Welcome to Adventu, your final fantasy rp haven. adventu focuses on both canon and original characters from different worlds and timelines that have all been pulled to the world of zephon: a familiar final fantasy-styled land where all adventurers will fight, explore, and make new personal connections.
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year 5, quarter 3
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"You're in good hands. She's one of the most capable people I've ever met."
It was all that Caius could do. Cissnei had this handled, but the notion that with his injuries, which looked especially nasty, were going to be grievous in pain thresholds with what needed to be done... All he could think to do was comfort him best he could. Not that he was lying, of course. He thought highly of Cissnei. Very highly.
Though he was a little surprised when his guess on Ignis' identity was correct. Ignis shifted up a bit and Caius shook his head. "Don't strain yourself too much. I'm a friend" He promised, trying to get Ignis to settle down so Cissnei could continue to work on the injury. "My proper name is Caius Dragelion, I was a Kingsglaive for His Highness before I was brought here. I don't know you well, so it's fine if you don't remember me. I mainly know you by reputation."
He went a bit longer on the explanation than intended, but it would keep Ignis occupied while Cissnei worked, and it would likely calm Ignis down immediately if Caius explained how he knew the name and that he was of the Kingsglaive. He needed to be calm right now, or they wouldn't get anywhere in all of this.
Cissnei finished and gave him some ointment to do what could be done. Caius wasn't sure where to go from here. It was nice, he supposed, to meet someone else from his own world. But he was horrified to see the wounds that he had suffered. What had caused them? He didn't have them when he was recruited...
And yet...
"It might be the injuries, but..." He spoke up, deciding to speak his mind in some measure to at least alleviate the tension. "You actually seem a fair bit younger than when I saw you in person all those years ago. Guess you've aged pretty well in the time since I've been in this world."
The smell got worse. Worse and worse by the moment. Caius could hear a large metal presence beginning to approach him. Vordun was able to hear it too, though the dragon's sense of smell had alerted him to the presence of the stinker long before it had for Caius. The low growl that emitted from the drake tipped Caius off to the fact that most likely, their stalker was near. Caius' eyes flew open as his head darted toward the sound of rustling leaves. Vordun's wings unfurled themselves as the dragon would get up, and Caius quickly sprung to his feet as well. He didn't know this forest well, and while the place felt safe, and nothing had jumped out at him so far... He had no reason to doubt that something could now.
He could see something red in the trees. Something very red, clashingly red when compared to the trees and branches around them. It was difficult to see entirely from behind the trees, but his potential assailant looked akin to a big bridge of a man. Or was it even a man? A woman, maybe? Or creature, perhaps? Man, woman, creature, bandit... It could be anything. Or perhaps he hadn't escaped that illusion-filled forest after all... And he was merely being fooled once more by it.
In a flash of bright blue light, the gunblade materialized in Caius' hand as he pointed it toward the rustling trees and the big red blob of a thing behind them. He couldn't see them well enough to what what they were, only that they were living. And that they stank. Badly. A breed of smaller Malboro, planning to feast, perhaps? Caius wasn't planning to wait long to find out, as his finger quickly moved to the trigger just in case they jumped out at him.
A small smile crossed Caius' face as he walked up to the stage and saw an old friend - Keimushi, walk up to the stage. Now that they weren't in a burning village, he was able to get a better look at the shinobi's armor. Dragon-like scales and horns... Did he kill an actual dragon to make that armor? He would have to ask. Vordun had been shedding a lot recently, and Caius had been considering perhaps building an armor set of his own using them. But he'd only ever made weapons before... Armor was something different entirely. And he did quite like wearing jackets. He liked that they had pockets.
That would have to be a thought for another time. He nodded his head when the ninja stepped onto the stage. "Mu" He spoke respectfully, with courtesy using the name that he would prefer Caius used for him in public. Caius had also said he'd probably use it as a nickname, so it was fine anyway.
As the explanations went on, Caius listened carefully... But he was more focused on mental preparation. The mercenary hopped from one foot to the next, to and fro... Eyes closed as he breathed in rhythm, shaking out his arms, his hands, his wrists, his legs... Stretching himself out as he hopped back and forth, the anticipation driving his adrenaline to highs that made him very much look forward to what was to come.
His pre-battle meditation was interrupted when the first man to enter had spoken up toward him. Asking about his blade, he opened his eyes and straight away noticed the black-haired man used a gunblade of his own. Admittedly, it was the first time that Caius had seen one that wasn't his. He'd heard of their existence... But had never seen one beyond his own.
"Built it" Caius answered curtly. "I learned what was necessary to survive."
As the two of them began to head for the outskirts of Torensten once they had finished their drinks, Caius spoke up in earnest in order to answer Freya's question. He had asked of her own skillset, after all. It was only polite that he answered with his own should she ask, considering they would soon be working together.
"I wield what they refer to in my world as the "Power of Kings" He remarked, holding out a hand as his gunblade would materialize from thin air into his grip, in a burst of blue light. Seeing as they were a little short on time most likely, Caius figured a short demonstration mixed with an explanation could work. "The crystal bequeathed power to the King of Lucis, who then grants a portion of that power to those that make up his Kingsglaive. Protectors of Lucis. With it, I can summon my weapons" He explained, de-summoning his longsword before a short sword with a grip on each side would appear in his other hand. Caius grabbed each side and pulled them apart, revealing two daggers with the same triggers on them as the sword had.
"With the Power of Kings, I have access to limited warping capabilities, and some minor magic" He finished as one of the daggers disappeared. Once they left Torensten, Caius wouldn't stop until they came to a large set of rocks, leading up to a cliff face. Caius, knowing that with her jumping capabilities Freya would be able to follow, tossed the remaining dagger toward the tiny mountain as he then disappeared. Re-appearing in a flash of blue light where he was able to then catch the dagger, he allowed it to disappear as well when he landed on his feet. Caius walked to the cliff, looking upwards as if trying to spot something. And then a smile crossed his face.
A large, blue-scaled Fire Drake would come into view above them. Just a bit bigger than the largest of horses, the dragon would spot Caius and land on the cliff nearby him.
"Vordun!"
Caius laughed as he rushed forward, wrapping his arms around the neck of the dragon as Vordun let out a few sounds that could be interpreted as cooing. "Vordun, did you find them?" Caius asked the dragon, who let out a sound that could be interpreted as an affirmative, moving his head toward a direction as if indicating that was where they needed to go. "Can you lead us there?" Caius asked Vordun, who seemed to understand well enough as he unfurled his wings again and seemed to be about to take off when Caius stopped him. He looked back to Freya.
"Freya? This is Vordun. He should be able to lead us to the infestation quickly enough."
Caius chuckled lightly when she brought up that he had great confidence in his friend, and her references to him after that. Oh, she had no idea. "We've known each other for our whole lives, pretty much" Caius responded, deciding to humor her question. With his companion, it was true in a literal sense. For Caius... Well, his life didn't really start until they came along, did it? So that statement rang as true as any in this case.
"But he'll get the job done. I know he will. He hasn't let me down before" He pointed out, taking a long swig at that. "His name is Vordun, by the way. You'll meet him soon. He's reliable, I have full confidence that he'll do just fine. His tracking skills are second to none. He'll find them a lot easier than even I could have, and I'd like to think I'm pretty decent at it" He remarked with a small laugh.
She was from a place called Burmecia? He'd never heard of it, and it wasn't on any known maps he'd seen within this world... Most likely, she was an off-worlder. He'd heard nothing of a Burmecia, never meet any Burmecians before her, and hadn't seen any records of them either... It was pretty clear to him. Her description of her capabilities too, was a dead giveaway.
"Dragoon" He spoke up. "That's what they call them in my world, I mean. Warriors that typically wield spears and can jump incredible heights for devastating attacks. The only known surviving one I had ever heard of from my world though, was a human. Her name was Aranea, tough lady she is. Bit of a hardass though. Used to be a commander for an army or something like that, but was mostly known for being one tough mercenary."
He tapped his glass a few times. "Well, I suppose that says you're formidable at least. We shouldn't have much trouble. Shall we get ready to get going then? He should be back soon" He inquired as he would finish off his mug in one last great glug.
"Adventurers! Gladiators! Sorcerers! Thieves, and the like! Steel yourselves! Are there no others who would brave the most fearsome beasts and challenge our contestants? Come and prove your worth in glorious combat! There is no greater title than Champion of the Festival of the Hunt!”
Living nearby Torensten, Caius had stopped in town to pick up some provisions and had instead found that some sort of festival was going on. Curious, he found himself wandering the streets for some time. The last time he had seen a festival like this was the small one they had held in Insomnia after the end of the Darkness. A tiny affair, nothing serious... And nothing like this, for sure. But it was the closest thing that Caius could associate even remotely. Strolling through what felt like a new Torensten, as if none of the horrors that it had faced recently had ever even existed, he had moved past a group of dancers, some of which who gave him looks that he didn't recognize or understand, before the voice that rang out drew his attention. The sudden cry had caused his gunblade to materialize in his hand, and he had been moments from drawing and firing when he realized that the man was giving some sort of speech.
Caius walked toward the stage as he heard the rest of it. A Festival of the Hunt? This was interesting. When had this come about? But... He realized, if a member of the Dragonblades became this Champion of the Festival of the Hunt... It would bring more eyes to the organization and likely bring them more work. In a way, Caius saw this as another means to bring "food" to the table for his "family", so to speak. Another avenue to help them make a living for themselves... And to help more people in turn. Which meant that he needed to do this.
The roar of the crowd indicating a great deal of interest in this whole thing settled his decision. A man with black hair would sign up, calling loudly his intentions. The next... Oh, he knew this one. The swordsman from the woods who smelled worse than the monsters he fought for a living. He listened to the man's speech, a little amazed at his confidence and ability to speak so raucously like a military commander... And yet it amused him at the same time. It all seemed so silly.
But when he stepped forward, Caius didn't expect the hush that fell over the crowd that followed when he did. The Dragonblades were decently known, but Caius had been making his name in Torensten for a very long time now. But that was something that Caius was fairly oblivious to, the name he had made for himself. Not understanding the hush that had fallen, Caius looked around as if thinking perhaps they were waiting to see who would volunteer next. Was he to make some kind of speech like the others?
No, he supposed that wasn't his thing. But he did need to indicate his intentions. It was a shame he didn't bring Vordun into town, for fear of scaring people. He could have shot fire into the air! That would have been big, right? But small and simple would have to do.
The crowd roared, to his surprise again, the moment that Caius silently raised his gunblade into the air. That was his signal of his participation.
The sights and sounds of battle. The rush of refreshing air and wetness that brushed him as Yuna's water spell flew by. His heart beating in his chest, the warm feeling of his sword in his grip. The adrenaline coursing through his body. These should be good things. He enjoyed these things. He enjoyed the rush that the heat of battle gave him.
But not today. What Darlene had done to Vordun had changed him in that moment. There was no excitement, no enjoyment. Only a desire to hurt. And he hated that desire. That desire was not who he was. And yet he couldn't help but feel it. That desire to inflict pain. Deep down, deep deep inside... Caius felt like a savage. He felt just like them. And he hated it. He hated feeling this way again. It was a feeling that he had tried to repress, to never be associated with again. But he couldn't stop himself.
Not this time.
As Yuna did the work in attacking their forces from a distance, Caius then took the imitative. "Vordun" Caius commanded calmly, coldly toward the dragon as Vordun seemed to understand what to do. Taking a few moments to charge up, the glands in his mouth beginning to light up as bandits began to file into the room, Vordun then launched a torrent of flames through the hallway, using the narrow structure of it to force the bandits to either retreat or be engulfed by the flames. The bandits responded by shirking away, and while Caius felt hotter than he had ever felt in his life with how close it was and how much their little narrow passage had been completely encased in unbearable heat, Caius' plan had worked for the time being as he rushed forward. Lunging with the Warp Strike, Caius attacked while they were reeling, catching one after another after another with quick strikes using his longsword. Despite his feelings though, Caius struck with non-lethal blows, downing them each with injuries that would just disable them for the time being. As he always had. Without context, someone might even think that nothing was wrong. He was just as calm and collected as he always was. But there was something to his eyes that betrayed there being something else. Something there, deep down. Something that betrayed what was to come.
Blood spilled, though no bodies were left without life. It was almost typical. Typical of the way the Dragonblades operated. Nothing that couldn't be fixed, that was an unspoken motto for people like Caius, for people like Yuna. And when something that couldn't be fixed happened, guilt was felt. It was the same for both of them. Neither of them had it in them to kill a human being.
Thanks to Yuna's spell, they were able to break a path from the bandits and charge forward. If Yuna noticed, at the end of the hallway was a jailer's office where she would be able to find her staff resting in the corner.
As they neared the stage, Caius snapped his fingers. Vordun moved forward, almost as though he had never been hurt, rearing his head toward the group of buyers that looked fearful at the two magic-wielding warriors and their dragon approaching. Vordun let out a bloodcurdling roar that resounded throughout the entire underground complex, a very angry roar. Understandably angry, considering what the dragon had been through. The roar caused the buyers that had gathered earlier to begin to scream in fright, before taking off from the fray, getting as far away as they could. Caius would have liked to have them arrested, but the bandits were more important right now. He would hunt them down later.
As the buyers ran off, a group of bandits stood in front of the would-be slaves on the stage and launched spells at Caius and Yuna - Fire, Blizzard and Thunder. Caius responded by standing in front of Yuna and projecting the Glaive Barrier, which absorbed the impact of each one before shattering when Caius brought it down, in order to conserve energy. Caius noted that more bandits were beginning to file in behind them, the ones they had evaded were hoping to flank the party.
At the top of the stage, Darlene came into view, standing between her mages. That snide grin of hers was starting to make him sick.
"Come on, you two. There's no need to make a scene here. All you're doing is making this worse for yourselves, and making your death all the worse in the end" She taunted, seeming to find amusement in the whole thing. "But I guess if I have to, you've left me no choice... Men? Kill their beast-"
BANG!
The mages, as well as the bandits behind them, all froze. Darlene stopped dead, her eyes wide and pupils shrank as she slowly began to gaze down toward the hole in her chest, before picking her head up again and looking toward the source.
Caius had aimed his gunblade and shot Darlene square in the chest, hitting her vitals point blank. While Darlene had just narrowly missed Vordun before, Caius didn't miss. Caius quickly climbed onto the stage, blood pouring from the cut that he had bit into his own mouth when he had fired. His eyes were white hot with anger, an enraged seethe rushing from his tongue as he approached Darlene. The mages tried to intervene, but Caius slashed the side of one, stopping another from casting a spell as he grabbed them by the head and slammed them hard against the wooden decoration of the stage that had been what the prisoners had been tied to. The third was met with Caius summoning one of his gun-daggers and pointing it at their head with his left hand, stopping them in their tracks. With that, Caius stared down toward Darlene, who had slumped down, clutching at her chest. She stared up at him, with rage in her voice from her situation... But her eyes still told of surprise. Shock. When she spoke, her voice was weak. She likely didn't have much time.
"I... Agh..." She managed out as she vomited blood, before trying to speak again toward the cold face that stared at her - staring as if through her very soul.
"I thought you didn't... Kill people?"
Caius stared at her for what felt like many uncomfortable moments before he spoke.
"You're right. I don't kill people" Caius responded, his voice coming out in a hiss. But what he said next caused Darlene's eyes to widen further as it hit her what these words meant.
"I kill monsters."
Darlene realized mere seconds before Caius raised his blade, and had only a second left to even raise her arm to protest before he brought his sword down on her head.
All was still. Even Vordun had stopped to look toward his companion, seeming to be able to sense the tension in the air. Caius stared down toward what he had done in that moment, before looking to his dagger and slashing at the ropes holding the prisoners, and then undid their restraints. The prisoners shirked back from him as he approached, and as soon as they were free, began to make a run for it as fast as they could. Caius stared after them a moment, but his expression was blank. No expression met his face -- pure emptiness was perhaps the best way to describe what was there. The expression remained as he held up his sword, drenched in blood. Human blood. There was far more of it than Caius was used to. For a moment, he stared at his reflection looking back at him, blood covering most of the reflection. But his expression did not change.
Caius hadn't expected to find this grotto, but here it was. He'd heard rumors of the discovery of some kind of ancient forest and had gone to investigate himself, his explorative nature taking over... But there was something about it that he wasn't expecting. This grotto. He didn't know how to explain it. But something about it made it clear to him that it was a safe place. While his shoulders remained uptight as he and the blue Fire Drake moved through the forest, Some sort of creature with a bob on its head flew past the trees, but Caius hadn't had a chance to get a good look at it.
At some point the relaxing aura of the forest convinced him to take a break. With Vordun curling up beside him, Caius sat down, cross-legged as he leaned his back against Vordun and closed his eyes. In these fleeting moments, he could feel the brisk air crashing against his face as the wind carried it to and fro. He could smell the forest, the trees, and remnants of the wildlife that had either been here or was currently here. Perhaps it would be a strange sight were someone to walk into all this. A 6'4 man with long blonde hair flowing down past his shoulders, sitting in a meditating position with his eyes closed, and behind him? A blue drake that was just bigger than the largest of horses, curled up behind him and seeming to be content to be used as a resting post for the man. It was a strange sight, indeed.
Though the sound of loud footsteps disturbed his peace. And then a new smell entered his worldview. The smell of an outfit that really needed to be washed, and a person that probably needed a bath.
"Nobody fights him. At least not yet. You'll be useless if you contract the plague yourself" Caius remarked pointedly. "Finding a way to stop the plague is the top priority right now. Once we can ensure that the casualties can be reduced and that anyone who might even possibly volunteer won't be guaranteed to die in the process, we can then talk about taking it out at the source."
Caius hated saying that himself, and it showed in his expression. But he knew it was the right way to go about it. "Only stupid people would try when they know one touch is all it can take. Which means our amount of volunteers to take down this titan is... Well, we're probably not getting the means we need at the moment. Not until we can guarantee their safety past them surviving the fight itself. And I wouldn't bring a group of people to their deaths regardless. It's poor form."
Caius had been tempted to take on Ardyn himself, but Aranea had forbade him from engaging the plague-bearer. And he would respect that wish, for now anyway. As he stared at the people who had suffered because of the plague though, he almost didn't hear Declan. But when he realized what he said, he shook his head.
"If you want to help? Help them" He spoke, motioning toward the people. "Look for ways to stop this plague. And for the people that are unaffected by the plague, they always have troubles as well. That should be your upmost priority. What point is there to stopping him if there isn't anyone left to help?" He remarked.
Declan asked for a name, and also asked if he had met anyone from a land called Spira. Caius looked to him, then. "I do" He spoke as he then extended a hand to shake. "Caius. I belong to the Dragonblades Mercenary Guild, or just The Dragonblades. One of our members claims to be from Spira, actually. She's one of our best healers."
He hoped he wouldn't regret revealing that. But if he did... Well, he would do what he had to do if it came to it.
It didn't take a lot, between the sudden spell from another direction and Kuja's taunting, for Caius to figure out what had happened. Now, Caius knew he typically wasn't that good of a judge of character. He had already been wrong once with Vossler today. But when Kuja turned on them, he wasn't exactly shocked beyond belief either. But then again, he also didn't expect him to turn around and side with the Lich of all things either. But he supposed it would explain a lot.
But he had bigger problems. Before she could cast further, the Lich had suddenly stopped Rem in her tracks. Caius knew immediately what was coming from Kuja next most likely, he wasn't stupid and had already seen him use the spell he knew he'd use once. He knew because in one fleeting, spiteful moment he had considered using it on Vossler when he had tried to take the basin himself. But Caius' nature overruled that decision. Something he knew he would probably regret, seeing as Vossler would probably turn and side with the monster as well considering the circumstances.
Caius knew that he had to do two things. Buy time for Rem to return to movement, but also finish the Lich as quickly as possible. Which wouldn't be an easy task in the least, he knew. But if he could take down the Lich, then he would be cured of this condition and could take down Kuja at his full power. If Caius went down trying, well... Without the Lich, he was sure that Rem could take care of it.
The Lich would launch a large icy spell toward Vordun, and Caius saw it quickly. Deciding to begin charging his magic for what he knew he needed to do himself if he was to take the Lich down, Caius fired a command to Vordun.
"Vordun!" Caius called as Vordun, instead of trying to answer it immediately, began to mimic a tactic that Caius had seen from the monster that he presumed had conceived Vordun in his battle with it. His mouth opened as the fire glands in his throat began to heat up. What ensued was a larger fireball (Equivalent to Fira) that launched from his jaws and struck the spell head on, cancelling each other out in an explosion of heat and cold.
Not that Caius had forgotten about Kuja. But he knew that in his condition, dodging what he knew was coming inevitably would be next to impossible. One way or another, Caius knew that he was going down here. That realization hit him like a tank and he glanced down toward Vordun who had flown back to his side. Sad eyes glanced the dragon over, before Caius slowly nodded his head. He knew what needed to be done if victory was to be assured. If he could do as much damage as possible to the Lich before it or Kuja took him out, and held their attention long enough... Perhaps then Rem would be able to escape and finish it off. All he could hope was that Rem would take care of Vordun if he didn't survive this. Or at the least, get him to Celes. Vordun would recognize Celes if they saw her, he was sure Rem would hand him off if need be. For one reason or another, despite everything... He trusted her. Trusted her enough to do what needed to be done if he was to prevent the Lich from doing what it would do if he didn't.
This was his job, after all. Fighting back the darkness. He was a Kingsglaive... No matter what world he was in.
And a Kingsglaive did what had to be done.
Forcing back vomit that had begun to form in his mouth, Caius steeled himself as he drew his sword and took off at a run. His legs felt heavy but adrenaline fueled him as he charged forward toward the Lich. He had initially planned to escape Kuja's magic with what mobility he had left in him, but with Rem stopped, and the advantage heavily in their enemies favor... Caius knew that he needed to bet everything on this.
"FIRA!"
The blade of his sword began to glow as powerful flames began to rise from it. Every step, every movement felt heavy and Caius knew that his second wind was ending. He needed to strike now, and he needed to strike hard.
"VORDUN!"
Caius called to his companion as he began pushing himself as hard as he could go. He knew he was pushing his body beyond its natural limits now in his state, and he knew that he didn't have much longer. With all he had, he launched himself off a piece of rubble circulating upward, bringing himself right into melee range of the Lich just as Vordun would get into position. Vordun unleashed a flamethrower on the Lich, refusing to let up no matter how searing hot the room became. Letting out an ear-piercing roar, Caius brought his sword down on the Lich, keeping himself in the air as long as he could with the Glaive's aerial abilities as he struck one after another, over and over again.
After one last blow with all his strength, Caius kicked off the Lich and threw himself back with his aerial mobility capabilities. But the moment he did, whether from an attack or because he had finally succumbed from pushing his body to its limits, Caius lost his balance in the air and crashed into the ground hard, expelling blood from his mouth as his sword disappeared.
"Fffshhh.... Fsshaaahh..." Caius seethed as he tried over and over to summon his sword again. He had to keep fighting, he told himself, but he knew that he had nothing left. Finally, his eyes drooped closed as his last gasp emitted, and his head dropped to the floor.
