You and Ansi manage to remove the mind control spell from New Flight member Risa. You've healed her up for good measure, and are now just talking over your next action.

"Alright, alright..." You say, smiling, "we've figured this out. Now we just... Know it in case we run into anyone affected by Lupus' brand of brainwashing."

"Nifty. They gonna go down without a fight, though?"

"Probably not. The subject needs to hold still for the spell to work, which Risa... Has been, obviously."

"So," Gyo pipes in, "do we just... Leave her here? I mean, if the spell's been lifted, she won't hurt anyone, but... I dunno, it wouldn't sit right with me."

"What else are we supposed to do? Have someone stay with her? Wait for her to wake up? It's a waste of time and manpower," Ansi responds.

>A. She'll be fine left alone
>B. You'll wait with her
>C. One of them will wait with her (specify who)
>D. You'll all wait with her
>E. Say nothing
>F. Write-in idea

>>44081091
Vote time renewed.

>>44081091
>C. One of them will wait with her (Gyo)

>>44081337
And again. I don't blame you guys for not showing up right away, given the swath of technical difficulties and third consecutive late start, but this is sort of supposed to be an important chapter.

>>44081567
Ah, never mind. Beaten out by three seconds!

Post is now in the process of being made.

>>44081567
"Er... Gyo, you wanna wait with her?"

"What? Why me?"

"You're an Ice Authority representative," you explain.

"Yeah, and that's exactly why I need to-"

"It's exactly why your mind is more valuable than your body. You came, Kyure can vouch for you. Just... Guard Risa, alright?"

Gyo sighs. "These youngsters bossing me around like I'm some sort of child..." Gyo's eyes shut. "You're right is the worst part."

That being settled, you and Ansi hurry along.

"Heh. This whole setup reminds me of a shitty joke Une told me back in the day."

"Er... Now's not really the time, Ansi."

Ansi grumbles. "The one time I try to make conversation..."

The two of you reach the outside of the city right around then, pretty much immediately attracting the attention of two ordinary Wyvern Riders at the camp just beyond the walls.

"H-hey! I saw you walking around town earlier!" One of the men exclaims.

>A. What of it
>B. Strike back
>C. Write-in response
>D. Let Ansi take the lead

>>44081706
>A. What of it

File: Mauthedoog.gif (11 KB, 94x62)

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>>44081828
"What's your point?" You ask.

"This is pretty much a warzone," one of them says, "I mean, you shouldn't come back in! This princess of a Southern country's fighting inside there, and... Look, I can't let you pass," the man says apologetically.

"Look, someone very important to me is still in there, and-"

The rider you weren't talking to is killed in a strike of Light magic, followed by Mauthe Doogs leaping at the one you were.

"A-agh! Get away, guy! This entire city's... Gone to hell..!"

The wyverns fly off in random directions in fear of what just happened.

You turn around to the sight of Ansi. "I'm not gonna waste any time talking this through when Jolie's fighting in there. Let's hurry inside."

You see various wyverns just over the wall, dipping down and rising up with their riders.

>A. That's fair
>B. You had it covered
>C. Ansi, what the hell?
>D. Write-in response
>E. Just go

>>44081955
>B. You had it covered

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>>44082000
"I mean I could've handled it, but..."

Ansi plows through into the city.

"Oh, okay, just carry on then. I mean, I didn't hear your joke, so... This is fair?" You follow him into the capital. By now, dusk has fallen.

Right in the center of town, Jolie, Yvette, and Shea square off against at least seven riders. You see imposing blue figures in the distance, fighting other riders and Wyvern Lords.

No word on where anyone else is quite yet, but you're sure everyone is around.

You can't stop Ansi from aiding Jolie and her superiors, so naturally he rushes towards them.

>A. Join Ansi
>B. Head to the capital building
>C. Hurry to the far-off Ice Dragons
>D. Look for someone else (specify)
>E. Write-in

>>44082140
>A. Join Ansi
May as well end the nearby engagement first, maybe get some information on the situation.

>>44082140
>A. Join Ansi

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>>44082251
>>44082278
You follow Ansi into battle. He quickly takes to tossing blasts of light at the riders and wyverns, but it's not nearly as effective as his surprise attack moments earlier.

Old Yvette is crossing swords with someone who looks important. You figure some sort of high-ranking member.

"Alten, think of what your predecessors, your parents, would have wanted."

"Pft, you're one to talk, Yvette. I know you were present at the battles where both of them were killed! You fought against them!"

"It was a war, Alten. Come on, resist this monster's magic! None of this is you speaking and you must know it!"

A woman asks, "wait, what's the old lady talking about?" She attempts to thrust an Iron Lance into Jolie, but she dodges before ducking under a leaping Mauthe Doog, courtesy of Ansi.

A man shouts, "don't listen to 'em. They're just trying to distract us!"

He, for one, is most definitely rushing right into you with a Slim Lance.

>A. Try to dodge
>B. Attack!
>C. Take the hit and try to Nosferatu the damage away
>D. Retreat!
>E. Say something (specify)
>F. Write-in action

>>44082420
Assuming no posts beat this to the punch, vote time renewed.

>>44082420
>C. Take the hit and try to Nosferatu the damage away
Dodging a slim lance (high accuracy, low damage, low weight) as a low speed class seems like a futile effort.

>>44082767
You grit your teeth and prepare yourself to get stabbed, readying your Nosferatu for an immediate retaliation.

Okay, ow, holy shit, that... Actually hurts a whole lot.

Cringing, you pull yourself away and throw a critical Nosferatu at the rider, feeling the stab-wound in your gut heal and vanish as your opponent and his mount collapse.

Shea soars over you, squaring off against and killing two riders herself, and Jolie and Ansi manage to team up on all but the one Wyvern Lord Yvette was fighting.

Yvette looks exhausted from this one fight, but she and her horse tower over this Alten fellow.

"Surrender, Alten. We can help you. We've already done the same to Risa, judging by Lloyd and Ansi's presence."

"You... Wh-what the hell have you done to her?!"

>A. Let Yvette handle this
>B. Knock him out. You can reverse the spell later
>C. Kill him
>D. Go somewhere else now
>E. Write-in

>>44082977
>B. Knock him out. You can reverse the spell later
I wouldn't put it past Lupus to put a "death before surrender" bit in the mind control. He's a dick like that.

>>44083128
"Let's knock him out. Best to not risk any weird thing Lupus might have put into the mind-control that could get him killed."

Yvette nods and knocks the fellow out. Some quick healing from Ansi prevents him from bleeding out, and while you planned to just put it off until later, Ansi opts to show off.

"This is the spell that I figured out to reverse Lupus' mind control on high-ranking New Flight members."

As you discussed, Ansi is able to remove the spell in seconds now that you know what it is.

"Cool, so... You figured that out, huh?"

Ansi nods. "Was worth the wait, no?"

>A. You did most of the work
>B. You helped!
>C. Let Ansi have this
>D. Write-in response

>>44083250
>C. Let Ansi have this

>>44083317
You roll your eyes and let Ansi look cool.

"I mean, Lloyd helped too," he says, "figuring out that there was a curse to begin with."

That's more credit than you could've expected him to give, but you really don't mind. You have an entire future of magical discoveries to put your name on, and "both of you have partial credit" is the right answer in this situation anyway.

"So the superiors of the group are, for the most part, being mind-controlled..." Shea says. "We still can't forgive the people under them for just... Following."

"Speaking of subordinates, where's Une at?" Ansi asks.

Jolie responds, "she... Said she was looking for somebody."

"Probably that Kay girl she got drunk," you say, before realizing how bad that sounds. "I mean, she only did it to get information out of her, but she seemed... Extremely upset over all that had happened."

Yvette scowls regardless. "Either way, it... Leaves a poor taste in my old mouth, manipulating someone like that."

"She'd probably be dead and forgotten already if she hadn't," Ansi responds. "But enough talking about this. We still have the rest of this city to take care of. Formulaic idiot that Lupus seems to be, I wouldn't doubt he's at the capital building, but there's still the entire rest of the city to handle."

The rest of the group discusses what they'll do.

>A. Head to the capital building
>B. Go around helping assorted allies
>C. Bail
>D. Look for someone in particular (specify)
>E. Write-in

>>44083435
>B. Go around helping assorted allies

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>>44083474
You don't confront Lupus straight away yet, instead going off with Ansi and Jolie to help around the city.

A group of SIX Ice Dragons is spotted taking on a trio of Dracozombies and a Wyvern Lord. You figure that, by the lone iceman helping out (and the deceased one nearby), one of the manaketes is Kyure.

The deadly breath of the Dracozombies withers one of the Ice Dragons away into a skeletal husk not unlike the Dracozombies before you can do anything. You say "like" because, thankfully, they're not undead, just pretty gruesomely murdered.

Two of the Ice Dragons revert and fly off in terror at the sight.

"Cowards! Why did you stay to fight, then?" One of the remaining ones calls as they all focus on the Wyvern Lord and one Dracozombie...

The other two hurry to you and your human buddies, the axe-wielding Iceman joining you.

>A. Go all-out on one of them!
>B. Divide your efforts!
>C. Help the Manaketes first!
>D. Bail!
>E. Exclusively focus on dodging
>F. Write-in

>>44083686
>C. Help the Manaketes first!

>>44083750
Against your better judgement, you hurry to help the manaketes first. The Wyvern Lord is pretty much flying circles around them, after all, what with the Dracozombie distraction.

He doesn't see a blast of Flux coming, however, and is knocked into the snow. If Ansi can do the counterspell so damn fast, you figure, so can you.

"Gotcha," you say to yourself as you break his brainwashing, figuring he's not as severely wounded as the last two Wyvern Lords you helped, and thus not in need of healing.

You look up to find two Dracozombies staring you down, though one of them is quickly frozen solid by the Ice Dragons.

The other, however, prepares its deadly breath.

>A. Get out of the way!
>B. Get out of the way! (with that wyvern lord)
>C. Try to kill it!
>D. Stare it down?
>E. Write-in action

>>44083922
>D. Stare it down?
I hope this is plot and not a trap option.

>>44083922
>C. Try to kill it!

>>44084053
>>44084083
You do nothing, staring the beast down with needless intensity, wasted on its cold, dead eyes.

As it's about to take your life, you finally realize that this is a very poor decision and lift up your tome to strike it.

The Dracozombie implodes with Light magic, however, Ansi appearing from your side and shouting, "Lloyd, man, what the hell?! Why're you just standing there?!"

"Maybe he wanted to protect the New Flight guy?"

"Protect the-Dude, that better not be true. So what if he was brainwashed? He's not worth getting your dumb ass killed!"

The remaining Manaketes, one of whom is indeed Kyure, revert, joined by the Iceman.

"Thank you for taking the heat off of us there," the oldest-looking of the quite aged-looking bunch says. "We've been fighting awhile, and are... Getting quite tired. We require rest, have not slept in centuries. But on behalf of the Ice Authority, I, Sala, promise you shall be duly rewarded when the leaders of this revolt are killed."

"So you're just... Leaving," Ansi gripes.

"Not a chance," Sala says, "but... I require rest before I might fight again. I'll certainly oversee things until then, but if this chameleon Kyure speaks of, and its little Necromancing enforcer, is to be stopped... I'm afraid the burden lies in your hands."

>A. He's asking too much
>B. You've got a score to settle anyway
>C. "It?"
>D. Write-in response
>E. Complain about his benching himself
>F. Be silent

>>44084223
>B. You've got a score to settle anyway
>C. "It?"

>>44084276
"Why're you calling her an 'it,' Lord Sala?" You ask.

Kyure responds. "Hold your tongue. We're not about to discuss the ethics of someone trying to conquer our Authority. Hold this discussion later, over shapeshifters who aren't wanted villains."

"But," Jolie says, to many eyes rolling, "isn't this sort of treatment exactly why Ymira's like this?"

"Is this one sympathizing with our enemy?" Sala says.

"Sala, it's fine! Outsiders do not know how things work around here!" Kyure says.

"ANYWAY," you say, changing the subject, "that Lupus bastard killed Marrius right in front of us. Marrius' Group has a score to settle."

Sala nods. "You humans and your petty grudges... At least they fuel your determination. Go on, face this Lupus. We will not steal your friends' thunder."

With that, Kyure, Sala, and the other Ice Dragon fly off. Ansi rolls his eyes. "Now he has an excuse."

>A. What a dick
>B. What an inconsistent guy
>C. What a hypocrite
>D. He seems senile
>E. He's pretty alright, really
>F. Let's move on
>G. Write-in opinion

>>44084499
>F. Let's move on

>>44084728
"Whatever, let's just move on."

Ansi nods. As you begin a slow walk towards the capital building, he speaks again. "So, Jolie, we're about to confront the bastard who helped turn my life around, before you really brought it into full swing."

"That's... Gotta be intense."

Ansi nods. "And by the word of those who were there, this spellbook of his straight ripped a hole through Marrius. That being said... Do not involve yourself in our company's revenge."

"H-hey! I'm here on behalf of Princess Shea, Ansi. I'll involve myself for her sake. You're not immune to having holes ripped in you either, you know."

"Grh... I can't say no to fighting beside you," Ansi concedes.

As you approach the capital building, you notice Leigh, Yvette, Shea, Une, and that Kay woman (still looking a bit dazed and sticking VERY close to Une) finish slaying a last couple Dracozombies.

"Urgh, this day has gone on long enough," Leigh says, "let's hurry up and avenge Marrius so we can get back to mourning Yone."

>A. You couldn't agree more
>B. This is bigger than revenge
>C. This is going to be dangerous
>D. You don't know if you're ready
>E. Powerful silence
>F. Say something else (write-in)

>>44084881
>A. You couldn't agree more

>>44084881
>A. You couldn't agree more

>>44084917
>>44084940
"Well said, Leigh. Couldn't agree more."

Asra appears from within the building. "There are... Undead everywhere. I could not find where Lupus was located."

"We're gonna need to split up, aren't we?" Shea says, sounding somewhat bitter.

"It... Would appear so. I'm sure that both Ymira and Lupus are in there, but... Focusing on one might allow the other to escape, and there are multiple paths through the old building."

You're starting to get frustrated with how long this mission is taking.

>To be continued next thread
The fight with Lupus was supposed to be here, but I figured we were too short on time. It'll probably happen early-middle next thread instead. There's also plot stuff I wanted to squeeze in immediately after his boss fight, and I feel like doing all of that in like an hour and a half or less would be unreasonably sloppy and anticlimactic.

Thanks for playing, as always. Update twitter and ask.fm are qmgrandflocto, and I'll be around to chat in-thread for awhile.