Yolanda looked at the four men on the ground to check if their wounds really were potentially fatal before giving Akechi attention. "Hopefully they will not," she said to him, "or else your commander may have a few... words with you." Accusations of cheating, and the fall out from them, were not uncommon but despite what she had overheard, she still felt it was best to ask. "What, exactly, happened here?"
Artemisia gives the woman a smirk in response. "Oh, you know me..." She chuckles. That the woman in front of her is dangerous is obvious. Sadly for Artemisa, she enjoys dangerous things. "I drank some of Zentha's wine. I think it was spiked with something - I've been hearing voices in my head ever since. Cap'n wanted you to make sure I was okay."
A little surprised at the touch, her face shows her confusion, but she doesn’t stop him. “Umm…thank you. I’m an oni, but I’m not much of a fighter by human standards, let alone oni ones. I don’t really like fighting, but I want to be helpful.” The conversation lulled, Yanase’s face somewhere between wanting to engage in conversation, but unsure of how to continue it, before she got an idea and reached into her pockets to place something small and shiny into her hands, before showing it. “Oh, I…don’t really know how, but I found this under my pillow when I woke up…” As Marius could get a better look at the object, it was a small crystalline bottle. From the looks of it, the kind of thing used in alchemy rather than drinking out of. Could be valuable to someone who specializes in that. For her part as Yanase offered it, she made a face showing her uncertainty deepen. “I don’t like this curse. It’s really hard to return things to the people who lost them. But I…don’t think anyone here really…is the studying type, so I think I just overstocked things and forgot about it.”
“I might have…” Giving her best seductive smirk, she stared for a moment, before relenting. “Perhaps, I’m jealous. What could you and Miss Zentha possibly talk about? Is it about boys?” Her sultry smile slowly shifted into her just straight out antagonistic grin. “Probably not, but you should have. Trying girl talk with her is an…experience. It’s all very surprising.” Seeming lost in thought, it took a few seconds before she properly looked at him again. “Yet, most likely the captains gathered for a meeting, invited you, and yet….I don’t recall getting my invitation. Strange, don’t you think?”
“I have no idea how the captains decided who to invite to the meeting, so I can't comment on why you weren't invited... But I'm sure it's not because of your looks.” Toran smirked as he ogled Alysa one more time. “As for Miss Zentha, I sadly did not get a chance to speak with her, so I had to settle for looking.” He shrugged before changing the topic. “So, how have you been? I haven't seen you in a few days – I hope you're having fun and staying out of trouble?”
"Ah, Yolanda." His voice remained soft. Not sounding overly surprised or worried about her approaching, as he just took a look at the injured men, not losing his smile in the slightest. "Weeelll, I need to make money and we haven't had any good jobs in a while. So, it was either gambling or selling myself into prostitution, and Yanase wouldn't even at least try, to find a buyer for that, so...." Making something close to a frown for a brief moment, he glared more intensely at the wounded, clearly thinking about whether or not to finish the job, before allowing his sword to sheath. "But I'm just unnaturally lucky, you know?" His face was hard to read. He didn't really make a wide variety of expressions, and the fact he always seemed calm and relaxed made it difficult to really spot a lot of clear tension, but he seemed to be perfectly willing to just ignore the problem. "Weeelll, not important. Hey! You finished your meeting with the Captain, right?"
"Yes," Yolanda replied, "We are actually going to be moving out soon, so if all goes well, you will not have to worry about a lack of work for a while." And others who should be on your side shall not have to fear your blade, she added to herself, Or at least not as persistently. She suddenly found herself pausing, almost imperceptibly so but those with sharp enough eyes might have noticed a brief wavering in her expression as a last second resurgence of doubt about her actions hit her. She was doing this because of some nagging voice in her head. Was she mad? Still... she had come all this way so there was no point backing out now. Smiling at Akechi a little more warmly (but only a little), she folded her arms under her chest as she recovered her poise. "And when we do," she asks, "would you mind carrying a few things for me for a while?"
Seeing the leader's surprise, Marius backs off, "S-sorry." Apologizing for touching her without warning. "No I mean, I'd be pretty useless in a fight too. But aside from protecting ourselves in the worse case scenario. Our job isn't to fight, it's to make sure the others are well supplied, so that they can join the battle at their fullest." He nods, giving her a reassuring smile, which wasn't so reassuring as Marius himself wasn't that upbeat. But as Yanase revealed the shiny object in her hands. "What's that?" Marius asked in a curios tone, as he examines it, while listening to his leader's explanation. "A curse you say? I doubt anyone lost this, since it's too small to hide liquor in. As for overstocking... no, I don't think so. I mean, as you said, there are no... scholarly types in our group. Even if there was, they'd make sure not to waste anything, especially alchemy ingredients." Marius mumbled.
“Oh? I wonder…” Appraising Artemisa in a far from medical looking way, she fixed her gaze on the sorceress with intensity. “I’d rule out any kind of poisoning or foreign substances. Zentha most certainly would avoid anything like that.” The pale skinned woman kept her eerie stare and smile as she thought. “I’m not someone who specializes in these issues, but it sounds as if it’s a product of drinking to the excess. Stress from prolonged exposure to combat is natural, of course. Those two things together….people get…unusual. It’s fascinating to watch, anyway.” Eliza didn’t even need to turn around to reach to a small bag on the shelf, that Artemisa could see full of a light bluish like powder. “I suppose, what you could do is take something to mentally block out impulses….like Sedir Root. But that comes with a certain issue that it wouldn’t be quite so easy to call on magic while mentally obscuring yourself. Although….taking something to enhance the imagination might also be an option….” From the sound of it, it was obvious which one the “doctor” would prefer the witch go with.
"I was dead sober before I swiped Zentha's drink." Artemisia shakes her head. "I know, because I was getting jealous of all the bronze bastards getting drunk around me. Hmm? No, if my magic is effected, I can't take it - too many people here count on my abilities." She says truthfully. "Enhance the imagination? What, uh, what do you mean, specifically?"
“I’ve been doing lot’s of running around for all these little errands. Quite boring. There hasn’t been any missions worth doing for a while now. Many are getting rather anxious, of what next…I should hope it’s something interesting. Akechi and Eliza have been some fun, here and there, but you’re always so much more interesting. I hope you picked somewhere romantic for our travels. Perhaps a nice beach where you can sweep me off my feet, or the countryside to find a place to settle down in.”
“Huh?” Taken off guard by the question, he blinked, as if trying to process it. “I guess, I wouldn’t mind, sure. Just as long as it’s not too heavy. I got these little arms.” He joked about it, but seemed sincere enough that he didn’t have any problem with it, as far as she could tell. “Buuut, you got to do something for me. I really want a rabbit. Or maybe, a new sword. I can’t decide. Whichever is easier.”
“It didn’t really seem like the thing anyone here would be doing….not for good reasons.” Yanase wracked her brain trying to come up with names of the owner, but it clearly wasn’t coming to her from her face. “Education is pretty rare, I guess. I didn’t really go to school either. Back home, my family actually had the money….but…Empress Mazoku made it a law, that most schools had to become dancing schools. I don’t, really…..get why. But most of what I learned from business I just picked up from humans I met who were good at it. You…weren’t from a really well developed region, were you? Did someone teach you how to do all those number things or did you just figure it out on your own?”
"Interesting question. I have no idea." She didn't even try to suppress her smile while saying that. "Maybe, it will be dangerous. Maybe, it won't. But in theory, it should allow for more of a free flow of your imagination and cognition. I'm not entirely sure, how that would affect voices in your head. Although...." Eliza seemed to have a slightly more serious and focused look, as she looked over Artemisa. "It's only a loose theory. But supposedly, particularly magic sensitive individuals can project certain aspects as real to them, when caused by stress. Not quite magic, not quite insanity. It's...not something I can actually be sure of is technically possible, since I don't really have a reliable way, to replicate it. What exactly is the nature of these voices?"
"Yeah, I suppose. It's a little too... out of place in our mercenary band." Marius let out a nervous chuckle, not really minding the fact that she couldn't place a name on the bottle's owner. Not that he had a clue as to who owned it anyway. "Education, huh." He mumbled, a little surprised as to how extreme the Empress was. "I see, I suppose just because you're wealthy doesn't mean that you can get what you want." He sighed, "As for me, I learned the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetics in the orphanage. Everything else was self taught as I borrowed books, pestered some travelling merchants, and haggling just to buy necessities." Marius said, giving a slightly proud smile. "I'd like to think I'm doing good for myself... though I'm not really sure yet. But I haven't given up!"
Artemisia, in turn, raises an eyebrow at what the woman's saying. "I-uh... One of the voices is trying to get me to be debaucherous. I kinda thought I already was debaucherous, but this guy keeps trying to make me go for harder and harder stuff - he's kind of an asshole about it. The other voice is female, and a prude, trying to get me to resist my urges."
“Funny you should say that...” Toran smirked. “Something tells me we will soon have a new job... Whether it will be boring or not remains to be seen. I wouldn't mind if it is on the boring side, but I doubt we will be that lucky...” He finished with a thoughtful expression that was quickly replaced by a grin as his gaze focused on Alyssa's chest. “But in any case this might be the last free time we have in a while, so use it wisely while you can.” (Sorry for the wait, I kept getting distracted by various things.)
"A... rabbit?" Yolanda's head tilted to the side ever so slightly as she asked her question and tried to ponder the point of that part of his request. Akechi did not seem like the pet-keeping sort but the world was full of surprises... unless he wanted it for a future dinner. But they had plenty of food stores so why would he feel he needed extra rations like that? That said (or thought in this case), she probably could catch one if she really needed to... though a sword would be easier and faster. Despite the idea of Akechi with a new weapon might freak out some of the other troops, they WERE going on a mission where his killing skills would probably be required at some point. So why not ensure they were at their best? "And a new weapon is something that should be a reward for faithful service," she finally added, "So I would only give you something like that AFTER you completed what I would ask of you. So I suppose the question is, do you wish your reward now... or can you wait for that satisfaction until later?"
"That sounds really hard...I'm impressed." Yanase smiled a little, seeming to visibly relax a bit. ♏ This is a good stopping point. Don't try too hard. You have more than one day to work at it. ♎Nah. You don't have time for that! Just go for IT! The imaginary pair couldn't seem to agree on a course of action. The louder one seeming to insist on harder and more impulsive actions, while the other seemed to be content to just leave things alone for right now. Yet, he could feel a new internal reaction. A trickle in the throat. A certain kind of craving, with the heart starting to beat faster, carried on with a pounding sensation in his skull. The feeling was like almost having something burst underneath his skin, from the inside out. He could feel the pressure starting to mount, flatline, then settle, with all of his willpower left to being able to stand under the pressure without making a scene. How can the one to take on the mantle, be so weak? Perhaps, you'll be more worthy of my time. This one....less lively than the others. More wrathful and brooding, almost akin to any of the veteran mercenaries when he heard them speak. ♎ Oh, great. This guy. Never mind, what they say. Boy, you feel that. I do. I feel your rage. Listen to me well, and we'll crush the skulls of our enemies until they can no longer stand. ♏ Cut the crap. I've seen mister fight or flight responses work. Has he ever helped you, ever? Tell you what. Here's what you need to do. Ask her for anything to help you sleep better. Take it in small doses, and shut all these other guys up. Not me though. Remember, you WANT me around. We just don't need the rest of them.
"Hmmm. I wonder..." Elizia didn't really say much, nor did it look like she was really trying all that hard to be a professional doctor. "I have instincts and impulses, of my own, you know...but, what you're describing, makes it sound a lot more vivid than just the stray thought. I don't have much documentation on that, though my theory would be they're almost subconscious representations of you're self destructive behavior and the parts of your brain that recognize you still need to be rational and have self moderation. Really, it's quite beautiful." ♍There is nothing beautiful about drunken hedonism. ♎That's a dam lie! Elizia while seeming to have the closest thing to an understanding of what Artemisa was referring to, still couldn't hear the voices in the witch's head, turning over to a shelf to grab a rather thick black book, and place it on the table as she opened it up. "You are a magic user, and I remember you with quite some skill. So you must be at least aware of the Hellenic magic theorem. I admit, I rejected those findings...but I suppose, in theory....it would be possible if someone who did utilize that kind of theorem or at least know of it, somewhat warp it into more physical manifestations. So that makes....I suppose you'd call the one Dinoysus? And the most rational among them was either....Athena...or Dementer. Not the actual ones, of course. Simply, aspects embodying those things you created yourself." ♎I'm real enough. And that scares me. We're getting dangerously sober here. "With all that in mind, I could only make the hypothesis that as aspects that represent a certain area of emotion or piece of the mind, they would be really good at doing those things, as manifestations of it....but only capable of understanding the world in loose elements relating to doing that one thing. The good news, however, is that means they aren't effectively dangerous at least to you. That being said...the impulses and instinctual reactions for most, is to benefit themselves, and only themselves. If you don't want to deal with them, I'm fine with that. Seeing where this goes, might be fun, after all. If they start telling you to either kill people or hurt yourself, however....do let me know, will you?"
