedan MacCarvill (891) has posed:
    Accompanying Yalai is a much larger, more unwieldy man. He has to land his Loftwing a small distance away, because it and he are far too large to land in a group of people. Aedan clambers off with a rattle of mail, waving his own bird off as he strides over to join the Sheikah near the rest of them. On closer examination (and hearing), he clinks and rattles quite a bit more than just mail. A quiver hangs at one hip, and his belt is ringed with small bottles full of strangely colored liquid that don't seem to be holding to any sort of specific consistency.

    "Did you introduce us while I was still in the air?" He asks of Yalai, his expression somewhere between amused and annoyed. Assuming that she did, he introduces himself anyway, "I'm Aedan, Rescue Knight. We'd heard of other Hyrules in trouble, so we came out to lend a hand. Ours has been pretty quiet for a while now, except for the colonization efforts and... you know. This." He waves around vaguely, and also seems to be ignorant as to who Fassad is. So goes the Multiverse.

    A glance is cast towards Sarah, "No, no... nothing like that. We're recent arrivals. Suddenly the sky opens up and the borders are all wrong. You know how it goes, I'm sure."

Priscilla has posed:
    Well she had promised to be here, or rather, Priscilla had promised to see Fassad safely through at least this much. She hasn't been so comically predisposed towards heroic guarantees as to promise Fassad that he'd survive Agahnim himself, but she's come alongside him as the proper action to dignify his being brave enough to accept what she had to say and come to Hyrule castle regardless of being rejected by the Master Sword. For the moment, she has no idea of Majora's Mask, and whatever it is or wants, or what the Confederacy has to do with it, though at least some inkling that their recent activities of killing off parts of Hyrule may be against the grand sorcerer's modus operandi, and so she fully expects to have to fight them as well. It's certainly been a while since she has. Two years at least since she's done so in earnest. It's a strangely nostalgic, but not altogether good feeling, to be at a staging grounds with allies like this again.

    Priscilla been here for a while already. Her particular skillset and incredible capacity for patience and ignorance of the elements often makes that the case in situations like these. Most of these Unionites she knows, at least passingly. A good deal have been with Fassad from nearly the start. She's past the point of automatically (greatly) mistrusting supposed allies that she doesn't know by now, and so it seems like as decent a force as any. She does little more than glance to each new arrival however, clearly fixated on something unspoken to anyone thus far; the active and alert equivalent of being lost in thought. "Is this all, then?" she asks in passing, fingering the oddly twisted cage of titanite wires suspending the unblinking blue eye over her collarbone, momentarily obscuring a certain 'scar'. "If so, it wouldst do very well for a handful of us to proceed ahead. I wilst not hath Sir Fassad walk out into the open to deliver the blow to the barrier, only to be riddled with arrows on sight." Putting her money where her mouth is, she disappears in a gust of utterly frigid wind, travelling out ahead unseen.

Agahnim (864) has posed:
     Agahnim tries to remain calm as the Confederates offer his explanation. His mouth is covered somewhat by the red robes he wears, but it is almost certain that he is frowning behind them. The look of his eyes, the narrowing of them, makes it almost certain.

     At least, he does not shout again. It is most obvious that he wants to. Especially at Nonon's words. So many explanations are given. Agahnim has started to wonder if the Confederates are stumbling over their own lies about why they are after the mask.

     He looks to Sanary, first. She asked for the reward. He closes his eyes. "The reward, the Golden Power known as the Triforce, is nearly in our grasps. That is, in fact, /why/ the troops are gone. We'll have to see if they can clean up this mess. With Zelda held by her uncle, the situation is worse than you can possibly imagine. We /need/ to reclaim her, in order for us to claim the Triforce. That is why I sent most of my army. But, there is no way the Union can possibly get past the barrier. Even if they /do/, I have enough forces present to hold them back."

     His eyes open. He clenches at his throne a bit more. A glare is given to all of them. "It doesn't matter if you think the Mask could be of use. It is far too dangerous. And, it will turn against all of us. I give you but one option: Give me the Mask, so that I might Reseal it, and banish the Dark God sealed within once again. Majora must /not/ return."

     "Oooh, I think you've got some other problems than just the mask, right now~." A somewhat playful, melodic voice speaks out. Its words are somewhat alien sounding. An unusual woman walks out of the shadows of the throne room. Her skin is a light blue in color, her hair a striking orange. She wears a hooded black cape, cloth over her torso, and a long skirt. Strange glowing tattoos cover her body. She smirks at the edge of her lip, looking towards the Confederates.

     "Some enemies are nearby. Your barrier is about to fail~. We'll have to beat them the old fashioned way."

     The woman looks towards the Confederates, her eyes piercing and red. "Oh. We haven't met, have we? I'm Midna, Queen of the Twilight Realm."

Fassad (248) has posed:
     Fassad nods at Frederica, smiling. He gives similar to Yuna. He is about to greet them, but then, he spots Yalai. His eyes go wide for a second at the bird she is riding upon. And then, it hits him. Her mannerisms, the lack of recognition... They are from a different land. The comment about 'Skyloft' confirms it. He still grins, though, speaking calmly and regally despite his non-royal nature. "Ah. It is a pleasure to have you here, Yalai." He turns to Aedan as well, "And to you as well, Aedan. Let me introduce myself. I am Prince Fassad, of Arcadia. And... I am currently borrowing the power of the Master Sword, at least for today." He assumes they'll know the importance of the Master Sword. Most Hyrule-offshoots do.

     He looks towards Sarah, smirking, "As eloquent as always. But, yes. We are going to fight Agahnim now. The barrier should, in theory, be opened by the Master Sword." Despite himself, he's grown used to Sarah's ways... And he wants to stay on her good side. She is one of the few who know he is not, in fact, a Prince.

     And then Finna licks him in mouse form. Fassad's entire body goes straight, eyes going wide. He grits his teeth. He is so close to knocking Finna off his shoulder. It's a good thing she finally speaks. He sighs, looking down towards the mouse. "...Don't worry. I will use the Master Sword as per how it should be."

     And finally, he looks towards Priscilla. He smiles towards her. She has, most certainly, been one of his most stalwart allies. He looks towards her, speaking, "...Don't worry. If anyone wishes to help keep me safe on the path to the barrier, they may. It should be outside the reach of their arrows, though. Let us go."

     Fassad walks forward. The barrier around the castle, visible before him. It is a giant sphere surrounding the place, electricity vibrating through it. Even while being a few steps away from the barrier, the force of it is affecting Fassad. His white cape blows in the wind, along with his long blonde hair. His eyes close, as his entire body braces against the repelling force of the wall. He knows from the reports that so much as touching it can lead to being electrocuted. He also knows that the Master Sword has not fully accepted him. Will it, at least, act in this case?

     He lifts the sword above his head. In this early morning light, it reflects against the sun. He pulls it back behind him, still holding it tightly in his right hand. And, with all of his force, and all of his power, he slashes forward. The blade strikes the barrier. There is a massive burst of power, from the Barrier and from the Sword. Fassad screams out, closing his eyes as he tries to use every bit of his body to push the Master Sword forward.

     There is a flash of light. The entire landscape is illuminated in its brightness. As the light begins to clear, the barrier is gone. For the first time since the Twilight fell, Hyrule Castle is now open.

     Fassad stares forward. His mouth hangs open, just slightly. Even though the Master Sword rejected him as its owner? He managed to do it.

     "CHARGE!" Fassad shouts, rallying his allies to begin the siege.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
That's all Yuna really needed; as soon as the barrier goes down (and Elner confirms it), she powers up her suits hover-thrusters, rising about half a foot off the ground, and accelerates forward with more thrusters pushing her in the direction she wants to go: straight towards the palace gates. If Priscilla is already in the vanguard, Yuna's not exactly looking to displace *her* - but if Priscilla stays invisible, it's up to her to get out of the way if Yuna comes roaring up behind her.

If there were any opposition to be seen, Yuna would be opening fire on them already, one way or the other. As it is, if nothing DOES show up to stand in the good guys' way, Yuna doesn't plan to come to a stop until she's inside the castle's front hall ... preferably by OPENING the front doors instead of just bowling through them and taking them halfway (or all the way) off their hinges.

Either way, she's not going to let them STOP her - or any of her allies.

Yalai the Stave (879) has posed:
The Sheikah blinks somewhat owlishly, all the wind seized from her sails, and swivels to look at Aedan as he clatters his way up to the gathering; those red eyes go a bit blank. Did she--oh. Whoops. Yalai clears her throat. "No. Not you." That's okay, because he introduces himself anyway.

She sidles a little closer to the much taller Skyloft Knight, dubiously eyeing the glass bottles hanging from his belt. None of them will explode, /probably/. Right?

Sarah Parsle is eyed for a moment, thoughtful; the Sheikah finally grins, showing teeth just a hair too pointed. "Heh. That does not mean I cannot still be helping, yes...?"

When Fassad introduces himself, and indicates the Master Sword, her eyes turn to the weapon -- and widen, the Sheikah herself staring in evident wonder. "The Blade of... no, that is not being the Goddess Sword. But it looks close..." Yalai frowns.

No time to think on it. They've got their opening. With a curt nod to Aedan, Yalai whirls her quarterstaff, fetches it up against the back of her wrist, and lunges forward -- straight for the shadows of the trees.

Her shape seems to waver, and then fade from view entirely the moment she's no longer focused on directly. It seems she's scaled one of the trees, leaping and sprinting lightly from bough to bough, but it's hard to spot. She's almost a blur, only taking back to the open fields when she's run out of trees and shadows to hide among.

The Sheikah will pace her allies right up to the front gate, whereupon she'll dart inside -- and immediately swerve off to the side, nearly spinning on her heel in her haste to stuff herself into the nearest shadowed corner of Hyrule Castle's foyer.

Yalai doesn't quite vanish, but it's pretty damned close.

Finna (513) has posed:
    There's some confusion on Finna's part when Aedan and Yalai arrive. The latter's voice she recognizes though, so the mouse decides to not worry about it too much. The more help the better!

    What matters more is this barrier. Just APPROACHING it... Fassad doing that's made all her little mouse hirs stand on end, sizzling with a static charge. ALL PUFFED UP.

    She has not noticed this, and it persists even after the barrier's brought down. All thanks to how hard she had to HOLD ON to Fassad's armor with that much energy flying around!

    The little mouse gapes and squeaks once. Very impressed indeed! "Wooohooo! that worked! We're in!" She's cheering like a little girl! Just that excited.

    "We don't need a mythical hero to oust this jerk from his stolen throne. Teamwork's more than enough!"

Project MORDRED (804) has posed:
"We'll trade the mask for your end of the deal." MORDRED informs Agahnim of the conclusion they have just reached. "We have not brought it along regardless, and I believe we have more pressing matters to attend to." The Knight bows from within his Armour, it moving with his gesture. "Your majesty. I am Prince MORDRED, Knight Errant, lord of Mercury, son of the High King of Earth. It is my pleasure. Please forgive me for my rudeness, but I believe the enemy is at the gate and we have little time for pleasantries."

Thus said, Glare-NT's maneuvering thrusters engage, and the Knight draws his monofilament broadsword. His systems are analyzing all sensor input to try to determine the direction of the incursion, before heading that way. If he's right, he'll stay out of close range long enough for allies to be there... if not, he'll look foolish.

Frederica (73) has posed:
    Once with everyone, Frederica dismisses the fire elemental, pulling all its flame and energy within her once more. It's really not much good in a mass battle, particularly one where she can already hide behind more willing melee fighters and just throw ranged fiery death at archers and stuff.

    "Good to see you all." she says pleasantly to those she recognizes from previous missions. Yes, even little miss snark Sarah. The only one who gets a less than warm greeting is Finna, mostly because the shapeshifter is so eager to tease and lick people. Not that Freddie has any problem with being licked by adorable little animals or anything; she just draws the line at sentient ones that do it to tease. Well, seemingly to tease.

    When the barrier comes down, Frederica is not one of the first to charge. She can run, certainly. She's preferring to stay back a bit, that's all. Having been warned of archers she readies her powers to counter them. Any arrows will be met with return fire of the most literal sort.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     Sighing again, Sanary crosses her arms as Agahnim explains why that reward won't be coming today. "Well. That's just great. This better be worth the wait..." Her attention turns to the stranger coming through, a hand reaching for her guanxe before pausing at the mention of the barrier that couldn't possibly fall falling.

     And then she laughs. "Sanary. Good meeting you, Queen Midna." She brings her free hand up in a quick salute, glancing over at a window when the unbreakable barrier breaks. "... You were saying, Agahnim?" A smirk tugs at the corners of her mouth as she heads for the entrance to the throne room, unfolding the riot shield while removing the kite shield from her back to have both of them at the ready.

     "MORDRED's got the right idea... Worry about the intruders first. You want to meet 'em outside, or funnel them in through here and just blow up anything that moves?" She pauses for a moment before stepping away from the direct path to the doorway, keeping her shields raised and watching that door with a cautious eye.

     She doesn't want to be hit by friendly fire, after all.

Nonon Jakuzure (805) has posed:
As the declaration is made, Nonon shrugs and begins to walk away, unenthused. "Well, I don't really do charity gigs anyways." She mutters, almost planning on simply bailing. As everyone else begins to make haste to certain parts of the castle, the member of the Four Chairmen isn't really worried about what is going on.

"Might be worth it though just to find a reason to slap them around." It's conflicting, but being ordered around is less than pleasant. Except by Satsuki-chan~ <3 <3 <3.

Nonon eventually claims a hallway, wide as it is, and just leans against it.

Winedark Archer (924) has posed:
Archer sighs as Agahnim's distrust in them shows. They likely won't be able to convince him tonight, and it certainly seems like they won't have the time either way. As the forces charge in and the barrier is destroyed, Archer tips his head briefly to Midna in greeting, before looking towards the doors. "Allow me to get into position. May the gods favor you all." Lifting his hand up, Archer summons a bow, making it obvious to anyone who knows stuff about Servants that he is indeed likely Archer-Class.

Archer then proceeds to dematerialize, dashing through the halls and leaping onto one of the balconys, where he crouches for cover. Rematerializing, he aims his bow towards the door and waits. It's time.

Priscilla has posed:
    That kind of barrier is something else. Priscilla had been expecting something a little lower key than that. Subtle but powerful wards, perhaps. The giant sphere of coruscating energy that appears as Fassad approaches it reminds her more of the seals broken only by the Lordvessel a year ago more than anything else, more keenly impressing that Agahnim is either an incredible showoff or greatly deserves his reputation. Possibly some of both. She's actually about to try and step in as Fassad seems to be about to falter, but ultimately, as she predicted, the Sword knows when it is sorely needed, even if it hasn't had its first choice in heroes, and so the way is cleared.

    Even if it has been quite a while since she's participated in any operation like this, that kind of experience doesn't leave one very quickly; especially someone with such a long memory. Old allies like Yuna can correctly assume that she's already moving well up the front, even if they can't see her, emboldened to a position of vanguard by the relative safety of her doing so. They can also correctly assume that she knows how to maneuver around allies, having a flawless track record of not keeping out of paths of movement and lines of fire. Doing so is especially trivial now with the ludicrous increase in physical parameters afforded to her by the Lordsouls.

    Any soldiers immediately in the party's way will be taken care of as a matter of course, playing the part of an invisible wind of death. Small numbers of them may be destroyed before anyone even gets to see them. Her goal however, is very obviously the throne room. She's reaching out with her extra senses more than trying to memorize the castle layout, assuming that someone as powerful as Agahnim will be impossible to miss even from a significant distance, and unlikely to be trying to hide his presence whilst secure within his own fortress. This may or may not include a number of the Confederates with him as well.

Aedan MacCarvill (891) has posed:
    "... Prince, huh? Nice to meet you." Aedan casts a rather wary look towards Fassad, now. It seems like this one has a bit of a predilection towards looking down on the upper class as well, though as Fassad is holding what closely resembles the Goddess Sword, it looks like he gets a lot more benefit of the doubt than had been offered by the previous iteration of this guy that Fassad had met.

    Or maybe he's just more agreeable in general.

    He shields and closes his eyes as Fassad breaks the barrier. Too damn bright, though he's sturdy enough not to be blown away by all the power flying around. Aedan blinks very rapidly in the wake of it all, offering a vaguely appreciative whistle at the spectacle of it all. Yalai says most of what he would have, and the questions really can wait until later anyway.

    The Knight of Skyloft backs off from the group entering from the front, and it turns out that his whistle had been to his Loftwing. He mounts up and lifts off, heading towards the skies over Hyrule Castle and peering about. He's looking for alternate routes in, as well as to see if any of the walls are manned.

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    The dark wizard says stuff about a mask again, and generally grumps about dark powers, evil gods, betrayal, a princess, and some demands he has. Gudako's eyes flick back to her <span class=" bold_fg_r bg_n ++ ellphone.

    chr">NO WI-FI SIGNAL.</span>

    One of her eyes twitches. That noise, that's the noise of time-a-wasting. That's the noise of AP building up. What was it at before she came? She thought for sure she could just spend it while handling this, so she put it off.

    Her train of thought is interrupted by the obvious rumble that accompanies the breaking of the barrier. The magus glances up, then towards Agahnim, and then ponders. "Caster, Berserker, hunker down. They're going to try to get in here, so it's kind of pointless to go elsewhere." Gudako turns towards her allies, regaining her dead-eyed, empty stare and big smile.

    "Outside, huh? Nah, you guys can go play there if you want. I'll stay here. With the dark wizard and the queen." She glances to her side.

    Caster finally materializes, the blue-robed, pink-haired foxgirl appearing out of blue specks of lights and magic. She... pulses, briefly? Maybe she's just establishing her body.

    This pulse provides Priscilla with something to home in on.
    It almost seems deliberate.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    "..eh heh." Kyra laughs nervously, "I have no doubt you will, Nero. I have complete trust in that you being here will mean that I am completely safe from harm." She sounds like she means it. It's totally not sarcasm. /Definitely not/.

    She observes intently as Fassad works the Master Sword, her eyes widening in surprise as she watches. "Nice...very nice."

    Just before everyone charges, Kyra chants, "Shield these heroes in their charge!" she calls out, gesturing both hands ahead of her, dropping her weapon for a second. It doesn't fall, held to her by a strap. "PROTECTGA!"

    Once that's done, she makes her chocobo charge forward, following after those assaulting the castle, careful not to draw aggro before she needs to.

Sarah Parsle (789) has posed:
"I sure as hell won't be arguing." Sarah responds to Yalai, and shrugs to Aedan. "Like I said, I don't actually care. You look like you can actually fight, which is more than I can say for myself, really."

She looks out over the castle and shields her eyes as Fassad brings down the barrier. "Let's get to work." Sarah says, hanging back just long enough to begin scurrying forward. She seems more focused on avoiding enemies than taking them down, using rubble and environment and the loud, explosive, and powerful allies with her as cover.

If nothing else, maybe she can get an idea of what they're in for.

Nero (880) has posed:
     "But of course. That is why I exist here and now." Nero smiled in a self-satisfied manner in reply to Kyra, remaining incorporeal.

     Once Fassad brought out the Master Sword, despite not being accepted as it's true wielder, and shattering the barrier, Nero assumed material form, landing upon her feet. "Very well then. I shall move on ahead, Praetor. Inform me if you require assistance."

     Prana gathered, flowing into the Saber class Servant's feet. And then she burst forward with inhuman speed. Past Kyra and her Chocobo, she sped towards the castle doors, Aestus Estus materializing into her grasp. "Now then! Let us see how these fools fare against the likes of me!"

Vergil (878) has posed:
     Vergil sighs as it seems some of the Confederate's explanations trip over in Agahnim's eyes - they really ought to have /coordinated/ an explanation over the blasted comms before spitting out a justification and he curses himself for not advocating such a course of action.

     Well... nothing to be done about it /now/. Especially when a new piece on the chessboard moves out of the shadows; the queen, it seems.

     The 'Queen of the Twilight Realm', no less - and likely the one responsible for the titular pestilence on the land.

     "Our situation's the same as yours" Vergil replies smoothly. "You can't give the Triforce's power without Zelda... and like the Knight said, we can't give you the Mask because it isn't here with us, and that will have to come after your hold in the land isn't in active jeopardy."

     At least from the Union, that is - because Agahnim had just now let slip a very important secret; the key to the Triforce was actually an individual outside his current control... and one they could claim themselves if they managed to claim victory today.

     As he steps toward the doorway, he glances at Sanary - the Confederate he's worked with the most thus far - and gives something of a dry smirk. "Try to keep up with us - we're going to need all the energy we can get if we want to outlast our enemies."

     With that, Vergil steps forward to serve as the counter to the vanguard.

     And he immediately takes note of several things.

     One of those is that men are being cut down seemingly out of thin air - and he didn't see any cause for it. An invisible enemy that seemed preoccupied with the small-fry guards. The second was a man in white that was seemingly the leader of this clash - probably the one bearing the Master Sword. And the third, charging straight for the gates, was a blonde-haired woman in red who's blind rush and confident smirk seemed almost a dim mirror of his brother's, being followed by a hooded girl on a large yellow bird.

     The prince would be targeted by either the knight or the bowman. The invisible warrior was held back for the time being slogging through their numbers. That left the oncoming vanguard as the big issue.

     ...

     With that decided... eight phantasmal Summoned Swords promptly materialize around Vergil - four on either side of him - and shoot ahead of him toward the hooded girl to try and off-balance her - or even off-balance the swordswoman mid-charge with concern for an ally - as he dashed forward, Yamato being torn free of it's sheath for a vertical slice at the oncoming red streak, silver katana crossing and locking against the vermillion longsword.

     Looking at her closely, Vergil found himself raising a brow questioningly at her... interesting choice of attire for a battle. "And you are?"

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna pretty much just barrels through the castle, up stairs and down corridors. Any wandering mooks she encounters are subject to one or more of the following:

- Blasts with the Matrix Divider (preferred for single targets)
- Bigger blasts from her shoulder-mounted beam cannons (this is preferred for massed hordes)
- Just getting bowled over (if they can't put up much of a fight but insist on trying to block her)

Honestly, Yuna would be happiest getting to the throne room without having to fight anyone along the way, and with Elner's guidance (plus any maps we had prior access to), she's trying to take the most direct route from the front door to the throne room. It really *will* take an Elite to slow her down significantly, but short of that, she's clearing the way for the others as effectively as she can ...

Winedark Archer (924) has posed:
As Archer scans the charge, he spots Kyra riding the chocobo. A mounted warrior could likely be an issue, so he'll need to take them out quick. Manifesting an arrow in his hand, he puts it to the bow string and pulls, aiming at the chocobo's leg. Energy coats the magical arrow as he pulls, firing a clean and very accurate shot straight ahead.

And then, rapidly, he's pulling out another arrow, firing it at the bird's chest, before nocking another to fire at Kyra's chest. He readies the next arrow, watching her to see the outcome of the first three shots.

Agahnim (864) has posed:
     Upon the castle walls, various archers nock their arrows. Their aim is decent, but they're no match for the various elites. They all stand a minor chance of hitting their targets, though they focus on those that are flying through the air. A few shots are taken at Yuna. Yalai goes unnoticed, moving too fast and too stealthy to be spotted. A number are fired towards Frederica, incinerating within the air. Some shots are taken towards Aedan as well. They aim more for his Loftwing than him, knowing that taking it out will lead to him crashing.

     The path through the gates, and the door into the castle itself, are a lot easier thanks to Priscilla. Her invisibility provides a good sense of surprise, cutting down the animated suits of armor working as guards.

     Midna just gives a smirk towards Sanary, the arms still crossed in front of her. "Charmed." Her tone is almost a little sarcastic, as if talking casually in a situation like this is a little silly. She gives a glance towards Agahnim, and shakes her head a little. "Everyone, feel free to keep in here. We can have a grand battle in the throne room. Besides, there is /still/ something he neglected to tell all of you, that he really should. If claiming Zelda from her uncle was /all/ he worried about, he wouldn't have had to send his /entire/ army. Really, though, Agahnim~? Come a bit more clean~. Or are you afraid they'll betray you for him?"

     Agahnim glares towards Midna for a moment, before closing his eyes. He stands tall, looking towards the remaining Confederates. "...Fine. Once the Union is in here, I will tell them why they were foolish to so easily trust the Duke of Gamelon."

Fassad (248) has posed:
     Fassad rushes inside. His shield leads the way, bashing at any enemy in his path. He looks untroubled by what he has encountered so far. Thankfully, from the entrance? It is a rather straight path to the throne room. He definitely makes himself a target, though. It's easy for anyone to see him rushing forward, leading the charge. Or, trying to. He does come in a bit after Yuna flies in, though. With just a bit of effort, he makes it to the throne room. He looks upon the enemies present within. MORDRED, Gudako and his Caster, the strange grey skinned woman that is Midna.

     But, most importantly? Fassad sees Agahnim.

     The Master Sword is lifted. He points the blade towards the Gerudo Wizard. Even though there are so many others present in the room, that is who he has his eyes locked onto. He frowns towards the wizard. For so long, he has considered what to say in this situation. Now that it is finally here, he forgets what he had rehearsed.

     "...Agahnim. You will perish."

     Of course, this is if Fassad can get past all of the other people in the throne room.

Fassad (248) has posed:
     And it is in the throne room that things end up a bit crazy.

     Midna stands still, just smirking. She snaps her fingers. With that, the halls of the castle are filled with Twilight Beasts. Shadowy wolf creatures are everywhere, black in color and with glowing cyan markings upon their body. These creatures will do whatever is in their power to aid the Confederates, and attack anyone they see.

     One group, in particular, goes after Yalai. Though she is hiding herself, the wolves can smell. They run through the castle, finally spotting her. They leap at her, biting.

     In the throne room, Agahnim speaks. He glares at everyone. The Union, the Confederacy. A bit of disdain is given for both sides. He has come to a realization, even if it is false: All of them plan to stand in his way.

     "...You're fools. All of you. Half of you fight me blindly. Half of you bargain with a powerful darkness. But all of you will just lead this land to destruction. But Union... You do not know what you have set forth on this land."

     "You have entrusted Princess Zelda with an enemy of all of Hyrule. You have entrusted her to the Duke of Gamelon. He is a cultist, to a being far more dangerous to this land than I."

     "He has Zelda in his hands. I can only assume he has already found the youth he has been seeking as well. It's only a matter of time."

     "The Duke of Gamelon is going to revive Ganon."

Project MORDRED (804) has posed:
"That is important intel, but we have more pressing matters right now." MORDRED informs Agahnim over the comms, then he flies his Armour to block Fassad's path, and his voice mimicks that of a popular movie perfectly. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that, dave." He lands rapidly and points his Monofilament Broadsword at this 'Prince' His voice back to normal. "I am MORDRED, and I have sworn to stop the Union advance. I will not falter, I will not fall. Turn back or perish." To accentuate his words, he swings that massive, razor-thin blade right past Fassad. A warning strike, but a potent one.

Nonon Jakuzure (805) has posed:
With Yuna charging through at break-neck speeds, not slowing down at all, it's doesn't stay that way. One of the most direct routes happens to /not/ be, especially a shockwave of sound and music blares across it, causing Yuna to have to evade it. Even if it strikes the machine, it's more of a note for Yuna to 'slow the hell down, where do you think you're going?' but at her speed, it should be more than enough to get her attention if it does slam into her.

"Do you enjoy this?" The familiar voice may ask. "Putting your neck on the line for people you don't even know? What your /draw/ anyways? Or maybe you just like pain~?" Nonon taunts, teasing Yuna as if she as a freshman!

"I'm not really into sadomachism, but I do enjoy hurting others if they deserve it~!" Twirling the 'baton', Nonon's three star goku uniform begins to glow. "I guess it's a tight fit... but you know, I was thinking this place didn't have a fitting surround sound system for the wonderful acoustics!"

Swallowed up by the three black stars, Nonon's replaced with a tank - strapped to the front - with a grin that is full of vitrol. "Lucky you~. I hate doing charity concerts, but maybe you'll join in if I play right."

She doesn't mean singing.

Yalai the Stave (879) has posed:
One moment the Sheikah is sprinting down the corridors, using shadows to conceal herself; the next there's some kind of wolf-thing snapping at Yalai's heels. It misses her ankle, but it does take a piece out of the corner of her cloak, and she can feel the heat of its breath against the back of her calf.

"Ghh!" Spinning on her heel, Yalai throws herself back against the wall, lashing out with her quarterstaff as much by instinct as by training. "Sorry, but I am not having time to be playing with you. Be going back home to your masters, curs."

Not that they can understand her. She leers, showing her teeth, and lashes out again more purposefully with her quarterstaff. As the rest of the pack catches up, it becomes a whirling death-dance; Yalai leaping and spinning and dodging through the teeth of Midna's shadow-beasts.

Every so often the solid /CRACK/ of her quarterstaff can be heard as she lashes out at the beasts, or the snarl and howl of shadow-beasts, and the snarls of pain from Yalai, when they manage to draw blood.

It's a good fight, though. The longer she can keep their attention, the longer they'll be involved with her, and not her allies.

She voices a howl of her own; an eerie, ululating sound of savage joy.

"Come! Monsters! Is that being the best you can be doing?!"

Maybe she can call more of Agahnim's host. If they're tangling with her, they're leaving her allies alone... and if need be, she can lead them on a merry wild Cucco chase.

Nero (880) has posed:
     Nero charged unbothered by the enemy soldiers, they would be taken care of. Her goal was the eradication of the higher profile targets. Smirk on her face, she gripped her blade and sped forward still.

     It wasn't until a volley of phantom swords flying towards her position caught her attention. Well, that was new. The Servant was undeterred still, and once the distance closed, Nero veered aside, dodging the first sword. A quick uppercut parried the second, the third grazed past her cheek, guarded by her blade. The fourth was cut down with a swift overhead slash. Once that was cleared, she could spy a man in blue charging right for her.

     "Hooh?" And without missing a beat, Nero used the momentum from her previous movement, spinning in place once before bringing Aestus Estus around in an inwards horizontal swing, clashing with the silver blade.

     Sparks flew between them, forced into a mutual deadlock. "Well, well. It would seem that you have some skill, Man in Blue." Her smirk endured through the deadlock, directing upwards to meet his gaze. "You ask who I am? Well, I am..." Her sword flared up, and with a burst of strength, she stepped in, pushing with her wespon. ".../quite/ glad you ask!" The deadlock was broken with an outwards slash, disengaging both blades. "I am Emperor Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus! The mightiest Heroic Spirit there is!"

     So she says.

     Pressing the attack, Nero took another step in, bearing down on Vergil with a flaming overhead slash aimed for the point between neck and shoulder. "And just who might you be, man who stands in my path?"

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    As Kyra rides, one hand shifts to grip the reins of the Chocobo. The second stretches out, aiming towards Nero. A few more muttered words: "Mow down the resistance before us! Bravery!" The spell that follows, settling upon the Servant, further enhances the power of her physical strikes. Having seen the Saber in action, she knows very well that the Emperor would put the extra power to good use. Beyond that, getting into the castle seemed to be the priority! Kyra had taken care to memorize the layout beforehand so she knew how to at least get to the throne room, where the sorceror Agahnim was apparently holed up.

    A blade comes flying at her and her Chocobo mount. Violently, Kyra yanks the reins sideways and the chocobo veers off, nearly crashing but fortunately retaining its footing.

    This doesn't last very long.

    An arrow spears through the chocobo's leg, following one that lands in the chocobo's chest. Rather than blood spurting from either wounds, the combined damage seems to make the riding bird explode into a flash of green sparkles. Kyra is thrown sideways, which prevents her from taking an arrow to the chest, the third shot landing in the meat of her left thigh instead. Something vaguely resembling a steampunk egg timer-her Chocobo summon matrix-sparks and emits a thin stream of smoke. Kyra doesn't notice, instead squirming in pain as she grasps the shaft of the arrow and rips it free. Angry swearing follows as Kyra drags herself to find some cover.

Finna (513) has posed:
    SAY... WHAT?!

    "HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLD IT!" Shouts Finna, leaping off of Fassad's shoulder and straight into the path of MORDRED's blade. A tiny mouse. Hardly even NOTICEABLE. And yet...

    The SILVERY FIRE OF DETERMINATION burns in that mouse's eyes!

    CLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!

    Mice teeth bite into the broadsword with a flash of silvery light. Although the weapon is in no way DAMAGED by this, it vibrates HARD. Enough to force it WAY off target and into the ground. Wisps of silvery blue flame burn on its length for a brief few seconds before dying off harmlessly.

    Getting that blade back under control won't be hard for MORDRED, but it's a wackily odd sensation to say the least.

    "Alriiiiiiiiiiiiight," Says the young woman in huntress leathers who emerges from the flash of light a moment later, a polished, 'viking'-style longsword in hand but not raised yet.

    "On the assumption that you're actually a dastardly mastermind, care to explain why you didn't tell US this, Sorcerer?" She points a finger at Agahnim while keeping half an eye on Mordred. "Since by now you know exactly what we were doing instead... hrmph. But I think we can reach some agreement here that doesn't end in anyone's head being lopped off, don't you? Start spilling the beans and maybe nobody'll end up dying today."

Priscilla has posed:
    As tempting as it is to take advantage of the cascading sequence of clashing Elites by trying to get in quick blindsides as Confederate finds Unionite one after the other, Priscilla is aware that Agahnim is their priority here, and that the Confederacy is coming to his defense here specifically for that reason, not just because there's an excuse to fight. The appearance of the Twili wolves is startling, but not immediately threatening to her personally, and so she leaves them in the so-far capable hands of her allies as she sticks with the rapidly dwindling spearhead of the assault, arriving in the throne room ahead of just a handful of others, homing in on that release of magical energy she had detected earlier.

    She's barely out of the way when MORDRED swings for Fassad, warning blow or no, trusting, or at least hoping, Finna can handle /that/ with a minimum of spectacle/disaster. Gudako and her twin extra presences are noted in the room, all three of which 'feel' excessively powerful, as does the Twilight Queen off to the side, but with Agahnim outright getting up and announcing who he is to the rest of the room, there's really no doubt about who it is. Gamelon. Ganon. Zelda. A youth. She can find the rest out later. Right now, at least for a few seconds longer, she has a clean shot at the dark wizard before he even knows she's there, in the sweet spot between the confusion of battle started and the concentration of battle joined. Sheer, ruthless pragmatism won't let her decline the opportunity to take at least one swing at him.

    One can presume it's the once-infamous Lifehunt Scythe being used, if only faintly by the accompanying pang of existential dread and the melancholy ringing that sounds out a fraction of an instant before a rather large and nasty blade would hit Agahnim's neck. Being a ludicrously powerful sorcerer, it's certainly likely he has countermeasures against being simply stabbed to death unawares, but the aberrant power focused through the weapon should at least wound him through those defenses even without an actual, physical hit, all going to plan.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     " 'Keeping up'? You ass. Don't get chopped up out there." Sanary chuckles lightly as Vergil passes her on the way out, seeming content to stand guard at the entrance to the throne room instead of heading outside where she could be shot at from all sorts of angles. Blocking the way with two shields, though... That definitely seems to be the best course of action for the healer currently, especially as Midna and Agahnim speak.

     She'll need to remember those names for later. Duke of Gamelon. Ganon. Zelda. For now, however, her attention turns to the arriving prince and the... Transforming mouse? The lady that turned her into a tyrant lizard.

     "Ah. Evening, you two. Good to have you joining us." Grinning from behind her two mismatched shields, the armored cleric channels energy into her eye without firing anything at them just yet. "How about you take your army and leave? It'd be a lot more convenient for all of us." The eye flashes purple for a brief moment, although she seems content to just block the way to Agahnim alongside MORDRED rather than initiating a fight herself.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"Gwyah?!" exclaims Yuna as SONIC BOMBARDMENT happens; she's going fast enough to go straight through it, but considering how she's spinning to face Nonon and braking to a halt, that definitely got her attention. And her ears are ringing - not as badly as they might be, but they ARE ringing, and loudly enough that she doesn't catch Agahnim's explanation of what's going on with Zelda - she has to focus just to catch what Nonon's saying.

... and kind of regrets doing so, as evidenced by the look Yuna gives Nonon.

"I don't like for *anyone* to suffer, Jakuzure, and in case you missed it? Between Agahnim and the Confederacy, this *entire country* is suffering. Standing up against that kind of evil is my duty, as the Savior of Light. Let me put it this way: if somebody came to Honnouji, overthrew Satsuki, and started wrecking the buildings and killing and torturing students, *just because they could*, you'd want to rally and overthrow your oppressor, right? Satsuki is the 'rightful ruler' that you place your trust and your faith in, and more than that, she's your friend. A *deaf* girl could hear how you talk about her."

Meanwhile, Nonon breaks out the Symphony Regalia, which has basically zero room to maneuver in the corridor. That could play into Yuna's hands .... if the wall-to-wall weaponized speaker system doesn't blow her away without a chance to fight back effectively. Yuna doesn't waste any more time, whipping the Matrix Divider up and firing a focused shot at Nonon's hat - assuming the hat is still THERE, at least; if it disappeared during the transformation, Yuna just aims for whatever Nonon's got on her head in place of the drum major's cap.

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    Agahnim yells again. This time it's about... a youth? A duke. Some guy named Ganon. Gudako's interest is piqued, as she wonders how fun a guy this dark person might be. She muses, she thinks. She talks on radio, and plans come together. It's unfortunate for Agahnim that he gave the plan away. Now the Confederacy just has to go meet that Duke of Gamelon guy and see what's what.

    But today? No princess. No Triforce. No end of his bargain. Just demands, for a Mask that is seemingly very powerful! And that giving away would be dumb.

    Gudako keeps her mouth shut from there onward, just standing back and smiling. It's Caster who speaks to Agahnim, briefly, and telepathically. <<I'm going to start setting up a support field. It might take me a little bit! ... I hope you're as powerful as you say and can hold those guys off~.>>

    Thus does the Servant hurl a pair of ofuda at the throne room walls. And then another pair. And another. She seems to be placing them in what would probably eventually trace a perfect circle, if she kept throwing them. They glow a bit, latching onto the walls like they're glued in place.

    A first-glance examination of the spellwork being prepared seems to indicate it's a support spell, in Agahnim's favor. Something to enhance dark powers. It's not active or complete, though!

    This COULD give the Union a false impression of what she's up to, but it's a small risk to take. At least, neither the foxgirl nor Gudako are actively attacking those who've intruded in the throne room?

Aedan MacCarvill (891) has posed:
    Largely disregarded by the battle on account of being up in the air along the exterior, Aedan maneuvers his loftwing alongside the upper windows of the towers. He doesn't enter immediately, because he's looking for something specific: Stragglers. He's avoided the battle proper so far, but his intention is to get ahold of a straggler if he can. It'll make entry a lot more convenient for him if he can pull it off, and it sounds as if things are difficult enough on the ground. He glances back towards the main gates and entrance, pondering heading back down.

    It might've been better if he'd just stayed behind and helped clear the way for Yalai. If it takes too long to locate one of the enemy's soldiers, he'll just have to fall back on doing exactly that. For now, the search continues.

Sarah Parsle (789) has posed:
Sarah never really expected to invade a castle at any point in her life, and here it is. They're invading a castle. Arrows rain down around them.

Everyone sees a little girl. She has no weapons out. She has no apparent superpowers, no magical aura to make her stand out. Soldier eyes slide over her and immediately get pulled away to notice the others, and she takes advantage of this fact.

Once they begin the great showdown in the throne room. Sarah is already edging around the back, using the dark areas. The summoning of the Twilight Hounds might have been a bigger problem, but moments before it becomes critical to deal with, Yalai goes and draws their attention.

Sarah makes a note to bake her a pie or something later. Quickly, she vanishes into the dark corners while the big reveal goes down.

And then someone speaks up from behind Aghanim and Midna. "Sup."

Sarah pops out, sits down, and kicks her legs casually off the dais. "Nice place you got here. So that's a cool reveal and all, but they're not here, and you guys are. So what's your deal? You, lady, with the new-style fashion statements and the darkness powers. I mean, way I heard it you guys pulled a coup, killed the King, and are covering the land in some jerkass darkness power. What's your side of the story?"

Vergil (878) has posed:
     The blue swordsman finds his prior assumption correct - the girl's vigor and method of attack are much like his brother's in how she repelled his blades.

     However, Vergil tilts his head in more obvious surprise at the name - he's studied historical figures before, so he's familiar with the name of the Roman Emperor.

     ...

     A girl in a dress with a transparent front-slip did /not/ fit the mental image he had of that historical name's visage... yet he didn't think she was lying or even telling a cruel joke, even though he was sorely tempted to believe otherwise.

     He backpedals a step from her return slash as the blade lock is broken, parrying her flame-infused blow away even as the tip scratches against the edge of his temple and leaves a slight burn - the woman's blade was of greater length then his own and thus she had better reach even if he defected the weapon itself.

     However, the wound quickly vanishes, providing the visible indication to Nero that her opponent is hardly all he seems either.

     And no less prideful as he readies his own weapon; "I am Vergil. Son of the Dark Knight, Sparda, though I can't be sure you'll know the name. And it seems that today... I'll be slaying a legendary figure, myself."

     With that, the blue-clad swordsman brings Yamato close - and lashes out with six swift slashes, alternating between vertical and horizontal blows as he attempts to push his way inside Nero's guard and past the length of her blade with speed.

     It's part attack, and part feint - a test to see if she can keep pace with him... and see how her swordplay operates against and in contrast to his own.

Winedark Archer (924) has posed:
Archer's target has been hit, so the mount is out of the way. Now, they have new plans, and he's on point to take care of it. He keeps his arrow nocked, glancing at Agahnim briefly, before turning back to the entrance and the Union. But he does not fire. He's waiting for something. He's going to need to plan this out.

Nonon Jakuzure (805) has posed:
There's lecturing that goes on. Nonon's eyes begin to roll like the boulder in the myth that must be rolled up the hill - and then back down. It rolls roughly that much and does not remotely begin to stop. Of course, Yuna HAS stopped to talk to her. Talking isn't what Yuna was supposed to do, however. Not at all.

"You sure like to talk alot, that's /not/ the sounds I was hoping to hear from you. Looks like there's still tuning to be done."

Of course, the Matrix Divider is fired at her hat, Nonon ducking down as the hat - and the skull on it - is blasted and damaged. Nonon's eyes were wide, words halting as a hail of energy accelerates towards her -"WHA!?" If Yuna was hoping that it would disable the entire uniform, she is incorrect. The initiation of the uniform already went through - it just won't be able to be used immediately /after/, is all. "YOU!!"

Simmering with rage at having to duck and having the skull on it blown away, along with the rest of it. "You want to know what's flawed? EVERYTHING YOU JUST SAID! First, overthrowing Satsuki? Like HELL anyone would be able to do that!" Cymbals whizz out of the sides behind her, blades spinning rapidly as they bounce against the walls, frantically traveling towards Yuna. "If they DID, and the buildings and the students were wrecked? THEN THAT'S WHAT IS DESERVED." With such a zealous declaration, it's clear she's not lying. "Honnouji Academy isn't a place for the weak or failures - and I'm going to make her dreams become reality! IF YOU THINK YOU KNOW BETTER, YOU'RE WRONG, BITCH!"

To accentuate this key word, the speakers all at once glow brightly and flood the room with a massive wall of force, the sonic eruption washing through the room like a wave at Yuna.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Kyra grumbles something under her breath-it's a cure spell, which immediately closes up the hole left by the arrow and the process of removing it. She claws her way back up to her feet, using the wall as support, before running off for the throne room. From what she can see as she looks through the door, talismans have been laid upon the wall, each starting to weave what Kyra can tell is some kind of spell with a dark affinity to it. It's a familiar dark affinity too since she has seen Gudako in action before.

    That's bad. Kyra immediately assumes that she's assisting the sorceror claiming Hyrule Castle as his own. "Aw hell no-" she says as she rushes for the room, reaching out a hand. "Unravel the patterns laid before me, return the particles to their frayed state-DISPELL!"

Winedark Archer (924) has posed:
As he waits, he spots Kyra using magic, magic that will interfere with Gudako's barrier. They need that barrier to stop Agahnim's escape. He cannot allow that to happen. Rapidly pointing his bow at Kyra, he glances for a second, before firing, flying the arrow straight at her outstretched palm that is casting the spell, in an attempt to pierce it. He nocks another, firing at her side, before readying a third. He doesn't fire yet, but he aims it at her head, waiting to see how she'll move after the first two hits.

Nero (880) has posed:
     "Vergil, Son of Sparda! Very well!"

     Nero had noticed that the wound she left had already healed. This man was not completely human. With a healing factor like that, he must had some other manner of blood flowing through his veins. But this was not the time to make guesses. Rather than be deterred, she just smiled confidently.

     "You think you will slay me? I welcome the challenge!" And with Aestus Estus gripped tightly and held back, she swung. What happened next was literally too fast for the average human eye to follow. The first strike, she failed to parry, and a laceration along her midsection was her reward, the second blow, she upped her speed, parrying it aside, and leaving a shallow slash upon her shoulder. The third was turned aside, the wind kick from the blow slicing past her head and taking a few strands of hair. The fourth, fifth, and sixth, were all parried equally.

     A blur of blue and red. Silver and black. Both swordsmen clashed, speed increasing to keep up. And with the last strike from Yamato weathered, Nero immediately stepped into a dash. Pursuing the advantage of the greater length of her blade, the Servant drew in Prana, causing flames to once again renew upon her blade mid-dash.

     "Rosa Ichthys!"

     And in the follow through, Nero let loose a blindingly fast, inwards slash cloaked in vermillion. Starting diagonally from top to bottom and aiming to slash past the man in a single moment. She wasn't attempting to test his defenses, she was attempting to capitalize on the recovery of his little flurry, if there even was any.

Agahnim (864) has posed:
     Yalai proves effective against the shadow wolves. As the quarterstaff comes down, it smacks hard into the skull of one of the beasts. Upon the one hard strike, there is a loud crack of the skull. The beast vanishes, turning into a cloud of smoke. Soon after, the other two are struck down. But, more and more of them are arriving, and roaring at Yalai. Her agile nature keeps the biting beasts at a distance. More and more of them come in response, to aid their fallen brethren. It keeps them distracted from the others, at least. They run in, trying to bite and scratch at Yalai more. They aim for her legs, mostly. An attempt to slow her down.

     Aedan doesn't go without notice. Though he is out of the range of the remaining archers, there is still one ace in the hole who was saved. As he peeks in through the windows of Hyrule Castle, the main tower suddenly bursts apart. A giant bird creature is inside, blue in color with white and red wings. It's red head and yellow beak cries out. It's not alone, either. A large creature is on its back. A rotund, green humanoid. It wears minimal for armor, aside some heavy armor slapped onto its shoulders. In its right hand, a massive axe. The massive bird, the Helmaroc King, flies towards Aedan, guided by its rider, King Bulbin. It goes in, trying to knock the smaller bird out of the air.

     Agahnim is about to speak to Finna, at her question. But, Priscilla comes in. This was, in fact, unexpected. Though a powerful wizard, he has never seen invisibility quite like that. There is, in fact, a bit of a protective spell across him. A clinking sound, much like metal, can be heard. His neck is still cut. He is bleeding, and heavily at that. Despite his power, despite all of his magic? He is still a man. If not taken by surprise, he would use his magic to teleport around the room, blast magic, and likely make such an attack only a glancing hit.

     With that, his hood is cut off, falling somewhat off his head. He reaches for his neck, covering the bleeding with his hand. His face, for the first time, is revealed. He's a surprisingly handsome man, albeit with rough features. He looks tired. Incredibly so. He falls to one knee, grimacing. He looks towards Caster. He will have to trust his Confederate allies. What other choice does he have? He will hold off, until the protective field is created.

     Still Finna and Sarah both asked him the same question. Agahnim will, in fact, answer. Magical energy fills him, even as he speaks and tells them why.

     "Every one hundred years, a Male Gerudo is born. They are the King of the Gerudo. I grew up, in the desert. In a poor land, devoid of life. We are simply lower class citizens. I sought but two things: To give my people a chance to thrive. To take Hyrule for my kind. And... To end the line of the Hero, to prevent the return of the Dark God, Ganon. And I allied with others who have been unfairly persecuted."

     And that is where Mida speaks up, interrupting Agahnim. "Oh~. That's me. We Twili were shoved in the Twilight Realm for the crimes of our ancestors. Two downtrodden groups, allying together... Plus, I've got no love for Ganon, either." Midna, for her part, is a bit more aware of some of the danger that Agahnim is in. As such, she does the wise thing, and starts to back up a bit. She moves near a wall, preparing to make her escape if need be.

     Agahnim frowns. He comes to a stand again.

     "...I will not fall here. I will /not/ let the Gerudo fall! I AM AGAHNIM! THE KING OF THE GERUDO! THE ONE WHO WILL STAND AGAINST GANON, NO MATTER THE COST!"

     And with that, Agahnim lifts his hands. He is indiscriminate with his magic. Though most of his magical attack is aimed towards the Union, there is certainly a chance the Confederates present will get grazed by it. He holds up his hands, magical bursts of electricity filling most of the room. Even Midna gets hit on the stomach, wincing. With that, the Twilight Queen vanishes, disappearing into the wall.

Fassad (248) has posed:
     Fassad flinches a little as MORDRED slash at him. Even though it is a warning attack, he takes it seriously. He starts to move to try and block it, only for Finna to take care of it instead. He sighs in relief, giving the woman a smile and a nod, before taking a few steps closer to Agahnim. But, he becomes surprised by Agahnim's words.

     Specifically. He is surprised that Agahnim is, in many ways, so much like himself.

     Even a few months ago, Fassad would not have noticed. But today? He has. Fassad knows enough of the Gerudo to know that, since the Dark King of the Gerudo in ancient times, there have been no kings of the Gerudo. It was a tradition, /once/, that the male would be the King. But, it is no more. Agahnim has fashioned himself as a hero for his kind, forcing himself to be king, and trying to stand against a great evil.

     Fassad is glad he did not fall down a similar path to becoming Royalty.

     Fassad lifts the Master Sword as the lightning comes in. It does little to stop it. He is sent flying back a little, the sword acting as nothing more than a lightning rod. Though the barrier was broken, the Master Sword is not granting him the Power to Repel Evil. He closes his eyes. In this battle, it will simply be a particularly fine sword, not a legendary weapon.

     He still has an option, though. He lifts his shield. The Mirror Shield. He holds it up towards the lightning, and walks forward. The bolts of it that fly at him, fly straight back at Agahnim. They strike the wizard, causing him an intense amount of pain. Agahnim cries out loud, still casting his spell in the wide spread. The rage is overwhelming Agahnim.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
The cymbals come flying at Yuna; she dodges several of them, blocks a couple more with her shield, and bats one away with the Matrix Divider before getting blindsided by the last of them. That rattles her enough that she misses part of Nonon's rejoinder -

And while she gets her brain back together quickly enough to catch the tail end of Nonon's diatribe, she isn't fast enough to retort further before a solid wall of sonic force erupts from Nonon's 'uniform' and blasts Yuna, so hard that she HAS to re-ignite her thrusters to get through it. The Matrix Divider is dismissed as well, so Yuna can cover her ears - an extra layer of protection, she hopes. She also has her shield on the left exo-arm, and she has the armor interpose that in front of her actual body as the Powered Form armor keeps, well, powering its way forward.

It's not hovering now, just lifting one foot at a time, pushing against the sonic storm with thrusters and servomotors to plant that foot further ahead, then repeating the process with the other foot. There *HAS* to be an eye to the storm, or Nonon would deafen HERSELF when she uses this - unless it's just that the Goku Uniform protects her ears somehow. Either way, Nonon got HALF of her wish: Yuna isn't still trying to talk at her. For now.

But the Savior of Light adamantly refuses to give the pink-haired pipsqueak the satisfaction of screaming. She has things she really WANTS to say to Nonon, if she can just get the younger girl to LISTEN to something besides her own overly bloated ego ...

Project MORDRED (804) has posed:
"You are guarding him. Very well, I will fight you both." MORDRED does not sound upset, no in fact, it seems he respects this path. "But beware that any reservations I may have had at fighting to the fullest will be gone. I will not yield. I will not falter. I will not fall." Every single one of those 'I wills' sounds like it's spoken with the solemnity normally reserved for oaths. He is not kidding. "You have ignored my warning, now die or flee, it does not matter to me which path you choose, though if you die, please die well."

The razor-thin blade is pulled put out of the ground, six feet of supermassive, hyperthin blade, and it's all swinging for Finna by the hands of a fifteen foot tall machine of war. Apparently MORDRED intends to knock her /into/ Fassad, that's how much force he's putting behind this strike. He is indeed not joking around.

Yalai the Stave (879) has posed:
The Sheikah dances among her foes, stepping lightly and lunging to keep half an inch ahead of those clashing teeth. Or do they even have teeth? Whether or not they have teeth as one would know them, they can certainly bite, and they can certainly do damage.

Yalai is forced to get creative as they show up in ever greater numbers. Reaching into a pouch at her belt, she takes a fistful of what look like blackened walnuts. One of the things is hurled into the midst of the shadow-beasts. In the same motion, her arm curls back around to cover her eyes.

Deku nut. Standard issue equipment for the Sheikah both past and present, it seems. Once it hits the ground, it ignites -- and the hallway is thrown into sharp-edged relief, bright as the sun for just an instant, blinding and probably uncomfortable for the beasts.

In the meantime she's already advancing forward to strike what lethal blows she can, trying to dispatch as many of the creature as she can. Hopefully that thing stunned them good... because she's going to have to get out of here soon if it didn't. Sheikah aren't meant for direct conflict, and there's getting to be an uncomfortable number of these things headed for her.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     Sanary sizzles as one of those lightning bolts strikes her armor, and the healer staggers on her feet several steps before shooting a brief glare back at the sorceror. Oddly enough, Midna is nowhere to be seen, and MORDRED apepars to be handling Finna.

     That leaves Fassad with his... Lightning-deflecting shield and Agahnim firing way too much lightning. With few other options available to her that don't involve getting electrocuted to death, she instead makes a beeline for Gudako and the Caster.

     "Hope you weren't waiting too long. Alright, let loose!" Setting up the riot shield between them and those coming from the door as an impromptu wall, she holds that now-free hand towards the two. Magical energy starts flowing from her into Gudako and Caster, connecting the three of them while she acts as a new source of mana for their spell. It's crude, it's unrefined, but it's still a fresh source of raw power to draw from!

Sarah Parsle (789) has posed:
"This was really the best plan you could come up with?" Sarah replies, frowning. "You're not exactly putting yourself in a good position to-KKKKRRKRKRK!" Sarah's assessment of the situation is suddenly cut off as the lightning blasts through the area, and she is sent flying back into the wall next to where Midna phased out.

Sarah, however, does not, She bounces off the wall and hits the ground, emitting a squeak where she lands and smouldering a bit. "Owwwwww. Lightniiing suuuuuuuucks." She moans. This is going to take a second.

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    Whoa, magic everywhere!

    First, Kyra attacks Caster's setup. This is a super bad thing, because the Bounded Field she's trying to set up has a lot of components, and while some are dedicated to the camouflage of its effect, a single piece getting purged by the White Mage's antimagic is a big deal. Fortunately, the 'Rider' on Gudako's side attempts to intercept Kyra. Unfortunately, it's just a bit too late.

    Purged by the dispel, two paper talismans fall off the wall, ceasing to glow. Caster frowns. "Master, it's disrupted. I need--"

    Gudako raises her hand.

    "Caster. Finish your spell."

    There is a momentary, extremely bright flash of red light. One of the six Command Spells on the girl's hand and forearm flashes like a lighthouse, and then dims to a dull gray-red. A surge of magic augments the blue-robed Caster.

    The Caster's mirror appears, too! It gets in the way of Agahnim's bolts, but only barely; one still grazes the magus, tearing one of her sleeves off and drawing blood. She really isn't sturdy, but seems unbothered by the pain.

    With renewed vigor, and with Sanary's sudden infusion of magic, Gudako's Caster produces countless paper talismans and runic symbols in the air. They spread to every corner of the room, and then become linked magically. An invisible dome envelops the throne room.

    "Sorry, but I think the Gerudo are going to fall. It's nothing personal, but your demands are cramping our style."

    The Bounded Field turns on. It creates immediate pressure in the throne room, and attempts to enforce the following effects:
    1. Exit is impossible.
    2. Heavy paralysis effect on Agahnim.
    3. Agahnim's magical essence is being drained and crystalized inside Caster's mirror for potential later use, or just to keep it as a cool crystal.

    Of course there's always the chance Agahnim can power through, if he wants-- he isn't a scrub. And a solid enough punch or lightning bolt could pierce a hole out of the field.

Nonon Jakuzure (805) has posed:
"Yes, YES! Maybe if you understood WHAT Honnouji stood for your words would actually HAVE MEANING!" Nonon yells, though her words may be lost in the cacophony. As the armoring powers forwards, lifting a foot at a time, Nonon attempts to blast it away - intending to /continue/ pushing back. Yet even as the music is poured on, sonic weaponry and force only have so much effectiveness. With Yuna growing ever closer in her stupid suit, Nonon, in her totally cooler suit, continues to swing back and forth her batons on her shoulders from the uniform!

It's not really enough, though.
th another heavy step, Yuna would find the music has ceased for a moment. "I guess you're not a fan of the classics." The voice isn't exasperated as it is almost cheerful, playful, as the music changes. "How about something more modern~?" With that, parts of the tank snap open that are very clear. Streams of notes ignite out towards Yuna, four different 'chainguns' of notes pouring them towards her as some rather jaunty music plays - from this century! Imagine that!

It's not even deafening! "I don't care about these people, and I don't care about their home. So really, tell me why I should 'stop'?"

Vergil (878) has posed:
     While he lets out a small smirk as his first blows draw blood on the Servant, Vergil notes that her speed is increasing to match up with his own.

     She wasn't an ordinary human - historical figure or not, that kind of power was not common among non-demons. He was temped to think the Emperor of Rome the spawn of a demon herself... but she didn't feel like a demon at all.

     Something else, then.

     The slash of Rosa Ichthys forces him back further - he summons forth six more phantasmal blades before him, arranged in a circle to try and blunt the damage of the fire, but the force of the strike pushes him backwards nonetheless, dust being kicked up as his heals dig into the ground.

     Small burns now dot his shoulders from the edges of the inferno that the swords couldn't defect, the Son of Sparda opting to try a new tactic as he drops into a stance, blue energy condensing across Yamato's blade as he delivers two harsh air-pressure distance cuts - one for Nero's waist and one for her neck - to try and off-balance her with the ranged assault, so as to give Vergil time to charge up a more powerful attack.

     Time to see if the Roman Emperor could maneuver her way to a victory against ever-changing attacks.

Finna (513) has posed:
    Once again Finna's attempts at getting anywhere are thrown to shambles by a team that doesn't have much teamwork! Although there's a VERY noticeable instant of COMICAL DELIGHT when Agahnim turns out to be someone handsome instead of a twisted beast. It's just for a fleeting instant though. She's got MUCH more important things to worry about.

    Like MORDRED here...

    Who she grunts at. "Why do all the good-looking guys have to be such--- URAAAAH!!!"

    Her Feathersteel longsword's up in a heartbeat and torrents of silvery light trail across her arm as it's brought up to parry.

    A very unlikely parry. She's prodigiously outclassed in both power and weight. Yet her eyes are flickering about left and right while Agahnim's picking his targets. A subtle magic filters through her spirit... and what Agahnim's aiming it isn't exactly QUITE the right trajectory.

    The AWFUl sound of steel being torn about and cleaved through rings across the throne room and a large chunk of Finna's sword goes flying into a wall, simply SHAVED off by the blow. The foxgirl herself's pushed back all the way to another wall, skidding over the ground to bleed off the force and wring out her aching arm! For the moment she's stunned, but she's grinning slyly regardless.

    Because while Agahnim thought he was aiming at her, so close to Mordred, amidst all that distraction...

    Well, LOTS of magical lightning is headed straight for MORDRED's huge form. Right at his back, in fact.

    "... Such hardasses. I'm trying to vouch for reason here!" The Lunar exclaims, her other hand cupped against her mouth to yell through the room!

Aedan MacCarvill (891) has posed:
    That's no good. Aedan had been trying to -avoid- this sort of confrontation, not bumble right into it. Where the bloody hell did they even find a bird big enough to hold such a massive Bulblin?! He guides his loftwing into a dive to drop abruptly out of the way of the flying train represented by King Bulblin and his mount, twisting in the saddle and drawing his bow as he does so. They swoop underneath the Helmaroc King, slipping beneath its legs and coming up to its rear.

    A sharp-eyed gaze is turned towards the rider of the Helmaroc King. An axe-wielding lunatic, but the size of the bird limits its speed and the rider's weaponry limits his attacks to charges. Maybe thrown hatchets if he's unlucky, in which case this will get messy just as soon as the Bulblin realizes that he's going to have a hell of a time staying within reach.

    Really, this is the sort of thing Yalai would be better suited to fighting, the Knight reflects as he looses an arrow towards the Helmaroc King's backside. It flashes ominously as it soars, detonating violently somewhat shy of where it might conceivably have struck if it was on target. Looks like the explosive timer was set so that it would detonate BEFORE impact. The idea is that even a near-miss in explosive form is a lot harder to evade than the arrow itself, especially in an aerial battle like this one.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Kyra's outstretched hand is pierced by another arrow, resulting in another cry of pain as Kyra stumbles into the room, her spell disrupted. Knowing what happened last time, she manages to shift as the arrow meant for her side sticks into one of her bandoliers beneath her hoodie instead, sparing her further pain. "Damnit you-" She pauses for but a moment to hear the sorceror rant and, moments before as she scoots to the side of the room, trying to get out of dodge as she sees a man aiming a bow and arrow at her.

    Suddenly, lightning bolts. Kyra will not stand for this and, wincing, gestures wildly, "SHELL!" she screams, placing it on herself, halving the incoming damage of the lightning but still leaving her very unhappy looking. Unhappy enough to lift her rifle and firstly take a shot at Archer. What comes from the gun is a dart that is filled with an explosive mixture that activates on impact.

Priscilla has posed:
    A direct hit, almost ideal in execution, but Priscilla can already tell by the pressure of the resulting spurt of blood, not quite deep enough. An identical subsequent blow should clinch things, but getting the chance again will be much more difficult now. Heedless of the insistence of one ally in particular, Priscilla wastes no time in pursuing the kill, all too willing to assassinate their great and obvious enemy here and now before they can regret not doing so later, and then pursue the same leads the Confederates now have, but the Scythe has only just swung over her head when the arcane lightning catches her at point blank, inadvertently shielding some of the others in the room as the bolts stop dead seemingly in thin air.

    The straight up shock is enough to break her invisibility, at least temporarily, revealing the stark white crossbreed in the practical half of a queen's regalia as she is hurled off the steps to the throne and onto the ground floor just below, twisting rapidly to hit the ground feet first and bouncing with the impact. The left side of her chest has been badly scorched, even through the titanite weaving in the seemingly light clothing, enough that it should have stopped her heart if she had one, but for how much of the attack she had eaten, the damage is relatively low, due to her exceptionally high composite resistance to magic. The air frosts over as she lets out a hissing held breath, her free hand clutching the wound briefly before falling away.

    "As much as I wish to accept thine reasoning, noble intentions hath never been adequate absolution for sin. The chosen path is never guaranteed simply because it is chosen with lofty ideals. Ganon shalt succeedeth not, and neither shalt thee. Face the reality that thou hast chosen poorly; thine actions, thine allies, everything; and then face thine deserving retribution." The fact that she even has that much to say is unusual, never having been one for speeches and mid-battle moralizing. Priscilla speaks without indignation or anger, and without hesitation or regret. The air sings as Moonlight is conjured into her off hand, effervescent embers of raw magic cast from its blade as her power surges through it like the kindling of a fire; and then cries out in rapturous, metallic chorus as she swings it, loosing a deafening arc of eerily shining soulfire straight ahead of her. She bursts forward in its wake, so that the haunting black and silver scythe arrives mere moments after the cleaving sweep of volatile magic does, disappearing midway into the lunge. She's no expert on bounded fields and especially not whatever Midna was doing before she left, so her best option is to aggressively eliminate Agahnim before he can do anything drastic and worry about the rest later.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
The music stops, ever so briefly.

Yuna almost misses that opening - but by the time Jakuzure finishes taunting and switching over, Yuna has seized the chance and is rocketing forwards. The barrage of notes clips the exo-arms as Yuna barrels in towards Nonon herself; if the 'chainguns' can reorient like turrets, then they can probably keep aiming at her even as Yuna seeks out the hoped-for blind spot (deaf spot?) in the Symphony Regalia's armament.

And if Yuna gets close enough?

She moves Shugoseiheki aside, raises her right arm, and tries to just *SLAP* Nonon across the cheek.

"MAYBE YOU SHOULD *TRY* CARING, JUST TO SEE IF YOU *CAN*!!" Yuna screams, literally in Nonon's face if she got close enough.

Winedark Archer (924) has posed:
It's time. But before he can ready the shot, an explosive dart is sent flying at him. He's knocked back and wounded, slamming hard into the floor of the balcony. Quickly, he begins to pull himself up, as he begins analyzing the battlefield. Let's see. Odds are decent, as Agahnim is not moving and has his attention distracted. Gudako's barrier is going to weaken him, which will improve odds. No one is focusing directly on defending Agahnim, nor does Agahnim seem to expect an arrow coming his way.

Lifting himself fully up, Archer nocks an arrow, and points it at Agahnim's head. He takes a second to putall his strength into the pull, readying a powerful shot. The arrow flows with magic, as Archer eyes down his target, taking a breath.

Fire.

The arrow goes flying, slamming towards Agahnim's head. It has a very strong kick to it, and if it isn't blocked, could be potentially lethal. Which is what Archer is hoping for.

Nero (880) has posed:
     Nero's strike is weathered by a formation of phantom blades. How convenient, the Emperor thought, but did not say. Her brow twitced a bit, pausing in her advance to get a read on the situation. He was gaining distance again. Well that was smart. Her reach was greater than his. To stay in close quarters, when speed was near equal, would be tantamount to suicide.

     Of course, that didn't mean that she would simply /allow/ him to do so. Nero immediately moved forward, attempting to pursue the son of Sparda after her assessment. Speeding forward, she held Aestus Estus back, channeling additional prana into it once more. She was, however, surprised to find a burst of cutting air pressure forming right upon her.

     "...!"

     One for the waist and one for the neck. No time to deal with both. In a bold move, Nero simply allowed the pressure at her waist to strike, cutting into her and drawing fresh blood. However, she raised her blade to her neck, shielding herself from the cutting winds. And without stopping, she proceeded forward, golden greaves becoming a blur upon the stone pavement below.

     "You think you can stop my advance with something like that? Try a bit harder, son of Sparda!"

     And then suddenly, she crouched low, and in a burst of power, the Servant leapt into the air, blade raised high. It was a risky move. Showy, obvious. But still, this was just like the Roman Emperor. Gravity could not control her for a moment, and then it began to pull. Empowered by Kyra's attack boost, combined with her own abilities, Aestus Estus flared to life.

     And in the apex of her jump, she swung downwards, sending a jet of flame hurtling downwards for the swordsman's position. And then she began to fall. Descending for Vergil, Nero bore upon him with a falling overhead slash to follow up her previous burst of flame.

Agahnim (864) has posed:
     The Deku Nut leaves the Shadow Wolves stunned, stopping them in their place. It gives Yalai plenty of time to get out of the way. The only downside is that someone else manages to find her. Midna steps out of a wall near Yalai, and looks towards her. An eyebrow is raised towards her, and a smirk is given. Midna considers the woman in front of her. She /could/ attack right now. In fact, it might almost seem like she plans to. She holds up a hand, a large white mirror appearing next to her, an overly elegant looking artifact. It glows with an intense power. Instead, she walks into the mirror, and the mirror vanishes. Midna has disappeared.

     And with her, the rest of the Shadow Wolves.

     The Helmaroc King cries out in pain as the arrow explodes. A patch of bare burnt flesh is upon its body, much of its feathers flying about the place. He lets out another shrieking cry, while turning back towards Aedan and his Loftwing. Despite King Bulblin holding the reigns, the Helmaroc King does most of the planning and guiding. The Helmaroc tries to get a bit below the Loftwing, trying to get the Bulblin a chance to swing that massive axe.

     Agahnim is taken by surprise. The magical energy drains from him quickly, not helped by the fact that he keeps lashing out, shooting out electricity. He aims in all directions, falling to his knees. Being hit by his own lightning, and then being trapped, paralyzed, and drained? It is more than he can handle.

     He is slashed, yet again, by Priscilla. His wound, as is, would be fatal if left untreated. Even with treatment, he wouldn't be the same. His body cut completely across the chest, bleeding heavily.

     And then, the arrow. This guarantees there is no chance of Agahnim's survival. The arrow hits him right in the head, sticking straight through his face. And, through his skull. He is silent for a moment. He collapses to the ground, falling upon the stairs to the throne.

     His last thoughts are hopes that the Goddesses of Hyrule will take him in after his death.

Fassad (248) has posed:
     Fassad stands there. he looks around to the group. The Confederates turned on their allies. Normally, this is something he would find despicable. At long last, though, Agahnim is no longer on the throne. Zelda can become Queen.

     First, though: To Gamelon. He sighs, looking at the Confederates. They are, in fact, the biggest wildcard here. He speaks quietly, tired by the difficult battle. "...Why... Why did you turn on him? Are you our allies in this fight? Will you aid us in saving Zelda?"

     He doesn't have the energy he usually does. He feels winded. He slumps over just slightly, looking towards the ground. Breathing heavily.

Nonon Jakuzure (805) has posed:
As Kagurazaka rockets forwards, a barrage of notes clipping the exo-arms due to her risky and yet clearly paying off action! With the 'chainguns', they can aim but they can only follow if the target is faster. There has to be something more - something to slow things down.

Such things don't exactly occur - the sound shockwave that was chargin and Yuna gets close enough for the exo-armor, or perhaps normal hand, slap.

The sound drops entirely at that moment as she's slapped across the cheek, Nonon's face growing red where she was struck. Her head does not re-orient where it should face, staying turned to the incorrect direction for a rather long moment, as Yuna screams at her.

Slowly but surely Nonon turns to face her, eyes wide, as she stares at her. Finally, she does speak. "Lady Satsuki doesn't need someone who /cares/. She needs someone who /does/."

It may not be clear to Kagurazaka, but the Symphony Regalia was armoring a weapon while Yuna was so very close. It's a missile. It's an oboe missile being fired at her despite the proximity.

"If I can't , or won't... then Lady Satsuki wouldn't need me~. CARING ISN'T GOING TO CHANGE THAT!"

There's a thick plume of smoke that surrounds them both - followed by an explosion shortly after - it washes over the Regalia, blasting parts of it everywhere - but what of Yuna!?

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    That's a wrap. Or it will be, when Sanary looks at her arm. Agahnim's no slouch, even an accidental bolt of lightning is a threat to Gudako. The magus turns towards Fassad, still smiling.

    "Ah? It's just like I said. He made demands of us and didn't reciprocate our help. We're not interested anymore! But I'm not in charge." She motions towards Sanary. "She is."

    Then towards Caster.

    "Caster, take the field down. We're done here."

    The Caster nods, and with a snap of her fingers does every slip of paper in the air and walls fall to the ground, before burning up in purple and orange flames. And when there's just the ashes left, the Bounded Field's presence is gone. Caster twirls a dark purple crystal in one hand, and dematerializes it to prevent theft. That is going right on a shelf with the Incarnation and Einherjar crystals. She has no idea what Gudako is collecting shards of people's power for, but it's not hard to take a few guesses.

    "So! Aaaah... this is kind of awkward now! Who're you guys going to put on this throne?" Idle conversation, her only recourse!

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Kyra moves, ready for retaliation from the archer, fully expecting it. Why not, after this guy has shot multiple arrows at her before with little provocation. She assumes he's some Confederate, maybe working with Gudako? But...

    ...but then he goes and plugs an arrow into Agahnim's head. "Wait, what?" There's no time to save the sorceror with healing-not from an obviously fatal blow on top of the severe one caused by Priscilla moments before. He's pretty dead. Instead, she turns to the archer, gun lifted and pointed at him. She doesn't fire but she does gesture with the rifle.

    "What the hell, you guys, I thought the 'feds were backing this guy! Then you go and straight up trap and /cap/ him!" Gudako offers some explanation to this. 'Didn't reciprocate'. "What, he needed to die over that...?"

Priscilla has posed:
    Following the wake of magic crashing into Agahnim, and feeling the give of a human body parting under the blade of her weapon, the Lifehunt welling up to its bursting point, Priscilla is startled more by the arrow that flies across her field of vision and into the dark sorceror as a long-distance double tap than his actual death. As Agahnim crumples to the ground, ghostly white flame silently flees his body along with his blood, swirling into the air around Priscilla as she absorbs the essence of his soul, briefly suffusing her with pale, colourless light before it fades back under her skin. As she reappears, the eye held around her neck by its chain blinks; or is that a trick of the imagination?

    She casts a critical eye back along the path of the arrow, and then finally to Gudako and Caster, Sanary alongside them, both esoteric weapons still in hand and filling the room with the sense of their twin presences. "Such action is fickle and cruel even for one of the Confederacy. How long hast thou planned this?" Her tail twitches side to side in agitation, but otherwise she remains restrained and composed, since icy suspicion thankfully cannot kill someone alone. "Everyone in this room hast heard of the same things. Do not suspect for an instant that thou wouldst be able to convince me that thou simply intendeth to consider Hyrule a loss and leave it." That tone is more usual of Priscilla; the one that screams 'I feel like maybe I shouldn't try to kill you right now so don't convince me otherwise'.

Project MORDRED (804) has posed:
After being hit in the back by Agahnim, Lunar tricksiness or otherwise, MORDRED seemed quite frustrated and unable to focus. He does answer Fassad. "Some of us had our doubts regarding the long-term viability of him agreeing to the terms of our agreement, while he was expecting ever more from us, to the point of accusing us of double dealing while we never broke our word. Even here, while you were invading, he insisted on these thngs. I wish we could have parted ways more peacefully, but this option was no longer available to us." He starts, weaving truth with subtle gaps. "Until such a time as we can settle a more permanent solution to holding the capital, I propose a joined regency by delegates of parties with a legitimate interest. I do not have the authority to make this decision on behalf of the confederacy, and due to the diplomatic state of affairs regarding Union and Confederacy I do not believe such a truce can last forever, but I hope as an interrim solution it can be acceptable." Pause. "I further propose to preserve the royal nature of this realm that each such member of this regent council is royalty or nobility, though again I repeat this a personal proposal."

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     Panting lightly as Caster's barrier drains Agahnim's energy, Sanary adjusts the flow of energy to provide more of a healing effect to both Gudako's arm and her own back. Hearing Fassad, she picks her second shield back up before nonchalantly dropping it back down on the fallen sorceror's head. Just a precaution, really.

     "We had a deal, he didn't pay up. Also, pretty sure he was trying to kill us as much as you back there." She gestures at the scorch marks on her back, keeping her gaze on him for a while before circling around to get to MORDRED. She does pause for a moment at Gudako's appointment of the cleric as the person in charge, hiding a grin briefly before continuing forward. Once she reaches the man in the massive suit of armor, she'll start directing healing magic his way!

     "So... Uh. Yeah, I guess. Can't exactly use the land if it's /completely/ destroyed, right?" Sanary smirks at Priscilla for a brief moment and noting that concern, trying not to let the size difference intimidate her. Turning to Fassad again, she sighs and sets the riot shield down again to hold that hand out to direct a small light-cloud of healing/stamina restoring energy over Fassad's way as well.

     "We can still fight after this, if you feel like it."

Aedan MacCarvill (891) has posed:
    The battle winds to a close down below, while Aedan is tied up in the skies. The massive figure on the Helmaroc King is still trying to get within swinging distance, which he will /eventually/ if something's not done about him. But, with the commander of the enemies dead and the keep taken, the Rescue Knight doesn't feel particularly inclined towards a battle to the death up here. He slows up, swapping from his bow to his own hatchet in preperation for a potential melee attack. For the moment however, he elects not to take proactive measures.

    Instead, he lowers his altitude and shouts over, "Your commander's gone! No point in fighting anymore. Head on back wherever you came from and find somebody less vicious to serve, maybe." Aedan had always been weirded out by the surface-dwellers like the moblins, who had a choice /not/ to be vicious little pricks, but always made the decision to be tribal and nasty to anyone around them.

    Maybe they just need more time. For that matter, maybe Aedan's wasting his time trying to parley a little with a great monster of a Bulblin, it's hard to say until a response is made.

Winedark Archer (924) has posed:
As the shot pierces Agahnim's skull, Archer /grins/. He is proud that not only he proved Virgil wrong, but that he succeeded in his blow. "You were no true king, nothing like the one I was or the ones I knew." He leaps off the balcony, shaking his head at the sight of Agahnim's corpse, before dematerializing his bow. He stands firm as he turns to Kyra. "I do not 'back' anyone. I work for myself, and my own interests, not others. He no longer agreed with my interests, so he had to die."

And then, Archer steps forward, purposely putting himself in between the Union and the Confederacy, to try and symbolize that he is in the middle. "I have a solution that may be favorable to all parties. Until your princess is recovered, which Ican assist with, I contest claim to your throne based on taking the killing blow. Even then, I would be amenable to putting up a regent from both sides of this conflict for that time, of both sides choice. Is this not agreeable?"

Vergil (878) has posed:
     In his opinion, Vergil felt things were falling apart.

     Gudako and Archer in particular seemed more then willing to throw Agahnim's life away in what he considered a very hasty manner - and if it drove Agahnim to side with the numerically-superior Union in desperation for his life, they were going to be /routed/.

     ...

     So be it then, he figured - if this cost them all, they'd have no-one but themselves to blame for it.

     However, he is pulled back to his fight, gritting his teeth as he sees the woman take the force of his blade and /endure/ it enough to charge forward-

     -and leap into the air.

     Showy and flashy the same as Dante. It's something he's seen all too often... and yet the flame-burst made it much more difficult to counter, his magic having not recovered enough to bring up more blades. Instead, he pours demonic energy into his weapon and throws it upward into a counter-strike-

     And because Nero is falling down at him, the flames pour down as well, searing part of his face and burning a gash into his shoulder even as he tries to drive his upward blow through the falling Roman Emperor.

     And with this strike... Agahnim apparently falls dead somewhere behind them, the Son of Sparda still uncertain of if the correct decision was made there to kill him before they even /tried/ to see what he knew.

     Thus, he's left standing there in the end-stance of his final strike, steam trailing from the burnt portion of his coat even as his face again starts to heal, looking at Nero contemplatively - provided she endured his strike. "It seems hostilities are over" he notes, a trace of what sounds like audible bitterness in the edge of his voice. "Unless you intend to continue?"

     Vergil himself, however, really doesn't. There's no reason to anymore - the die has been cast. Whatever Aganhim could have given alive is gone... and now they have to work a new angle.

     He only hopes this turns out well... and that they haven't just slain the only lead they had to their dues that they could have possibly controlled.

Sarah Parsle (789) has posed:
It's about this time that Sarah stirs, finally coming to her senses enough to push herself up enough to see Aghanim get trapped and then his energy drained out as he gets his ass killed.

"Well, crap." Sarah mutters. "Of course that would happen." She grunts, and while everyone immediately begins arguing over who's the new king or whatever, begins searching through Aghanim's voluminous robes.

By her measure, this isn't over. There might be something else on the corpse that can give additional information on hint at more of that strange relationship between Gerudo and Twili, or what Gamelon is really up to.

The chance for some kind of loot is of course just a bonus.

Yalai the Stave (879) has posed:
The shadow-wolves cringe and cower, blinded by the radiance of the incendiary seed. Hardly have they left when something else takes their place -- the Twilight Princess. Yalai bares her teeth, whipping her quarterstaff around and lunging forward--

--and lunges right through where Midna vanished, smacking violently into the wall, bouncing back, and laying herself out flat on the flagstones, groaning.

"...ugh."

Nero (880) has posed:
     Both opponents clashed, blade for blade. Nero could feel Vergil's silver sword bite into her arm with a strength that she did not have, and she grit her teeth. Once the momentum was lost, they disengaged. She leapt back, skidding a small ways and standing ready. "......" Bringing an hand to her ear, she listened in to the radio chatter on her side.

     "So it seems." Smirking, Nero relaxed her stance and straightened. Not that she was all that tall to begin with. "Very well. I am not so stubborn that I would pursue a battle that has lost it's meaning." Aestus Estus dematerialized, and she chuckled. "I will admit, you have great skill, Son of Sparda! Perhaps another day, we will have the chance to bring this battle to a conclusion. But for now..."

     She moved forward, soon passing the swordsman. "...I must see to my Praetor. Have a good evening." And just like that, she went, no longer consumed with battle adrenaline.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Missiles. The Symphony Regalia has them, and Yuna's fought Nonon before so she knows that they exist. Whether they're any good at this kind of extreme close range, Yuna isn't sure - but she's not entirely surprised when missile exhaust erupts and surrounds both her and Nonon.

The Matrix Divider reappears in a brief flash of light amongst the smoke, and even without being able to *see* the missile properly, Yuna blasts it as soon as she can aim - but the thing is so close that the explosion still knocks her to the side, away from the explosion proper - and out of Nonon's face, figuratively speaking. "You know what, Jakuzure?" Yuna snaps, even as she divides her attention enough to get her exo-armor back on its feet and balanced properly. "I bet you're as sick of hearing me talking about my duty and protecting the innocent and all of that as *I'm* sick of hearing *you* prattling on about your precious, all-powerful Lady Satsuki!" She fans some smoke away, coughing a little bit.

"Agahnim's dead, by the way. Whatever you were fighting for here, you're NOT getting it. You LOST, Nonon Jakuzure, while you were so busy fighting me that you forgot to watch out for your local ally."

And with that, Yuna brings up her suit's exo-arms and starts just starts striking at the Symphony Regalia - punching with one arm, lashing out with the kite shield - smashing with the face of it, slashing with the tip and edges, whatever works. She's not even aiming for *Nonon* any more; she's so close that she can pretty much just try to rip the normally-flying tank apart - particularly any weapons that she can identify while she's this close. If it's resilient enough to stand up to Yuna's close-range strikes, she's still looking for less-resilient weak points; if she can actually DAMAGE it, then damage it she does.

Finna (513) has posed:
    Finna's still rubbing her stunned arm while Agahnim goes down. She swears quietly under her breath. There goes one possible chance at learning about Ganon and maybe having them off each other or who knows what else. Since MORDRED's disengaged she leaps to Fassad's side instead, staying wary with the remains of her sword still raised defensively.

    "Well... THAT sure was anticlimatic... and now we've bigger problems to deal with."

Fassad (248) has posed:
     The King Bulblin blinks at Aedan's words, before looking down at the castle. The Shadow Wolves are gone, the signs of combat are going down. He suddenly just looks... Bored. "...I serve only the strong. I will find someone else strong." The Helmaroc King's reigns are pulled, turning its head away from Aedan. It begins to flap off, flying towards the direction of Death Mountain.

     Fassad looks towards Gudako, considering her a bit. He stares at her blankly, confused by her apparent honesty. So, they did simply kill him for their own profit. The question of who is in charge is simple to answer at least. "...Princess Zelda will be saved, and placed on the throne."

     He stares blankly at MORDRED, "It is not my place to make such a decision on the royalty of those involved."

     And then he looks at 'Rider', frowning, "Kings are not picked by who killed the last king. At least, not around here. I will put a representative of the Union in charge of this Castle for now, until the rightful Queen can be returned. ...In fact, I'll pick a representative right now. Lady Priscilla? You are the acting Reagent of Hyrule, until we manage to save Zelda."

     Fassad does not trust Sanary at all. She's the one who seems to have lead the Confederate incursion into Hyrule, after all. Fassad considers the options, of fighting now or not... And he speaks, softly, "...Well. There is not much point in fighting right now. Instead, I suggest an alliance. On Monday, we head to Gamelon, and save Zelda. I would suggest sooner... But we need time to prepare." Of course, he actually /does/ plan to invade Gamelon sooner. He's not going to tell the Confederacy this, especially since they /just/ admitted they only fought because they didn't get a payout.

     Agahnim's corpse has a decent amount of loot that Sarah could steal. A number of pieces of jewelry. One of his pockets is larger on the inside as well, and a wooden cane is inside. It may or may not be magical. There is little else as far as personal effects, though.

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    "Yeah pretty much," Gudako answers Kyra.

    Sanary heals her arm, which is a huge bonus! It takes the magus a few stretches of it to reach the conclusion she is fine with this and to stop paying attention to it, giving the healer a thumb up.

    Priscilla accuses; Gudako shrugs. "It's my first time here, honest. His attitude annoyed me. So! Why waste time? He was being a dick, now he's not! He's out of your hair, and out of ours, isn't this a happy ending?" 8D

    She is telling the truth, her involving in all this prior to now was basically zero. She shrugs again, and heads for the exit, with Caster following-- well, prancing after her, the happy foxgirl quite proud of herself.

    "Right, well! You guys figure out this succession business, I guess we're out. Or, I'm out! If I'm lucky I can salvage this night." That is, if she's lucky, she can reach the Warp Gate before her AP caps and starts wasting. Besides, the Confederacy already got what they wanted out of this, right? Next up, gotta befriend the Duke of Gamelon, see if that Ganon fellow is their type or not. Or that's what she'd do, anyway. This is technically Sanary's decision to take!

Priscilla has posed:
    "And I expecteth thou wilst continue to attempt to extract the promised ends of such a deal on thine own. Even to assumeth thine reasons to turn upon the sorcerer so suddenly were to be perfect logical and self-serving, that hardly removes thee as an enemy." Priscilla says to Sanary, her voice ice and crackling glass, only turning to a cold, and hostile laugh at both Archer and Mordred, almost irrationally so for two people she's only just met.

    "I shalt dignify no such absurdity as to call it a contest or a delegation. The fact that either of thee wouldst demand such is beyond absurdity, and into a realm of hubris that exists well distant from reality. We art perfectly aware of thine exploits; roaming about this land and bleeding it dry; murdering it in pieces at a time. I see not the shadow of a reason to alloweth thee any manner of power whatsoever over its future, especially not for simply betraying thine benefactor at the very end and claiming all is fair. The fact that thou were ever afforded such outreach of diplomacy in past was due to shared interest, the generosity of Sir Hall, and the efforts of those of thine allies far more clever than thee, and as thou can no doubt see, Sir Hall is not here, we remaineth in competition, and I am entirely confident in our ability to annihilate thee shouldst thou attempteth to insist otherwise."

    The hostility cracks suddenly as Fassad agrees with her by outright electing her representative right then and there. It's not /too/ surprising in later retrospect considering the thoughts they share on these subjects, but it's startling at that exact moment. "I- . . . very well then. I shalt accept the offer gladly, until such a time as the Princess Zelda may taketh her rightful place." Smooth. At least she gets to shoot a 'take that' look.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    "Oh really?" Kyra looks completely nonplussed at the archer and holds up her hand. That hand still contains one of the arrows he shot at her. There's still another sticking out of her side, embedded in some of the gear she keeps underneath her hoodie. "Then explain THIS. Explain why you were shooting at me, especially when I came in to disrupt the spell Gudako's Caster was setting up."

    Kyra takes that moment to snap off the end of the arrow. Then, with clear pain on her face, she pulls the other end through her hand and throws it to the ground. Right away, she casts a Cura on herself to close up the wound. She's shaking a little as she does this and starts fumbling around beneath her hoodie. A syringe is withdrawn, which she sticks into her arm. A moment later she relaxes as the painkillers course through her bloodstream.

    Gudako confirms that they straight up killed him for not providing enough compensation. "I don't buy that jerk thing, the Confederates are /full/ of jerks and you're not killing each other. Also I don't buy putting /him/ on this throne. The people of this world should be able to make that call." she nods towards Fassad, "And it sounds like he's made his decision."

Project MORDRED (804) has posed:
"Then we are at an impasse. Because I do not trust the Union to deal fairly and honestly while shutting us out, and I will not evacuate the premises until a proper truce has been acknowledged and representatives of the Confederacy have been granted equal access." MORDRED states very clearly to Fassad. "If you have issue with that. I regret to say that is not, so to say, my problem."
He steps out of his Armour, as a gesture of goodwill, though he stays near it. He is tall, handsome, and in many ways the image of a perfect prince. "I am Prince MORDRED, Lord of Mercury, Son of High King Arthur." He pulls out a silk glove and holds it out like he wishes to slap someone with it. "And this is not a matter in which the Union gets to place rules and expect us to abide. Either agree to a temporary shared rulership, or get out of our castle."

Sarah Parsle (789) has posed:
Well damn. No info. But hey, loot. Aghanim isn't gonna need that jewelry anymore, and the cane gets immediately Captchalogued. She'll find out what is up with it later.

After that, Sarah just climbs up into the throne and lounges in it while everyone continues to argue. "Frankly, you guys, it's not our problem who runs the place. None of us should be here or running it with the exception of maybe Prince Fassad. He's at least nobility, and more importantly, /he's a goddamn native/."

She smiles faintly at that. "People aren't going to accept some random guy walking in and taking over. He's been running around and putting out fires for months, probably, since before he even put out those requests for help."

Winedark Archer (924) has posed:
Archer actually doesn't seem upset whatsoever by the decision, but that's only external. Whatever he is thinking internally is carefully concealed, as he nods. "Very well. If that is the law of your land, I cannot argue it, and I have no further reason to be in this throne room." And then, he turns to Kyra, sighing. "I was hired to defend this castle, and you were an intruder. I learned that I would not be paid, and that he was attacking others who were working with him. I refuse to trust those who would betray me or my interests, and therefore, he had to die. You can accuse me of whatever else you wish, but I will continue to deny them."

Archer glances at Mordred as he contests claim of the castle, but does nothing. Instead, he vanishes, dematerializing. Soon, his blip of energy is gone from the area, having completely left the Castle.

Nonon Jakuzure (805) has posed:
The explosion clears, the Symphonia Regalia damaged but still protecting Nonon. It's not clear if she knew if it would have survived. It's clear she didn't care, however, in the thick of things. The declaration from Kagurazaka is joining the ringing in her ears. It's about as enjoyable as it to her, as well. Yuna's strikes begin to impact the armoring after she talks, after she claims they lost.

A smile, somewhat twisted, sits on Nonon's face.

"No, maybe the Confederates lost. But I didn't, Kagurazaka." The Regalia snaps shut, black and red energies flashing once before her uniform, damaged, reforms about her. It's tattered now. Parts are missing and tussled. There's at least a handful of loose ends hanging about to make her look like a mess. The hat is missing on top of it. "Say what you want about me or the stupid mission, I was shooting at /you/, but not for /them/." Nonon declares, brushing the uniform off of soot and smoke, wounded limbs burned slightly from her own explosions and assaults, as if she simply didn't care.

"And you're just sick because you're /not/ her. If you knew her like I do, you'd understand." Nonon declares - her unwaivering faith in her Lady of Honnouji truly shining, as usual. "Your group won though, I guess. Since you're all going to just dogpile me if I fight back, I guess we're done. Even if I'd like to keep going until you couldn't make /any/ sounds."

How truly friendly.

Priscilla has posed:
    "No." Priscilla states flatly. "/Thou/ art at an impasse. Those of us with Hyrule's best interests in mind art entirely satisfied. Those of thee alone responsible for killing it slowly art the only ones displeased. The rightful princess is our ally, Agahnim's undoing is our effort, and these measures hath been selected by a native prince. Thou hast no legitimate claim to anything, only the means to stamp and shout in entitlement." It's really rare anyone gets to see anything like this from her. In fact, it might actually be a first as she steps to MORDRED, the royal carpet glassing over in her footsteps.

    "I am Priscilla, Archlord of Anor Londo, Dragon Queen, Daughter of the Ashen Sun, and White Lady of Disaster. I speaketh in no uncertain terms, Sir Morded. Taketh thine leave from /Hyrule's/ castle, or part with thine /soul/."

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     Sanary raises an eyebrow at Fassad before sighing quietly and rubbing her forehead, finally taking a break from directing that healing magic around. Side-bonus: It keeps her face out of view after what Priscilla said! "Well, you're not completely wrong. But we did kinda..." She trails off and gestures back at Agahnim's corpse (and Sarah by extension) while nodding in agreement with MORDRED.

     "We could've dug in and made things a lot worse for everyone in the Union involved, but we didn't. And since Zelda's not on the throne..." She closes her eye and tilts her head back slowly, letting it crack a bit before coming up to Fassad and looking straight up at him. "So how about this. Fassad acts as the Union rep, Gudako..."

     She pauses, glancing back at where Gudako had been standing. "... Isn't interested, I guess. Okay. Uh. MORDRED or I can be the Confederate rep... 's? And that guy from before can.. What's his name. Arrows... Guy?" Sanary makes a show of glancing around slowly, another sigh escaping her after a moment. "Was gonna say he could be the neutral one in all this 'til we find this Zelda chick. Or we can keep the fight going. We've got a lot of really..." She furrows her brow, trying to find the right word for it. "... Huge assholes around that'll break things just for fun. That's not going to be good for anyone.""

     Another pause, then she turns to Fassad to size him up. "... You wanna just punch each other in the face, anyway?"

Project MORDRED (804) has posed:
"Your majesty. There is the problem. We are still here, we are still armed. I care not who the Confederate representative is, but the fact remains that as long as we are both here, and are unwilling to accede to eachother's demands, we yet lack a conclusion that is satisfactory to either of us. You claim victory when it was not your hand who has slain Agahnim, and when it was us who ceased the offensive upon his death." MORDRED remains firm, and firmly maintains a lack of intimidation. "If you seek to claim my soul, I would certainly try to stop you. I do not know if I can succeed, but it does not matter. Because mere threats will not make me bend knee on this matter. Regardless, the longer you waste time on these squabbles, on seeking to assert superiority where I merely seek for a temporary shared custodianship until a more permanent solution, like the return of the rightful ruler, Queen Zelda, you are not rescuing her."

Nero (880) has posed:
     And then Nero comes striding into the throne room.

     "Hrm. Well now. It seems like quite an incident took place here."

     And then without batting any further an eye, she walked right over to Kyra, taking note of the arrow wounds. "Praetor, will you be okay?" She came to a stop not soon after, remaining at the white mage's side while observing the situation in the throne room.

     What nonsense. She had zero interest in this throne, frankly. So this puppet show going on right now, drew an overly amused smile on the Servant's face.

Sarah Parsle (789) has posed:
"You guys aren't listening to me at all, are you?" Sarah points out. "If you guys take the throne you're just as much of a conqueror as Aghanim was. No one /CARES/ who killed Aghanim. He was basically dead as soon as enough people decided to come after him. Frankly, I think you guys were premature but hey, no one listens to the kid."

Sarah shrugs. "The best solution is /everyone gets out of the pool/, and we go get Zelda back from Gamelon. None of you guys are going to run this place, the people aren't going to accept some random guy stomping in and yelling they're in charge, and frankly, who the hell would want to run this place anyway? Seriously, have you even LOOKED at it? The place is a dying wreck."

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"I've been at Honnouji," Yuna states flatly. "I've seen how your precious Lady Satsuki runs things. It's *not* to my liking, and I've faced tyrants and monsters who make her - *and* you - look like the schoolyard bullies you are. You wear a fancy transforming uniform which makes a *mockery* of music, and you think that plus your allegiance to Lady Freaking Satsuki gives you the right to talk down to everyone else, whether they're a Honnouji student or whether they're old enough to be in college or beyond."

Yuna shakes her head. "Grow up while you can, Nonon. Anyone who rules by strength is subject to being overthrown by *greater* strength, and there'll always be someone in the Multiverse who can apply that 'greater strength' against you. If that's part of Honnouji's system and you're really content to go from one overlord to the next at any cost to those who get trampled ..." She trails off, shaking her head again.

"I feel sorry for all of you who are stuck there. But yeah, if all you personally wanted to do is fight me? Then yeah, you got that much. I'll admit it."

Yuna looks at Nonon. "Thanks for at least listening to *something* I said," she adds dryly.

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    Gudako does not seem to care one bit about the succession matters. It was really just a way to strike discussion up with Fassad! Being a king sounds like a huge pain, honestly. Not in a good way. Of Hyrule, especially! What does this place even have? It has NO WI-FI, that's what it has. Soldiers, random wilflife? Come on, they can get that elsewhere, and way easier.

    She spins in place and back around to facing people, standing near the exit to the throne room. "NOPE! A thousand times nope, I don't wanna be queen or king or even caretaker of this place. It's lame and dumb and doesn't have internet. HEY, PRINCE. Get internet, it's the future."

    She also glances back at Kyra! "Hey, hey. Nobody's backstabbing each other in the Confederacy though! He tried to screw us over, that's what he gets. Dead, I mean. Obviously dead! HEY, Prince! Second demand. So, like, get internet, seriously, that was serious. But, how about this, you guys can keep Hyrule, we don't make a mess on our way out, but we get to keep Agahnim's body. To stuff it and put it in our living room or something. With a 'this is why you don't screw us over' plaque. Deal?"

Fassad (248) has posed:
     Fassad is about to say something to MORDRED, but then, Sarah speaks up. He has to admit, though the girl is really blunt about everything, she does know what she is talking about. He nods to her. He's about to speak again, to offer another deal to MORDRED...

     And then Gudako asks to let the Confederacy keep Agahnim's corpse. Fassad stares blankly towards Gudako.

     "...I... suppose... that would be fine?"

     He looks horrified. But what damage could they do with just a corpse?

Vergil (878) has posed:
     Well... he expected this. In fact, believing the Union would be in a better position of power if they struck too soon was why he had wanted to wait until /after/ they were driven back to betray Agahnim; if they helped him survive, he might have been more lenient towards giving them some kind of share in rulership in exchange for defending him... and for being in a superior position of power to him since his deal relied on an IOU.

     ... of course, this conveniently ignores the fact that Vergil's own greed for that possible power had overruled the fact that the risk had long since outweighed the reward they might have gotten. The half-demon isn't used to having his bids be shot down or defied.

     He assumed himself to have been the voice of reason that was ignored... as opposed to the voice of desire that was lusting for a possible outcome that was far more risky then the payout would have recouped for, not at all used to having his ambitions be pulled back, tempered or even refused by others.

     None of this crosses his mind - in Vergil's opinion, Priscilla's refusal to acknowledge any claim of theirs, since they /knew/ the Confederates had other goals and refused to help because of it, made the Son of Sparda believe he'd been right. Instead of having a stable ground with someone they could potentially control, they were now on contested ground and disputed claims with the Union.

     There really is no way to win this now. In Vergil's opinion, Archer and Gudako struck too soon and now they were in another mess.

     ....

     Well... there was only one thing left to do at this point; try to reinforce the path that had already been taken. As if they had a /choice/ anymore.

     ...

     And then... a radio message comes in and changes everything.

     Stepping into the hall smoothly along with Nero - and silently agreeing with the young girl Sarah's assessment that they /were/ premature in their actions - he steps in beside MORDRED and makes an offer of his own.

     "At the very least... can we not request some form of compensation? This was an assignment - and obviously... things went sour." He silently curses Gudako's mouth, though - as if they would give them what they wanted if she asked like /that/. He sighs and rolls with it, though - "At the very least... we would request ownership of Agahnim's body. If for no other reason then the value it will have - the only way of recouping our losses, so to speak."

     It wasn't a /lie/ really... but it wasn't the whole truth either.

Nonon Jakuzure (805) has posed:
Yuna talks - and talks down to Nonon heavily. Eyes glaze over very quickly as she faces her, how she's 'nothing', how she's 'a bully and really should grow up'. How they are all 'small useless things'.

Yeah, maybe they don't have a chance at their goal. One that she'll never learn if it all goes well.

"I plan to die before I fail Lady Satsuki." Is her answer to Yuna after all those words, after all those attempts to tell her there's more to it. "If there is, then let them come at Honnouji. They will find what is stronger."

She doesn't even face Yuna, looking entirely away and heading out as she walks. "I'm actually disappointed I let you talk at all. We're not /stuck there/. We're there because we WANT to be." Because they have to be.

"... Fuck it." Is her final response to the whole conversation, flicking her hand back from her scorched hair and just walking away.

Finna (513) has posed:
    While all the others were bickering, Finna managed to slip out amidst all of the chaos. Quiet as a mouse, sly as a fox. If anyone was watching, she huffed in disgust and strolled out on out of the throne room, headed left down the hallway.

    That was quite a bit ago. Probably easily forgotten now that...

    ... now that the sound of clinking metal's coming from the OTHER end of the hallway. not the way that finna left at all. Clinking metal, albeit faint and cushioned, along with the rustling of excessive fabrics.

    "Or," a clear, authoritative, yet polite voice - graceful as silk yet strong as any steel - pierces through the argument, "Instead of appointing a regent, you can instead leave that to me. I'm too late to help anyone in stopping this madness, I see. Some of you I recognize!" Her warm gaze falls across Fassad and several Union members briefly... but Princess Zelda's gaze is just a tad wary at the Confederates.

    She steps purposefully into the throne room. Yes... it is Hyrule's princess, who should be missing. Locked up in Gamelon. And yet here she is, in incredibly ornate battle attire. Strategically placed golden armor over top of a formal pink and royal purple dress covered in the imagery of the royal family, with the royal crest on display at knee-level. Her blue eyes are fierce and haven't lost a bit of their light, for all...

    For all she's otherwise kind of in shambles. There's mud on her armor, parts of her dress are torn, and a few of the decorative jewels that her battle attire would normally have are torn off.

    She's clearly been through a few scrapes on her way here.

    "Others I do not. I am Zelda, Princess of Hyrule. Who might you be?"

Project MORDRED (804) has posed:
"Your highness, very well. I am Prince MORDRED, lord of Mercury, son of High King Arthur of Earth." MORDRED politely but slightly bows to Zelda, a respected bow to a social equal, but not a superior. "I hope you will allow us the body of our late and treacherous 'ally' but since I was only asking for regency until your return or some other form of permament resolution, I see no point in pressing the matter." He retreats into his Armour, and seems to make it fairly clear he at least wants the body.

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    Gudako is standing by the door! With Caster, but that's largely irrelevant. She didn't notice that Finna snuck out (although she had noticed that Finna was WITH THEM since she kind of yelled at Agahnim and all that). The appearance of PRINCESS ZELDA is kind of a big deal, and gets the magus to stare a bit. Who's this elf? Ah, there she goes, introducing herself. Zelda?

    The Zelda they were just told was in another kingdom, being held hostage, for the revival of an evil god-like figure, by the evil wizard who actually feared the evil god-entity? W... what?

    Blink.

    Gudako glances around the room.

    She cannot see Finna anymore.

    Unfortunately for Finna: 1. she has seen Finna shapeshift before. 2. both of her Servants are shapeshifters, so she knows the tactics. 3. this is absurdly convenient, that the only other shapeshifter in the room is gone when the princess who shouldn't be here shows up.

    "Huuuuh. Caster?"
    Caster slaps a paper talisman on the back of Gudako's head. The magus' eyes shine just a bit, and then she ohs, sounding a bit disappointed. "Aww, here I thought we wouldn't HAVE to hunt for Zelda. Hello Finna! That's a nice disguise. Ah, but you really could use some lessons in subtlety though! How do you do that anyway? I can't see all the way through even with Caster's help!"

Priscilla has posed:
    Oh Priscilla is just not having this. Not from a Confederate. She remembers times well before routine cooperation between the factions was a thing. "Dost thou perceiveth thus to be the issue? Sir Mordred, the fact that thou art still present and remaineth not only armed, but alive, is by mine discretion only. I care exceedingly little for what claims an aimless mercenary may maketh to loosing a superfluous arrow at an opportune moment, thou hast no claim to this land, the Union dost, and I am personally prepared to see that it shalt remaineth that way by force. I tire of thine rhetoric. Whatever morbid fascination thine people hath with a man's butchered corpse, it is beyond mine concern. Accepteth the young Lady's common sense, take it and depart immediately. Hyrule castle shalt be under Union watch until Princess Zelda is retrieved shortly, and no royal action shalt be taken until then. The next thou proceedeth to argue, I shalt striketh thee and most likely slay thee, honourable or not."

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     Sanary sighs lightly as her attempt as negotiation or punch-trading goes nowhere, instead picking up her shield and folding it back into a more compact cube attacked to her gauntlet. She's not quite sure where to really go from here (aside from probably having to carry the corpse back herself), although the sudden appearance from the woman calling herself Zelda does give her some hope for not having to do any more physical labor for the day.

     "Ah. Welcome back, Princess. We're the Confederacy, and we just took out the guy claiming your throne." She jerks a thumb back at Agahnim's corpse in question. "Well, us and some weird guy with a bow. He left, though, so." She leaves the rest of the talking to MORDRED there, although something else draws her attention to Zelda: Gudako calling her Finna instead.

     Sanary just starts laughing after that. "Is that what you're trying now? Oh, great. So. About that co-running plan we were talking about...?"

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    "Uh huh. Then there really isn't any point in arguing with you further, then, is there?" Kyra points out to Archer, shaking her head. True to her words, she doesn't bother the guy about it anymore, moving on to focus on other things.

    "I'm fine now, Nero, don't worry. Thanks for taking on that guy who threw swords at me."

    Finally, Gudako: "Oh, well. That's a lot lower number than I was expecting. I'm okay with this, really, but I don't want to know what you end up doing with this guy's corpse. Stuffing it seems mean-spirited but that's just my opinion." Which wasn't worth much to 'Feds.

Fassad (248) has posed:
     Fassad facepalms a little, his fingers rubbing his temples. This /was/ a good plan. There have been several good plans. But, things are going a bit surreal. He looks towards Finna!Zelda for a bit. In many ways, this actually makes him uncomfortable. It doesn't help that Gudako and Caster figure it out.

     "...I am going to the Castle Town milk bar after this is over."

     He shakes his head a little bit, trying to shake it off. He smiles, despite not feeling it. He looks towards Sanary, shrugging, "Well. The plan is simple. On Monday, we make a full assault. Between the forces of the Confederacy and the Union, there is little chance we could fail to save Zelda."

     A pause. A last look at all of the Confederates. "...Please, enjoy your corpse."

Project MORDRED (804) has posed:
"If she is this 'Finna', then today marks a great shame on the Union for attempts at deceit, but I have no evidence for this claim other than the claim of one person. And though I trust them to report fairly, my own eyes are clear as day. I do not feel like it would be constructive to quibble over perceptions." Whether it's the magic influencing him, a desire to back down and go do something more productive, or something else... He appears to be willing to buy it. "I will take our traitor. Have a nice day, your majesty, your highness." He goes to pick up the corpse, if people let him, before flying off.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     Oddly enough, milk actually sounds quite good right around now. It really had bene a long day, and Sanary's fairly confident she can at least get some laughs at out of it if nothing else. "Hey, Fassad. What else do they serve there, anyway?" She lets out another long sigh before starting towards the exit as well, hurrying up a bit to catch up with the prince. "What kinda money do you use here, anyway? I'm good for credits, so..."

Vergil (878) has posed:
     In spite of his personal dissatisfaction with how quickly they simply cast Agahnim to death, Vergil can't help but smirk when Gudako proves useful in uncovering Finna's attempt at deception... and in doing so, might have considerably weakened Priscilla's position.

     Granted, he doesn't expect them to attain the throne at this rate... but if nothing else, backing MORDRED over Priscilla is one small point in undermining her authority. "I hope you don't mean /that/ Zelda that our mage identified as a fake. Considering you have a shape-shifter that just tried to enact a bid for authority when the Prince has disarmed and approached you earnestly, I don't see very much reason to trust your word over his personally."

     He trusted the mage more then the Union, even if he found her to be brash and hasty.

     In the meantime, though, once they have the corpse on hand, there isn't any reason to push things further once MORDRED makes his eloquent claim of the Union having shamed itself if Gudako is right. And he in turn takes his leave after Mordred and the others, casting a glance to Sanary as he is unsure whether she's trying to probe Fassad for information, simply get a drink or both."

     ...

     Likely both.

Finna (513) has posed:
    "My sources tell me you also 'took out' the Deku Tree." 'Zelda' answers Sanary, her eyes swiveling with a flicker of anger at Project MORDRED on the way out. "Without that great spirit the people will suffer in other ways." Yes. this is not Zelda. But her words are just as sharp, just as piercing, as any other. If Sanary has any memories of her parents left this rapier-precise tone is certain to drag up every erg of GUILT and SHAME she may have ever felt when chastised as a little child, such is the aura behind it.

    Even being 'revealed' by Gudako, this is no less effective. "Among a number of other heinous crimes. And for what? What did this traitor promise you?" Oh, the Princess is angry. Legitimately angry.

    Finna is counting on the fact that someone, instilled with a suitable flash of guilt, might blurt it out.

    Regarding Gudako's reveal, she does nothing. Not until Project MORDRED has left anyways. She sees him off with a deep, respectful nod.

    She's left STARING at Gudako. Perhaps waiting for any possible remarks from Sanary others before doing anything about this matter of being 'revealed.'

Nero (880) has posed:
     Oh, the show is over already?

     With a nod to Kyra, Nero dematerialized, no longer seeing a need to be physically present. She did her part. Now, she was just going to linger around Kyra until the girl saw fit to leave this place.

Fassad (248) has posed:
     Fassad gives a look to Sanary. A flat, blank look. "...I am not going to accompany a known Confederate to a milk bar. But, if you must know, the standard currency is Rupees, but Multiversal Credits are accepted as well."

     Fassad remains silent, otherwise simply just drained.

Priscilla has posed:
    Priscilla has historically had extremely little patience for Finna's way of doing things. It's a miracle that she's restraining herself as well as she is right now. Her eyes don't even roll. "Whatever a hypothetical shapeshift hast to do with anything is, again, beyond mine concern. Do not seek to chastise and lecture mineself for deceit and betrayal, for thou shalt find such a glass house shattering very, very swiftly. Such juvenile attempts at embarrassment shalt changeth not mine mind." That's incredibly diplomatic for what she could be doing right now. "Saveth thine efforts for whence they shalt matter, Sir Vergil especially."

Fassad (248) has posed:
     Outside the castle, as the Confederates finally leave? They will see a man, floating in the air. He wears full body green tights wtih a pointed hat, with red around his waist. A number of balloons are carrying him, connected to a large backpack on him. He looks... Unique, to say the least. Possibly familiar to some.

     A sign is on his stomach reading 'Maps For Sale!'

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     "Oh, come ooon. It's too late for more shit, anyway." Sanary actually flashes Fassad a genuine grin as she says that, putting her shield back on her... Back to keep both hands free. "I just wanna see what this 'milk bar' thing even is and get a pork chop or five."

     Her strangely cheerful demeanor after all the back-and-forth doesn't remain the whole time, however, darkened somewhat by the false Zelda's words. "Mm... Your sources aren't completely wrong. But I gave 'em a chance, so..." She lets out an irritated grunt and keeps moving, intent on getting to that damn milk bar.

     She's going to eat those pork cohps so hard. Even harder than... She pauses to stare at the flying balloon man, then shakes her head and starts moving faster just to get away from that... That.

Finna (513) has posed:
    Once Sanary has left, Finna banishes her 'facade.' This was no shapeshift. There's no rippling of flesh. Instead, the facade melts away in a show of prismatic moonlight losing resolution and cohesion. It wasn't a shapeshift.

    That was an illusion.

    A thumping good one.

    And the (slightly shorter than Zelda by an inch or two) foxgirl's grinning up a storm at Gudako.

    On the way out, Gudako might intuit a message in that grin. Or maybe she won't.

    'You'll never achieve this. No matter who you kill or steal from, it will never be yours.'