Beliefs

[Zerrif]

It didn't take long for the Mage to find the Acolyte and Archer sitting by the Geffen Fountain, giggling somewhat between themselves. He approached silently, coughing once and clearing his throat. This seemed to scare Ren out of her little giggle fit, making her blush and stare away. "Am I interrupting?" He asked, smiling behind his mask.

"No, of course not. Find a place?" Gerik asked, as he stood up, brushing off his robes. Ren stood too, and pulled her shirt down-- making it look more flat. She cleared her throat too, making her voice drop deeper slightly.

"Well if you two boys are ready," Bascht said, as he turned to stare at Ren. "I did find a place, yes. Muarim's off now seeing if he has any maps with the Kafra Ladies about Geffen Tower. Although I doubt we'll need it-- I'm sure where we're going will have enough documented on it to be sufficient."

"What, are we sleeping in the back of a library?" Ren said, her voice now resembling that of the male's she'd been imitating earlier. Gerik snickered a little at the joke, and Bascht just shook his head.

"No, we're going to use the house of my old mentor and teacher. It's small and out of the way, but no one bothers to well, bother him. It'll be a good place to get away and focus on what we need." Gerik looked at Bascht rather curiously.

"Hey B... did something happ--" The Mage was already walking away. He frowned.

"Come on, Gerik. He's gonna leave us behind." Ren quipped in, obviously sensing that something had gone wrong as well. The two of them quickly caught up to the Mage.

---

"Is there anything else that I can do for you today?" The Kafra Girl, Sorin said. She was fiddling with her hair lightly as Muarim stood before her, rolling up his maps.

"Actually..." The Merchant started, when he was suddenly bumped into. He blinked in astonishment at the offender's rudeness, not even bothering to say "Excuse me" or "Sorry". He looked back at the Kafra, nodding. "Did I have any White Potions in storage?"

She excused herself to look through her lists and see what the merchant, had, when he started patting himself down. His zeny was all there, and they hadn't placed anything extra on his person. He patted over his chest when it felt oddly flat-- and he realized it had been taken.

"You have-- huh? Where did he go?" Sorin asked, as Muarim was suddenly gone, the wheels of his cart clack-clacking against Geffen's stone street.

---

"Thief! Stop him!" Muarim said, running at his full speed. His aggressor had caught on that he'd given chase, and was now darting through people on the streets. He grumbled at how much harder it was to manoevure with the cart-- but he wasn't about to just drop everything he'd just gotten from the Kafra and leave it there.

Gerik looked up slightly as he thought he heard Muarim's voice in the air, looking over his shoulder to see someone pushing their way through people straight at them. "Stop! Thief!" He blinked as he turned himself around, and was about to step in the running person's way, when a wall of flame appeared between them.

"Fire Wall!" Bascht repeated, as two more walls appeared, blocking off all directions except the one from which the thief was running. He turned around to see Muarim closing in, and he just reached inside his clothes.

"Give back my--" The Merchant started, but there was the loud crack, and a roar as suddenly, a pool of lava appeared on the ground. It seemed to congeal a bit, and then rise-- giving form to a gigantic Lava golem. Muarim skidded to a halt and reached back into his cart, quickly pulling out an axe wreathed in a light blue colour. "What the hel--"

"Tch. Now I have to waste one on you all." The thief said, as the fire walls began dissipating. He made a break for it, and as the group moved to try and stop him, the Lava Golem reached up, and then brought a blazing, molten arm down in their way. Gerik reached out, grabbing Ren by her collar and dragged her out of the way. Just being in the vicinity of that arm made his skin feel like it was on fire, and he quickly took a few defensive steps back.

"Can't these guys just leave us alone?!" Ren said, angrily, as she took a spot beside Gerik. She could see how people all around were panicking and going elsewhere for safety, and she grit her teeth. "Dammit! I left my Crystal Arrows in Muarim's cart!"

"We need a plan." Bascht said, as Gerik stared up at the creature. "Quick, before it starts summoning it's Blazers. Once those come out, we're done for."

"Plan... plan? Why me? Why my plan?" Gerik thought as the monster began to ball up fists of pure lava. "Goddamit--! Ren, I'll try and distract it for a little, make your way to Muarim and get your stuff. Bascht, I need you to slow it down as best you can, pelt it with whatever you've got. Once you're there, Ren, you'll need to get Muarim to help me distract it while you and B take it down."

The Archer and Mage just nodded, making Gerik take in a deep breath. Sure their teamwork was getting better, but could they even take this thing down? This was far more powerful, and way out of their league--

"Come on!" B shouted. "If we just leave this here, it'll wreak havoc on the town!"

Gerik nodded. He was right. He didn't even know what really happened-- but that didn't mean he could just ignore the problem. "Hey you, ugly! Over here!" He said, as he tapped his Staff of Recovery against his Buckler. The beast, distracted by the noise, looked over and he made his way around to the beast's side. "Come on, show me what you got!"

---

"Yes... show me."

"What was that, sir?"

"Nothing. Interesting how things play out sometimes, isn't it?"

"I suppose. Though don't you think--"

"No."

"..."

"They're coming closer. They're getting closer. Start preparing."

"Understood."