(GS3) Home Field: Espoir Mansion

[Jello]

"Ezel... Hmm." He lets the name sit for a moment before picking out a couple of things Yukino said.

"Black Chain and Black Steed. Sounds like Vortimer and Kahedin's squads. Makes sense considering their armor. They remind me of Shadow Paladins in a way, to be honest." Haruka remarks at the way his units act and have skills similar to that of Shadow Paladins themselves.

"Okay, that's good at least. We have information, and some idea. We just need a plan, and people to back it up. Of course, who knows about this? It seems everyone around us just kind of, always used these clans... Its weird, right?" Haruka puts on a small smile, in an attempt to lighten the atmosphere. He sits down in front of her, sort of on his knees, sitting on his legs and feet.

"What about Hana? Does she know? Satoshi? Maybe even Neo-"

Stop. She doesn't need to be assaulted with questions now.

Haruka stops mid-sentence. He looks at the fearful Yukino.

She's brave.. Standing up to all this. I can see why if Ezel is some commander, he chose her to lead.

Haruka puts a hand on Yukino's cheek, caressing her lightly and simply says, "You're one brave fighter, ya know that."

Soft.

With that said, he heard the voice. And saw it too. It spoke of the history and lore of the entire war and its purpose. It also spoke of what was believed to be Limit Break.

"Pushing past our limits..." Haruka remembered Spectral Duke Dragon, a vanguard that allowed him to restand after an attack, but there was a requirement. Limit Break.

"So you're saying there are champions, one of Vermillion, of Ezel, and of Metatron? And they're the main forces of the coalition?" Haruka wanted to make sure he has the facts straight this time around.

"Where are they? Do you know? Or..." Haruka glanced over to Satoshi. Maybe he knows.

Hmmm.

[NeoBuster]

After receiving the Armor Break Dragon Card at Psy Shop, Neo decided to walk around yet again. He then comes across this mansion. "Wow.." Neo said looking around at the property.

"I honestly dont think I would be allowed in here" Neo said to himself

So he decided to walk up to the front gate and buzz the doorbell. "Never hurts to try" Neo said

[Hope]

"Um..."

Hana saw Neo ringing the bell from the gate outside the mansion and was a bit surprised. She had just come from the forest, still holding Mi-hime's hand.

"Hello DogeKaiser!" She greeted him.

[NeoBuster]

Oh.

"Hello Hana and Miyuki" Neo replied. I was just ringing the doorbell to this mansion but no one has come out yet.

[Hope]

Hana wonders why he is here tonight, is he a stalker?.... Perhaps it is something else. Nonetheless it doesn't hurt to have visitors, and anything that he tries to do, he would have to go through Dad-san first anyways, so no problem. Hana walked forward and let go of Mi-hime's hand, "sorry Mi-hime, just have to open the door and stuff." She then walked towards the gate.

"Well I have the key right here." Hana told him. She opened a small hatch along the side of the gate to reveal a scanner of some sorts.

" OPTICAL SCANNER ON, " a robotic voice sounded from the device. Hana move her hair out of her face and scanned her right eye.

" ACCESS GRANTED, WELCOME HOME HANA ESPOIR. "

With that, the gate slowly swung open, and lights guided their long path to the mansion. "UGH I HATE THESE STAIRS." Hana groaned.

[Cherry]

"The Black Chain forces are members of Shadow Paladin actually", Yukino added about Haruka's point of interest. The queen took a few moments of silence to absorb the vast quantity of exposition Seph relayed to them, along with learning of who Vortimer and Kahedin were with Ezel telling the squads. Gold Paladin was the single most enormous clan on Cray as it stood, being a massive fusion of two different clans having come to agreements. However, the lion stopped and told her to relax. War plans weren't for Yugure to come up with at the moment. Finding Metatron and Vermillion's "champions" were also other matters entirely. As was Satoshi being worthy of wielding Sephirot - Neo Nectar's personal, no, Zoo's personal Guardian Dragon.

... And then the Rift... the wormhole that nearly took her away even before the cyber dragon too...

Still feeling down and scared, she looked up at Haruka as he spoke, asking about others. He stopped for some reason... then placed a hand on her cheek. A special kind of warmth washed over her, one that she dearly wished someone gave her during her Shadow Paladin rampage. Someone to just hold her - caress her, to tell her everything's alright. While this touch wasn't all of that and more, it was something. Yukino placed her hand on his, squeezing it, trying to keep it in place. Almost crying, she sat there in silence with it after Haruka's compliment.


Meanwhile, Dad Espoir's father senses were tingling. Another boy in his house, goddammit. As long as he isn't getting too close to Hana, he supposed he could let it slide. As for Haruka...

...

Dad sighs.

[NeoBuster]

"Well stairs arent that bad" Neo said to Hana.

Neo then followed Hana inside and looked around while walking up the stairs.

[Crystalia]

Miyuki was suprised to see Neo here of all places. It was a bit of a shock to be sure. And at this time as well. Hana walked ahead to go unlock the gate, so she moved over to Neo. Might as well check up on him.

The doors were unlocked faster than she thought however, so she didn't manage to get in a word. Looking at the familiar long stair case, she decided now would be the time to check what exactly Neo was doing here.

'Hii Neo was it? Eater of Dog food. Sorry by the way, I didn't bring any with me. So umm, what brings you to the Espoir mansion at this time?' She deeply regretted not having spare dog food right now, the poor dog -- um boy was looking rather hungry.

[NeoBuster]

Neo replied "Well Im having a long, crazy, cant explain kind of day. From almost dying, being saved by the enemy and hearing voices and cards magically coming to me, I decided to keep walking around. Since you know I really dont have a home. Im a wanderer. And as for the dog food it was only a one night thing, Im not hungry this time around" Neo chuckled.

"I had more questions for Hana concerning some things I wanted to ask" Neo said.

[Beryl]

Seph sighed. Satoshi was definitely screwed out of it this time. But honestly, that was okay. These two were cute and he'd get over it.

He heard footsteps downstairs and hopped up. "Well, I'd love to say more, but it looks like you have guests. We'll chat again soon, Yugure. Maybe eventually on the same battlefield, yeah?" He winked, then faded as Satoshi stirred.

"Wha's all th' noise 'bout..." he muttered, rubbing his eyes and stretching out on the floor he had slept on. The boy hadn't fully opened his eyes and seen the embrace Yukino and Haruka were sharing.

[Hope]

She walked up the stairs, still a long way towards the mansion itself. The lights shone brightly, lighting every step of the way. Around them would be the greenery, usually visible in the morning. The front yards had many fountains. In the dark, they merely create the soothing sound of flowing water. "More questions," Hana heard him utter this.

Still continuing to walk, "What questions do you have?" Hana asked.

[Jello]

Without missing a beat he smiled back. Haruka was bad with words. Everyone and then some knew that. So instead he would express himself through his actions.

However with what sounds like the recent arrival of people, the action he had in mind might have to wait for another day.  He simply sat there with Yukino for a moment before deciding it would be a better idea to go ahead and enjoy the remainder of the night. While Haruka wouldn't mind staying like this for awhile, he couldn't stay there all night.

Again.
Haruka stands up, buttoning his shirt. He offers a hand to Yukino. "So, shall we greet the guests? Or rather. Your guests?" Something sparked in Haruka's head for a moment.

"Also, shouldn't we wake up Satoshi? He's slept through all of this after all..."

Spoke too soon.

"Evening, sleepyhead. We're about to head out, yeah? We slept through the day, so we should probably get back to the house soon."

[NeoBuster]

"I was able to get more infomation on what we talked about earlier with clans vanishing, but I wasnt sure who i should ask so I decided to ask you, Is a place called PSY Shop related to all of this" Neo asked.

[Beryl]

Satoshi rubbed his eyes and put on his glasses. "Yeah, you're probably right." He gave a sleepy wave to Yukino. "Hey, you and everyone else can keep the leftovers. Just be sure to eat 'em by the end of this week or they'll go bad, 'kay?" He whipped out a stick of deodorant he had brought with him, swiped under his arms and turned his attention back to Haruka.

"Whenever you're good, we'll head back---"

Suddenly, he held his head. Something didn't feel right. His whole body started to ache as though it was going through some intense turmoil.

Then it just...stopped. He removed his hands from his head.

<W...what happened?> he thought. He was sweating suddenly. Seph replied from inside him. -I'm not sure, actually. I did take a bit of time outside for a while, but this is new to me, too.-

He shook his head and put on his best smile to his two best friends, trying to cover up whatever had just happened.

[Cherry]

Yukino let out a little surprised cry when his hand left, wanting to pull it back in place... Though, it took a good few seconds to hear the sounds of arriving guests. This manor of there's was getting really popular all of a sudden and the queen wasn't sure how she felt about it. Months ago, she'd have barely considered it happening. But now, she wouldn't mind a little party with genuine friends one day soon. Taking his hand, she rose to her feet. While there were still a mountain of questions in store for Sephirot to answer, there just wasn't enough time. Satoshi was waking up and people were on the way.

"Hi, Satoshi. Your food knocked us out a good one. Not Hana and the others, apparently. We should go meet up with them. Oh, and don't worry about the food going bad, I'm eating the rest tonight."

Did she even know how much food was actually left?!

Giving a smile to Satoshi, but not noticing his sudden aching, she turned to Haruka. He got more of a blushing smile that exclaimed "thank you" silently.

Haruka +5 Affinity