The Expedition

Part 1

The day started like any other, maybe just a bit more comfortable than the previous weeks as Zeno managed to make better accomodation very quickly after joining. Food is on the table, which is an improvement over the ground, and some of the guild is eating. The guildmaster is eating and half asleep, comfortable bedding seems to make her reluctant to leave it, or maybe having a giuldhous again just took away enough stress for the tiredness to catch up. Layla is also at the table, seeing her eat is always a fascinating spectacle, normally people would simply see a cheerful girl eating with her pet snakes, knowing that her snakes are also her brings a new interpretation to the scene, Lorus is just not sure what that interpretation is. Zeno manages to remain pristine as he eats and the few scraps of food seem to purpousefully avoid him, which makes the neatly folded napkin on his legs a superfluos addition. Sitting down Lorus notices the lack of two members of the guild, the snoring from down the hall allerts him to the position of one of them, Mitra must have woken up early to get to the meeting place in time, Lorus offered to carry her but she refused with some magical explaination about a strange phenomenon named G-Forces, so Lorus relented.

After greeting the members of the guild he could find Lorus finally sets off to the city, today a new job started, it was going to be the most involved job Lorus took up to this point.

----------------------------------------------------The Day Before (Random Street)--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Some scholars wanted to explore ancient ruins in the edges of the country and needed help getting there and setting up camp, the discovery of this job listing was an accident. A drunken Marak was dared to show off his strenght by a very dumb client of the bar they were staying at, which resulted in Marak lifting the job board, and a good part of the floor with it, the ad for the expedition fell down and Lorus picked it up to put it back but they were both kicked out and banned from the bar before he could. It was a common occurrence, even if it was getting rarer lately, he managed to go drinking with Marak twice to the same bar last week and they still have not banned them, Lorus was unaware that the more calm state of his barbarian friend was a direct consequence of the silly in joke between them that made him keep drinking mercury, to Lorus it was just Marak slowly getting used to life in the city.

Sitting on the ground and out of drinks they stared at the paper the young man picked up."Whatcha got there buddy?" The drunken man squints at the paper, Lorus is never quite sure if his friend can't read or if he just can't see well, regardless reading things for him has become a habit.

"It's a job offer, it pays pretty well too. Some uh... smartypants I think you would call them, need some guards to go through the jungle and set up camp near some very old stuff to learn about it. The job is just for the travel, but if we do a good enough job apparently they will call us back for the rest." Lorus was now used to adapting his vocabulary to be understood, not that he had to do much, but sometimes big words would come up and rather than go into a long explaination he knew his friend would not particularly care about he just downgraded them.

"Hey, it's what I do already! And you're good at keepin folks from hurtin emselves on me! We can take this." The tall man was very upbeat at the prospect of work, he probably was simply happy to have found a job by himself rather than being told. His boss should be proud of him for finding such a well paid job.

"We could, it starts soon, the applicants are to gather in the plaza tomorrow. We should still warn our guilds, it seems like it will take a while."

"Sure gimme half the paper so I can show em."

"That's not how... Just take the whole thing, I will write down the important information in my notebook."

And so the two metallic friends go back to the respective guilds, completely unaware of the chaos that will ensue.

------------------------------------------------------------Chrysalis Guild (12 hours remaining)--------------------------------------------------------------------

Lorus slides to a halt in front of the new guild house, then with a slight distortion teleports inside without opening the door. On the other side a startled Mory hugs her oversized sword and sends a couple butterflies in his direction. "Fuck Lorus, I already told you to stop startling me! We have doors now, you are supposed to use them."

"Sorry little one, I did not mean to scare you. Teleporting is just more efficient, but if it makes you feel better I could try Phasing instead." The red butterfies were still fluttering around him, he just ignored them.

"Just open the doors, please." The guildmaster was clearly tired, must have been a long day and completely unrelated to his teleportin habits so Lorus decided to not argue.

"Well in other news I got a job request. It pays well, I think. I was about to gather everyone." Mory's demeanor changes, her eyes almost sparkle.

"Please don't, I will call them, it's my duty as the guildmaster after all. Just wait in the dining room." Mory swelled with pride at the mentions of her duties, Lorus is not sure why.

After a short depiction of the events, and a transcription of the content in the notebook to avoid poisoning, the gathered guildmembers exchange glances around the table. The rest of the guild seems worried somehow, they did not approve fully of the friendly relationship Lorus has with the bouncer of the Hag's Hex casino, even if Lorus did not understand why. The silence is interrupted by Mitra. "I will accompany you. I have an interest in the potential knowledge contained in those ruins, and I may be more suited for negotiating an extension of the contract. If that fails we will know the location of the ruins if we accompany them, which will make independent action possible."

Nameless was already out on a mission, or at least that's what she said before disappearing, Mory was in no condition to act as a bodyguard in a dangerous expedition and used the excuse of guildmaster work anyway, Zeno was not thrilled at the idea of going into the jungle on a mission that was very likely to turn violent. Layla was conflicted, she had other duties to attend to and she would probably already know of any real diety in the general area but there was a chance to learn about some ones that hid better than most. In the end she decided not to follow, if there was something worth knowing she could always go there later. And so It was decided that Lorus would not go unsupervised.

------------------------------------------------------------------Hag's Hex (10 hours remaining)---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Marak is a couple hours into his shift as a bouncer, looking out for trouble in the general direction of the door, a couple of mugs of beer stand on a table beside him. The crumpled job ad also lays on the same table, discarded after the late arrival of Marak that just started working to avoid more complaints. One of the Axels notices the paper by chance, after a quick glance at the content the natural reaction is to ask the bouncer. "Did someone leave this here? It would reflect poorly on us if a patron were to lose something like this."

"Yep, it's mine. I am going on a mission with Lorus." Panic, that is the first reaction. Then reasoning kicks in, there has to be some way to fix the problem, this calls for a meeting.

"Good for you Marak, now if you'll excuse me I have duties to attend to." Axel disappears into the crowd a bit too fast for someone apparently so composed, but Marak just keeps doing his job, he was just praised so he must be doing something right.

A muffled "WHAT?!" manages to be heard over the chaos of the casino, Marak turns in the direction of the sound and sees his boss, she appears to be talking to Axel, clearly it's not a bouncer problem so he keeps scanning the area. Behind him the rest of the guild activates, some Axels are sent to cover for the empty spots left by the others. Arguing is heard in the backstage, but it's still nothing out of the ordinary for this place, and after a while a defeated Axel emerges from the backstage followed by a more cheeful Luckuv. The crew slowly gets back to work, and Axel approaches the unaware bouncer. "Marak, for some complex reasons it has been determined I have to accompany you in this endeavour."

"Woah, cool, you don't look tha part but I am sure you can lern fast."

"No, not as a bouncer. In the expedition, the one you decided to join with little to not warning." Axel said that with his usual measured tone, but anyone that was not completely clueless would be able to sense at least a bit of the venom dripping from his words, Marak was not one of them.

"That's even betta! I am sure Lorus'll be fine with it."

With a sigh Axel goes back to a long day of work, mentally preparing for close to a week of Marak wrangling by himself, and silently hoping the mercury will be enough to keep him calm.

------------------------------------------------------------------------Balsam plaza (0 hours remaining)-----------------------------------------------------------

Lorus appears floating a couple inches on the fountain, slowly moving to the gathered people. Mitra is already there, talking to some scholars and gathering information, she notices Lorus and simply nods at him to let him know he was seen, then goes back to discussing with the scholars, must be archaeologist things. A bellow resounds in the plaza, and everyone turns to look at the very tall half naked man that seems to be the source. "HEY LORUS, OVER HERE." Lorus did not need that reminder, his friend was tall enough to be seen in the middle of the crowd, but he still slowly approached. Only getting closer he noticed the second surprisingly tall man next to him.

"Greeting Marak, I see you made it in time. It also seems like we are not alone." Lorus was referring to the big crowd around them, but Marak believed he was talking about Axel.

"Oh yea, tha boss decided Axel was to come with us. It's because of uh... canplex edurance." The god slayer struggled to remember the exact words Axel used and the briefing he got about half an hour ago.

"That's not exactly how I put it but it's close enough. Axel Starr, A pleasure to make your aquaintance." The elegant red haired man extends a hand in greeting. Lorus is confused but manages to shake it anyway. "I am here simply to ensure the smooth execution of this mission."

"I see. Well I am also accompained by another member of my guild, she is an archaeologist so this is part of her jurisdiction. I could fetch her to introduce you but I have recently discovered people tend to dislike being suddenly moved at high speeds or transported in a different dimention."

"I... see. There is no need, I am sure we will have the chance for that on this mission." Axel is perplexed by the sight of Lorus, he already interacted with him, even if he did not introduce himself at the time, and no matter how many times he saw him he still had no idea how Marak could be his friend.

A man in a fancy robe takes position on a makeshift podium and uses a lacrima to attract the attention of the group. It's the head researcher showing the plan for the next week of travel, and the possible dangers predicted along the way.

And so the expedition starts, what was supposed to be a simple mission that will instead turn out to be much more than that.