*Cornelia*

The only town in the world was busy as usual. Workers were rebuilding the towers and walls damaged by the last monster attack while others were disposing of the bodies by taking them apart and using every bit of them. The bomb's wisp of spirit left behind was good for making guns, for instance, while the goblins usually had potion ingredients hidden on them. It was an unpleasant job but there was nothing to it. There was simply nowhere else to get materials. Thankfully an adventurer had placed Chocobo's Forest nearby, supply the village with both wood and beasts of burden. As an added bonus, for some reason monsters avoided the forest, making it a safe haven.

The last wave of monsters seemed especially strong for some reason. In addition, a scout reported a humanoid figure off in the distance when the monsters attacked, watching the battle take place. When the scout approached them, the figure summoned additional monsters, forcing the scout to retreat. Obviously, finding the person is of high priority. Additional sightings have placed them at the southern end of Chocobo Forest. They are human, male, and wearing an orange and blue outfit. However, due to the high danger they present, the scouts have not been able to get near enough to gather more information.

Of course, there are many other things that need doing. The world still needs to be restored, Cornelia needs to be improved, and people need helping. So, what are you going to do?

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Final Fantasy IX was the best Final Fantasy game ever and if you think otherwise you are WRONG!

My fanfiction account. Comments and criticisms are very welcome.

~Aelelia~

"This is the last time I'm going to tell you Kaito, take the artifacts! Use the money to you get from selling them and pay the workers rebuilding the wall. It's not like I need anymore money myself." The man sighed and reluctantly took the bag of artifacts off the table before him. The girl was right, she had no need for any more money, and the payment would galvanize the workers repairing the city. He worried about her travelling so far into the ruins on her own though, monsters were everywhere, except for in the chocobo forest. Only now there was that strange man who summoned monsters in the southern end of the forest. No one could get near enough to him to find out what he was or what he was doing. "Aelelia, if you're so keen to help out the city, would you mind checking out what's going on in the Chocobo Forest? We haven't got anyone strong enough to reach that stranger. You just might be the only chance we have at finding out what's going on, though I hate the thought of sending you into danger." The girl smiled and pushed her long black hair off of her shoulder, her sapphire-blue eyes shining. "Not a problem Kaito, going through the forest will be a good change of pace." She turned quickly and walked out of his building, shading her eyes with her hand as she stepped out into the sunlight.

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Zath: Behold, Karo: The only woman in existence who can make Fenix shut the fuck up.
Redsnow: That, and, frankly, if Karo doesn't like you that much, your character is probably going to die soon after his acceptance anyway.
Keiran: Bad RPs don't get picked, unmemberable RPs get ignored.
Zelosse: I don't usually laugh at blatant attitude, but when I do. It usually involves Karo.

Lunpe Freefall

A Crimere, dressed in blue dragon knight armor, was leaning against a wall at an inn lazily with a book in his hand. "Let's see," The Crimean said as he looked into his book. " I've got Goblin Punch from when the goblins attacked, I got a chance to learn self-destruct from a bomb, alot of good that'll do unless I've got a phoenix down used on me afterwards. hmm... Maybe I'll go check out what kind of monsters that mystery man summons." The Crimere closed his book and pushed his visor down, "But first I'll look for some help, let's see where to begin?..."

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Balthazar swung his rune blade down towards the ground whipping off the blood that had coated his blade. "Too easy," he said as he slid his weapon onto his back. Balthazar looked around the field and narrowed his eyes as he watched the man head towards the Chocobo Forest. "Methinks someone has some explaining to do," he said before looking back towards the town. "But maybe I should find some help first, an opponent that can conjure reinforcements may be to much for me."

He turned towards Cornelia and began towards the front gate with a sigh. "Hopefully no one will try and stop me thinking I'm some kind of villain... again," he muttered with a frustrated tone. "Ho, there!" he began as he stepped up to the gate, his hands at his side and a friendly smile on his face, "I hope you gentlemen are staying safe, can't defend the city if you're all wounded." He finished trying to sound as friendly as possible. Why did people think he was evil anyway?

Baali moved quickly as he past through the gate and looked around as his walk picked up,"Possible companions," he muttered quietly looking around for any capable monster slayers.

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A possible ally?

"hmm." Lunpe said to himself as he walked out of the inn and scouted the town. Lunpe stopped when he noticed a dark armored person near the town gates. "Let's see, dark armor, a large sword, he looks like he might be a dark knight. He might be a good addition to a party. But with a dark knight you never know. Lunpe walked toward Balthazar, "Greetings, I'm in search of adventuring companions to find the strange man at the chocobo forest. You seem like you are well versed in combat, what do you say?"

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~Aelelia~

Aelelia looked down both sides of the road, debating on where she needed to go before she headed out into the forest. She looked down into her small bag of things, and sighed when she saw that she was low on potions. Looks like she would need to stop by the shop near the main gate of the city. Which to her, was a shame. She didn't like going to that shop, the clerk always hit on her, no matter how obvious she made it that she wasn't interested in him. She turned and headed down the streets, still rifling through her bag to see what else she needed. Next thing she knew, she was stopped abruptly by bumping into a rather tall figure. She looked up, and immediately stepped back. The man was tall and lanky, and wore shadowy chainmail that covered his entire torso with leather straps and metal plates that covered his wrists. Although her clothing was the same color, this man's seemed darker than hers somehow, giving him nothing short of a sinister look as it clashed with his pale skin and blended with his red highlighted black hair. She took a step back, her sapphire eyes wide. Why had she never noticed such a frightening man in town before? She glanced over quickly at the guards, then back up at the man. While she wasn't afraid of him, such a figure made her a little nervous.

_________________
Zath: Behold, Karo: The only woman in existence who can make Fenix shut the fuck up.
Redsnow: That, and, frankly, if Karo doesn't like you that much, your character is probably going to die soon after his acceptance anyway.
Keiran: Bad RPs don't get picked, unmemberable RPs get ignored.
Zelosse: I don't usually laugh at blatant attitude, but when I do. It usually involves Karo.

Baali blinked at the man who approached him. "You assume much, stranger," he said staring at Lunpe, "Why should I trust you?" Balthazar began to turn away when Aelelia bumped into him. He stepped away looking at the girl who had run into him and gave a slight bow, "I'm sorry," he said glancing back to Lunpe, feeling uneasy around the presumptuous man.

"Is something wrong?" he asked his eyes resting back on Aelelia. The Magi kept his gaze locked on her as he straightened back up. "You'll have to forgive my rudeness, I am Balthazar Valtharan." The man seemed quite oblivious to his villainous appearance and continued to attempt to be nice. "I was just on my way to the local inn, perhaps you would like to join me?"

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~Aelelia~

Aelelia looked surprised as the man apologized to her, when she had been the one who bumped into him. It was very unusual for someone who looked like that to be the one to apologize. "No... I was the one who bumped into you." She couldn't help but keep staring, now more confused than anything else. "Nothing's wrong. I'm Aelelia Stone." She lifted one of her hands and brushed her hair back, a movement more to steady herself that anything else. This situation was so weird! With looks like that, she had been expecting the man to yell at her to watch where she was going. But the self-sufficient girl couldn't be startled forever, and the initial feelings were already beginning to wear off. She would just have to learn to judge less by appearance. After all, she didn't exactly look like the nicest person either. So when Balthazar asked her to accompany him to the inn, she nodded, and when she spoke again, her voice was full of her usual confidence. "Sure. I was just headed to the item shop before heading into Chocobo Forest, but I can spare some time."

_________________
Zath: Behold, Karo: The only woman in existence who can make Fenix shut the fuck up.
Redsnow: That, and, frankly, if Karo doesn't like you that much, your character is probably going to die soon after his acceptance anyway.
Keiran: Bad RPs don't get picked, unmemberable RPs get ignored.
Zelosse: I don't usually laugh at blatant attitude, but when I do. It usually involves Karo.

It wasn't as if they were trying to be stealthy but about five guards had gathered nearby. They were muttering to each other and jostling one of them until someone stepped forward. He wasn't wearing the usual guard uniform. In fact, the only thing that let on that he was a guard was the patch he had attached to his red scarf. The scarf matched both his hair and eyes. The eyes let the three in on a fact: the guy had to be an avatar. Unless the fact that his eyes looked like dying embers was normal for a race that none of them had ever seen. He walked up to Baali and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave. You're making quite a few folks uncomfortable, no matter what your intentions." He wasn't wearing much: he was barechested except for where the scarf hung over it, he wore loose, pinkish-brown pants and sandals. The only weapons they could see were the spiked, leather gloves he wore, in addition to whatever powers his god lent him. When he spoke, they could see that some of his teeth were pointed. If they looked closely, they would notice that his toenails were also pointed, making them claws. Again, unless there was something really weird going on, he was most likely an avatar of Ifrit. If so, he was incredibly polite for an avatar of the fire demon.

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My fanfiction account. Comments and criticisms are very welcome.

~Aelelia~

Aelelia frowned as the guard finished speaking. Sure Balthazar had unnerved her a little bit when she saw him, but that didn't mean he had less of a right to take refuge in Cornelia than anyone else. "Last time I checked, Cornelia's gates were open to all who would take refuge here." She stepped around Balthazar to look the guard in the eye, her hands down at her hips so she could grab her knives if she needed to. "So you can take your horns and shove them up your ass, fire boy." Aelelia didn't often give the guards trouble, but this one had crossed a line. She grinned cheekily at him, her eyes showing she was ready for a fight if necessary.

_________________
Zath: Behold, Karo: The only woman in existence who can make Fenix shut the fuck up.
Redsnow: That, and, frankly, if Karo doesn't like you that much, your character is probably going to die soon after his acceptance anyway.
Keiran: Bad RPs don't get picked, unmemberable RPs get ignored.
Zelosse: I don't usually laugh at blatant attitude, but when I do. It usually involves Karo.

As he was about to set off he felt the hand tapped his shoulder. Balthazar stopped and turned around, looking at the guard for a moment and cocked his head to the side. Clearly he didn't understand, nor did he have any intention to leave. He sized up the intimidating man in front of him and shook his head. "I'm sorry I'm not leaving," he said staring the man in the eyes. His hands remained at his side, but even if he wasn't reaching for his weapon he was still rather deadly. The Magi folded his arms and narrowed his eyes at the guard keeping perfectly docile.

"I've done nothing wrong, and I have no reason to do anything wrong. I've done nothing to make anyone feel uncomfortable." He said as Aelelia pipped up and nodded along with her. "This city is supposed to be a safe haven, although I don't know if I'd have said it as colorful as she did," he muttered glancing back at her for a moment. He shrugged and looked back at the guard, "But she's right and got her point across."

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The guard smirked in a way that would have made a lesser person grab metal boots and stuff both holes with them. "Yes, Ma'am, that's all fine in theory. But when you get down to it, we wouldn't let, say, a goblin in the town without heavy watch, would we? Monsters, after all, aren't civilized enough to behave themselves and I've never seen a being such as him. Now, maybe he's just different looking but maybe there is a reason I've never seen his kind before. All I'm saying is that things are a little fragile right now and we can't take any chances. Now, sir, you can either leave peacefully or I can make you leave." He cracked his neck and the other four guards were grabbing their weapons. All the avatar did was let the gate unseal, presumably as a show of force. Horns grew and the nails on his toes and fingers lengthened. He removed the gloves as he prepared for a fight.

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Final Fantasy IX was the best Final Fantasy game ever and if you think otherwise you are WRONG!

My fanfiction account. Comments and criticisms are very welcome.

Baali narrowed his eyes at the other avatar and shook his head. "You would unseal your gate in the middle of a town surrounded by innocent people?" He remained perfectly still, knowing full well what may happen if he returned the gesture. "From one avatar to another it looks like these people need some protection from you." Balthazar remained perfectly still, staring directly at the guard.

"You would use the powers of your god so recklessly to pick a fight with an innocent bystander in a city and you call yourself a guard?" The guard's actions were picking at a portion of Baali's psyche that were a little tender. A man who was supposed to protect the innocent was preparing to attack and kick out a person who hadn't even broken the law. The Mage Knight stepped up to the avatar of Ifrit. "Your job is to protect the innocent of this city. Unleashing your abilities puts your fellow guards and the people of this city in danger. I have done nothing and I am not leaving this city. Not by force, nor of my own free will until I chose to do so." He turned away from the guard, "Stalk me through the city if you wish, but you'll find it rather boring."

He looked towards Aelelia,"Shall we?" he asked looking at her giving her a friendly smile that certainly didn't fit his deathly guise.

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~Aelelia~

Aelelia downright glared at the guard as he unsealed his gate. "You hot-headed idiot! The words were out of her mouth the exact same moment that Balthazar questioned the guard's decision himself. "It's obvious to anyone with a brain that while this man looks different, he's not a monster." She looked over at Balthazar, surprised to hear that he also was an avatar. What were the odds that three avatars would all be gathered together so easily? Not that she was going to reveal herself as one just yet. She watched as Balthazar continued to reprimand the guard, and nodded when he asked her if they should continue on anyways. "We shall."

_________________
Zath: Behold, Karo: The only woman in existence who can make Fenix shut the fuck up.
Redsnow: That, and, frankly, if Karo doesn't like you that much, your character is probably going to die soon after his acceptance anyway.
Keiran: Bad RPs don't get picked, unmemberable RPs get ignored.
Zelosse: I don't usually laugh at blatant attitude, but when I do. It usually involves Karo.

~Lunpe learning something new~

"suit yourself," Lunpe said as he shrugged and turned to leave. But as soon as he heard another voice he turned back around and witnessed the next few events.
"Easy guy," he said as the guard unsealed the gate. "do that too often and there is no telling what might happen." The whole time he had his visor on so he already knew that the guard was a fire type, but he could'nt tell why until then. He turned to the girl and Baali as they began to walk away. "you said you were going to the chocobo forest soon correct? Mind if I tag along?" his question was more focused on the girl than Balli. He glanced back at the guard just in case while thinking too himself, I wonder what kind of interesting things I can learn from someone like that, or maybe, he thought focusing on the other two, These two as well.

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Also, please support Monty Oum, his work is amazing, especially RWBY. I wish I was that good.

There was a loud noise like a tree catching aflame and their shadows suddenly gained doubles. Behind them, the guard had summoned a huge ball of intense flame. The fireball as almost as large as he was. He grinned and said "Nobody ignores m-" He was cut off by another guard who responded by tackling him. The avatar of Ifrit was thrown to the ground where the other three guards covered him. There were some loud shouts. It seemed that the avatar was trying to convince them he was kidding. The other guards weren't listening. If they looked closely, they would notice that the guards were using some kind of enchanted binders that immediately forced the avatar back to his normal form. The guard who had tackled him dusted himself off and turned to Aelelia "Sorry about that, Ma'am. Disciplinary action will be taken."

_________________
Final Fantasy IX was the best Final Fantasy game ever and if you think otherwise you are WRONG!

My fanfiction account. Comments and criticisms are very welcome.

~Aelelia~

Aelelia looked back as the second man asked if she minded him joining her in the Chocobo Forest. "I prefer doing things on my own, but I can't stop you from following along like a puppy." She looked back to the guards just in time to see the fireball, and the eventual tackle, which caused her to laugh aloud. No one would ever catch her like that. She looked at the guard as he got up and dusted himself off, apologizing to her. She gave him a big smile, her blue eyes still sparkling with laughter. "It's alright. That show just made my day. I trust that my new friend and I can wander around town freely now?"

_________________
Zath: Behold, Karo: The only woman in existence who can make Fenix shut the fuck up.
Redsnow: That, and, frankly, if Karo doesn't like you that much, your character is probably going to die soon after his acceptance anyway.
Keiran: Bad RPs don't get picked, unmemberable RPs get ignored.
Zelosse: I don't usually laugh at blatant attitude, but when I do. It usually involves Karo.

~Playing the part~

Lunpe turned to see the guard being tackled. "My, what a hot temper. Need a little cool water, perhaps?" Lunpe chuckled to himself thinking how interesting it would be to lancet the guard. BUT, that wouldnt be in his life's best interest. He then turned back to the two walking away."I am no puppy ma'am, I am a crimere." Lunpe decided to then put his tail between his legs and whimper, he then chuckled and began walking normally. "So, would you mind telling me a little about yourselves? Oh, but first, i've been so rude. Allow me to introduce myself," he then jumped about five feet infront of the two and took off his visor and hat, "I am Lunpe Freefall, m'lord and lady." He said bowing to the "lady"

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Also, please support Monty Oum, his work is amazing, especially RWBY. I wish I was that good.

Baali looked back at the avatar of Ifrit and a bored look. "A man who lacks discipline does not deserve the power of the gods," Balthazar looked rather upset with the guard who had tried to attack him. He turned back towards the inn and began to walk away from the crowd. "Unbelievable," he growled under his breath as he looked to the gate. Sure he had been avoided in the past, even talked to with extreme rudeness, but never had he been attacked or threatened to be thrown out of the city.

For a moment Balthazar remained still and looked into the pack of items that his fellows had given him the day he had left. A healthy assortment of potions, a single tent, and the feather of a phoenix. He glanced over to the rogue and the whimpering dog man and then back to the gate. "If you two are ready we can head out immediately. If not we can stay in an inn for the night and let Sparky over there cool off." Baali shot a glare to Lunpe for a moment, he acted so polite to a woman but to him he was rather rude. Scoffing Balthazar looked away and folded his arms, "Balthazar Valtharan, Mage Knight of Hades," he said simply resting his eyes on the two of them.

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"ah," Lunpe exclaimed, "a mage knight, and an avatar of hades as well." Lunpe said, "That explains your sunny personality and cheerful demeanor." Lunpe said chuckling to himself, "and you?" Lunpe said to the girl kindly.

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Iria Sanctus was exhausted. She had already been on patrol duty for a day when the monster attack came, and now she was doing extra rounds to be ready in case of any follow-up attacks or shut down any opportunism in the wake of the chaos. Never mind that she was not getting paid, that she did not actually have a job in the city and that these patrols was merely something she imposed on herself. Really, she preferred walking the streets, second day running, than returning to the small outpost of the Order of the Cleansing Light in the city, that was stood empty. She had always been compelled to serve and protect, but now it was more a matter of shutting out recent events.

Still, as always she walked and stood proud, back straight, as she strode through the city, looking for trouble makers. Yet she was late for the commotion, though it had been hard to miss an avatar making trouble in bright daylight. The clinking and clanking of her armor could be heard half a mile away, as she walked over to the guards, wrestling with what she gathered was a monk with the powers of ifrit under his command.

"Guard, report. What happened here?" the metal giant asked sternly, staring intently on them all. She had barked orders at the town guard before, even though she held no official authority over them, especially now that the Order was presumably reduced to a single person. Her gazed also turned to the now-party of three for a moment, though she mostly ignored them. Iria had seen the black-clad magi in the earlier monster attack and she had a bad feeling about him. It was not just his dark arts or appearance however, something on an instinctual level seemed to claw at her, telling her something was up, but for now, Iria was intent to judge the case fairly, and not make any assumptions until she knew the whole situation.

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The guard was about to respond Aelelia when the paladin arrived. Immediately, the guard snapped to attention. It didn't matter that she had no real authority. She had better training, better equipment, and the blessing of one of the few gods that a city would be happy to have around. For example, despite its healing energies, the Phoenix was still seen as a bringer of destruction as well due to its cycle of rebirth and its connection with fire. And no city wanted Bahamut around. He may be the most powerful but his strength was so great that anything nearby tended to get blasted by just being around him."Lady Iria! Ginsu here was helping us in our patrol. However, something seems to be wrong. He's acting extremely aggressive and even activated his powers in the middle of town. We are currently detaining him but..." As if on cue, the guards were thrown into the air. The guard reporting to Iria turned and his eyes widened. "That... is not Ifirt..."

He was right. Whatever Ginsu was turning into, it was not the fire demon. For one, Ifirt didn't have scales. For another thing, they were all pretty sure he had two arms, not six. The guard backed up "Ma'am! Orders?" He clutched his halberd as if it was a safety blanket and clearly had no wish to engage Ginsu.

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Final Fantasy IX was the best Final Fantasy game ever and if you think otherwise you are WRONG!

My fanfiction account. Comments and criticisms are very welcome.

"Fall back for now, I will take care of this." Iria said without looking at the guard, staring intently at Ginsu. "Get reinforcement and set up a perimeter around it place. Worst case, we need to keep it from entering the city at large."

Iria could feel her fatigue fade away. This was all instinct to her, second nature. Protect the innocent, slay the wicked, it needed no thought. A grinding sound could be heard as she drew her massive sword from it's scabbard. She poised it in her right hand, white light gathering around her left.

"Identify yourself, monster!" she shouted, walking slowly towards Ginsu. "If you have possessed this man, I suggest you leave his body now, or be banished for eternity!"

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"Like at demon is going to listen to you," Baali said stepping next to Iria staring at the transforming Ginsu, "If its possessed him then you should prepare for combat instead of trying to reason with it." Balthazar unsheathed his runeblade with his eyes fixed on Ginsu."A paladin, huh?" he said glancing to Iria for a moment before looking back towards the possessed guard, "I don't know what it is about you lot, but for some reason you all treat me the worst for no reason." The were paladins and avatars of Alexander where Balthazar received his training, but because of their shared heritage the Magi had generally gotten along, despite their different gods and training. But their ideals were the same, protect the innocent. And with his sheltered life away from the world he was beginning to have a perspective that was unique to the darker side of the Mage Knights, was the rest of the world full of savages?

Dark magic began to radiate from his sword but he had not unsealed the gate, he was simply preparing for combat. He wouldn't let the paladin tell him to leave, nor would he allow the woman to command him. Demons were to be banished and destroyed and he wouldn't let the paladin do it alone, even if she was going to treat him terribly.

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~over 9000?~

"I apologize but it seems a new turn of events has come around." Lunpe said to aurelia before jumping over to the paladain. "He's right you know. Lunpe Freefall always at service to such a beauty." Lunpe said to the paladin as he grabbed his Halberd and got into a fighting stance, "Of course, I'm willing to help as well. This works out fine for me as well, now i can lancet him without worrying." He then put down his Visor to scan all the specs of the Transformed Ginsu. "I'll lancet him if I find anything interesting."

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Hey everybody, PandaBrady here, with more roleplaying!

Also, please support Monty Oum, his work is amazing, especially RWBY. I wish I was that good.