A wicked weave of the draconic kind.

[Arin]

Arin sighed and looked up at the sky as they made it topside, Luna was right, but she only knew some of the things about his old world that she couldn't understand Lance's full predicament "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can do that to a man...Just because he was flying up in the air in a giant metal box, doesn't mean you're any less safe...When you're a pilot for an army, you're up there to try and outmaneuver the other guy, and shoot him down. Whether you take a life in the process or not is irrelevant, but ninety-nine percent of the time, when someone is shot down, they aren't likely to return home to their loved ones...That's likely why Lance is traumatized from his time in the air, but only he will be able to give us the full story...when he's ready." He looked around and saw a nervous arachne, skittering across the deck, and looking for someone familiar that she could accompany without getting caught or attacked for being what she was "Hey, there's Nyx. Umbra said she would be traveling with us until Lance returned, apparently she was able to communicate with her in a way that she understood."

Umbra smirked and looked at Giovanni when he suggested giving Lance some help, because of his current baggage "Gio.~ I didn't know you cared.~ Well, if that's what the chap wants, then let's see if there's a way we can help our ailing friend here.~" She approached Lance and gently ran a slender hand up his back, making sure to keep her advances as a friendly gesture, since Lance was still having some of his emotional issues that needed addressing "So, Lance.~ You're among a neutral party of friends here, and Mephisto and I have seen quite a number of things in our time. you can confide in us, all of your troubles, it might even help with handling your current predicament."

[Lance]

Luna became silent when Arin explained exactly how Lance could still have such a serious emotional imbalance despite his "relative" safety as an airman. She felt a bit bad now, while she had every right to be mad at Lance for being an ass...mocking a person's emotional baggage and mental issues was out of character for her, and she realized that she'd stepped over a line.

The Dark Elf sighed and nodded, crossing her arms across her chest. "Shit...well, I suppose I should apologize to him for saying what I did at the very least...I'm not apologizing for calling him out on being an asshole though, trauma or not, it's not any more acceptable for him to be taking his problems out on us."

Lance sighed softly and became quiet when Umbra gently prodded him into opening up...hell even Giovanni was being supportive, even though he'd been giving the little greaseball nothing but shit since he'd got here. "Right...well, I suppose the best way to lay out my problems is to start with the biggie, right? So...I was in the United State's air force before I came here. I was deployed twice, once in Afghanistan to help with peacekeeping, and once in Iraq. My first tour was...well, war's never "routine" but I mostly went around blowing up enemy convoys, which were basically pickups with fucking guns mounted on them, not exactly a threat...then, there was Iraq, Fucking Iraq."

Lance's tone became grave, his expression going from thoughtful to angry. "I was working close air support, which meant that I was out of my usual F-16 and in an A-10 Warthog. Now, here's the thing, normally, you DON'T swap out fucking pilots, shit the A-10 is an army plane, THEY usually use the damn things, not us. But for some reason, either because of a personnel shortage or some brain dead higher-up, I got stuck in an A-10. Which is basically a fucking artillery piece with wings and engines glued to them, shit the main cannon fires so hard it SLOWS the plane down."

Lance stopped his rant for a second, closing his eyes and breathing deeply. "Sorry...Logistics rant, got carried away there. Anyways...I'm in this plane that I have no combat experience in, I'd run sims on it mostly out of curiosity and for if I ever decided to transfer to the Army Air Wing, but I'd never used it in a fight. Then, word comes in, a group of Army Rangers is pinned down in a canyon on the border of Turkey.

Now Iraq is usually pretty stable, mostly desert with some exceptions...but this part of Iraq is craggy as fuck, lots of canyons and places to dig in and avoid air support. So I and my wingmate fly in and do some observation passes, I'm seeing streaks from RPG's, tracer fire and our guys in the bottom of this fucking sandstone gorge, hiding behind boulders and getting shot at from both sides, with the tracers slooowly getting closer as the bad guys move in to surround and capture or kill our guys.

So, I get on the horn with the guys down below, and tell them to take cover, and me and my buddy fly past and strafe the canyon walls with our rotary guns. These are 30mm cannons that can kill tanks, some rocks aren't going to stop them right? Well, they didn't, and that was the problem. The sandstone was breaking apart, they'd dug out parts of the canyon walls to hide explosives too, and some of these fuckers cooked off, sending tons of rubble flying around. Now the bad guys aren't all dead of course, these fuckers are dug in like alabama ticks, hiding in dugouts or even tunnels in the canyon walls! So now, they start shooting HARDER, throwing eeeverything at our guys.

The man in charge calls in again, asking for another pass. I tell him that I can't because if we hit the canyon too hard could cause a landslide and pose a risk to them. He says that he doesn't care, because these fucking cave dwellers are surrounding them and they're not just POSSIBLY going to kill them, but they ABSOLUTELY will if I don't take that chance. So he requests again and calls in Danger Close, which means he knows that they're in the splash zone for our own weapons..."

Lance went silent, his hands shaking slightly as he took a long drink from his glass before slamming it down on the bar, his voice unsteady. "I ask my buddy what to do, he's the Army boy, he's got the combat experience that I don't...he gives the order to use heavy ordinance, and tells the Rangers to duck and cover as best as they can..."

Giovanni cut in, his voice indignant. "What the fuck man!? If your normal guns can cause shit to cave in, why use heavier weapons!?"

"He was hoping that the explosives would powder the rock and not send chunks raining down on our guys. That, and the concussive blasts from the rockets can kill just as much as the fireball, splash damage cuts down on the need to fire as many rounds, which might mean less risk of a landslide...it didn't work. The rounds hit, blew apart huge chunks of dirt and sandstone, and for a second it looked like he was right...until the bad guys fucking decided to just blow the pass with their stashed ordinance, or maybe we cooked them off ourselves...I don't know, it all happened so fast.

One second we feel the bombs deploy, lots of fire and smoke, and less than a second later there's these BIG fucking fireballs, and huge boulders and tons of powdered dirt and rock collapsing in, filling the cracks..."

Lance felt his chest tighten and a lump begin to form in his throat, but he kept talking, he NEEDED to vent, otherwise he'd just fall apart again. "The guys below didn't even have a chance to squawk on the radios before the canyon caved, millions of tons of sandstone just...bam, right on top of 'em in seconds. No time to run, no time to even scream a warning...and I was up there, safe in my flying artillery piece, able to fight off god and all his fucking angels, but I couldn't save 20 guys from something that, for all I know? I fucking caused..."

Lance felt something warm on his cheeks, his jaw clenching so hard he could swear his teeth were going to shatter from the pressure. "I just...part of me fucking died that day...I got transferred to the experimental flight wing the second I got back, they called it a 'mental health' transfer, AKA: they thought that I'd kill myself if I went for another combat tour. Less than a year later I'm here, away from the only home I ever knew! I'm told that my parents are displaced royals, that I'm half elf, and that I'm the key to saving the fucking world or something!"

Lance laughed at that, but he sounded anything but amused. "I-I can't even use my magic without fucking hurting myself! I snap and break someone's face in a rage...and Aria put me in charge of babysitting her spoiled, sanctimonious little brat son, so HE can become king of the shadow monsters, which mauled my legs and ended up giving me a caved in chest while his fucking Dark Elf girlfriend gets off with NADA!"

The airman punched the Bar, nearly tipping his drink over as he began to hyperventilate, his emotions going out of control as he kept feeding them, making his anxiety and anger grow worse and worse. "I'm in a place with no one who gets me, no one who seems to care that every time I go into a fight to save these assholes! I'm putting more and more trauma on my body and mind, and now they want me to bring a COUNTRY back from the dead too!? All this shit for a place that's literally given me only one fucking good thing, and that's a goddamned Arachne who I can't even talk to to properly thank for saving me!"

Lance was running his fingers through his hair, his nails biting into his scalp and drawing blood as he felt his emotions becoming unbearable, his heart felt ready to burst, his brain hurt and throbbed, and he couldn't stop yelling, cursing and shaking, even as he tried to vent EVERYTHING all at once, anything to make the feelings stop. "I just wanna go home man, I want my life back, I want some kind of control for ONCE in my goddamned life! I want people to just...just fucking UNDERSTAND! I want to be good, I wanna help people, but I CAN'T! I cant even save my own guys in one of the most advanced war machines ever made, how the FUCK am I supposed to save the goddamned world!?"

Giovanni got up and grabbed Lance's shoulders, shaking him softly to try and snap him out of it. "Hey, Hey kid! Lance! Take a breath, you're oka-URGH!"

Lance roughly shoved the man away, his mana activating and flinging Giovanni a good 5 feet into some tables before he began to rake at his scalp again, having devolved into nearly incoherent rambling and sobbing as his PTSD completely overwhelmed him.

Mephisto gently reached out and grabbed Lance's wrists, prying his hands away from his bleeding scalp without being too rough on his arms. "Easy kid, easy! Umbra, help me calm him down!"

Mephisto's tattoos began to slowly glow a dim white, his mana flowing into Lance's body through his restrained arms. The airman's head was a mess, leaking blood badly and matting his hair down while he sobbed and ranted to himself, drowning in a sea of mental trauma and self loathing. The bartender could see Lance's emotions swirling within his mind, it was like a raging typhoon in there, just a jumbled mess of bad memories and overwhelmingly negative emotion. "Christ...and I thought you and Aria were bad..."

The man looked at Umbra, his expression grave. "I know you must have some kinda trick that let's you peer inside his head, or project your own thoughts. Something, right? Cause just soothing him with light mana isn't going to help Umbra, if we don't help him, he's going to kill himself or get everyone around him killed."

[Arin]

Umbra walked up to Lance after he had vented his past all the way to the end, and started to flare up in anger and despair, his traumatized mind making his emotions spiral out of control, and in turn, his own windy aura. Mephisto was right, if she didn't do something to calm Lance down, he very well could kill himself "Giovanni. Make sure no one enters the pub, until Mephisto and I are done. I don't want anyone getting in the cross fire of what's going to happen."

She slowly wrapped her arms around Lance, pulling him into a soft embrace from behind, and coiling her arms around his chest and shoulders, while pressing her forehead to the back of Lance's. She began linking her mind with the airman's, and tried to make contact amongst the swirling typhoon of negative emotions.

"Lance. Listen to my voice. I understand full well the pain you are going through. It hurts...more than any blade...more than any fire, and it is never going to go away, but you have to understand that you did everything that you could. No one should blame you for what happened, not even yourself. You are a strong man, and you have a strong will to be willing to use magic even when it is hurting you. I know that despite the pain, and the self doubts, you will accomplish great things in your time. Do not feel pressured to meet the standards of everyone else, only your own. The wind kingdom will return, but only when you, and the rest of the realm are ready for it to. So don't feel like you need to do anything right away, you have more time than you thought you ever did to overcome all of the pain and suffering you have endured so far."

[Lance]

Giovanni staggered to his feet, wiping some blood off of his face that had leaked down from a gash in his forehead, he took one look at Lance and nodded, running over to the door and working on locking the front doors, of which there were many. "You got it lady, just help the kid would ya please?"

Lance tensed when Umbra touched him, his whole body freezing as he tried to suck in gulps of air.

Mephisto kept the airman's hands restrained, even though Lance had seemingly stopped thrashing around. He didn't want to take any chances, having seen how dangerous a person can be if they're not in their right mind...even if he knew that Lance wouldn't do such a thing otherwise, not to Umbra at least. "She ain't lyin' kid...Umbra lived through seeing her kind massacred by people, and just like you...no matter what she did, she couldn't save 'em all. Magic or not, we're all still only able to help a few of the people we see...even if we'd like to save everyone."

Lance let out a quiet sob, not responding verbally to Mephisto's words, though he did answer Umbra in his head, simply thinking back at her and hoping it would work. 'I just want it to stop...it's not like I hear voices or see the shit going on in my head when I close my eyes, none of the Hollywood 'Nam vet shit...I just...I put on a brave face, I snark and joke, and yeah, I got very little respect for authority...Hell, after two tours in those shitholes, could you blame me?'

Lance let out a small chuckle, but it sounded like a pathetically transparent attempt at hiding his pains before facing them completely, just like he always did. After a brief silence, the Airman spoke aloud, his voice cracking slightly in between shuddering breaths. "I want to save that damn kingdom, if only so I have a place to call home again...but...h-how the fuck can I? I know no magic, save for shit I made up on the fly, and the only one I really trust is Nyx...and shit, I can't even talk to her to make sure she's alright..."

Mephisto looked at Umbra, apparently Lance didn't realize that he'd spoken that aloud, perhaps distracted by his mental state. "Nyx? Is she a nonhuman species? Doesn't speak Common?"

[Arin]

Umbra turned and nodded to Mephisto, confirming his confusion "He has befriended and won the affections of an arachne. They are normally only able to speak terran; bestial clicks and growls that most feral or semi-sentient species understand." Her focus turned back toward Lance, holding him tigher, and trying to comfort him more "I can help you understand your element, how to control it. But the first step to doing that is to learn to control your emotions. Wind magic, like fire magic, is fueled by emotion. If your mind is at peace, and you overcome the demons inside of your heart; regret, pain, despair, you will become one with it, like a tranquil breeze. If you let your emotions rule you, and let your inner demons fuel your actions, your aura will become like a typhoon, and it will swallow you up inside. You are forcing the magic to come to you, when you should clear your mind, and let the magic flow freely through your heart. Let me help you, not only with your magic, but with your pain. Everything else in your life will come naturally, and freely."

[Lance]

Mephisto nodded, "Alright...yeah, I can fix the communication issues at least, hell I'll give him a full work up on the house after all this shit. First things first though, gotta fix the kid's mind."

Lance was silent for a moment, his breathing slowing slightly before he spoke back to Umbra, his voice almost pleading. "...How can you help me end this? I just...I'm so tired...I want it to end, I'll do anything to just get some fucking peace."

[Arin]

Umbra continued to hold Lance, whether he wanted her to or not, it was the motherly instinct in her that told her to do so. when Lance asked how she could help him end his pain, she spoke softly to him, to reassure him "I cannot make the pain go away. but I have learned from it. You are letting your pain control you, to fuel your actions. You need to turn that around, and make the pain guide you, use that pain and that desire to prevent such a tragedy from happening as motivation. My pupil, Aria, she and I both share pain just like yours, and it did take us a long time to overcome it. But we use that pain to fuel our missions as protectors of this realm. If you use your pain in the same way, use it to push yourself as a protector, as a leader; it will become a gift, no longer just a curse. Do you understand, Lance?"

[Lance]

Lance listened to Umbra's words, his emotions settling slowly but surely settling into their normal state as he sat there motionless, mulling over what the Majin had told him. Was it really that easy? To just...own the pain he felt and use it like that?

Well, no, obviously. If it had been easy, he'd not be here right now, would he? The airman clenched a fist, his gaze going from dead and empty to one filled with a bit of anger. He knew Umbra was right, he'd put himself on the cross for things he couldn't control, let that pain act like a millstone against his soul instead of fuel for his fire. Yeah, owning his pain, using it to become that fucking King that Aria and Aldari wanted him to be would be hard...but he was Lance Goddamned Devereaux!

He'd flown the most advanced warplanes on Earth! Shit he flew the only F-35 in Terra Mystica for god's sake! Sure it crashed, but he made that crash look fucking glorious! He'd fought off a swarm of shadow beasts with nothing but some home made flashbangs and his own will, Hell he'd killed one that apparently had given "His Highness" Arin Delas trouble, AND saved the little shit's girlfriend to boot!

Lance's eyes shone a bit, a strong wind blowing through the Bar as the pilot sat up a bit straighter and motioned Mephisto to release him, when the Bartender complied, he looked over his shoulder and gave Umbra a small pat on the hand. "Umbra, Mephisto? Thanks...I needed that bit of advice."

(For inspirational background music, listen to this: link)

Lance looked back at the bar, his voice quiet but firm in tone. "I've been going around for too long letting myself bear that damn cross...Constantly calling myself a failure, moaning and bitching about how I'd never see home again...well ya know what? FUCK home, I'm going to MAKE this place my home, and god help any dumb son-of-a-bitch who tries to stop me! Be they kings, some bratty Heir to a dead kingdom or a pissy Dragonborn!"

Lance stood up, his fists clenched as his voice got louder and louder, the wind swirling around him and making some papers fly around the room. "I've cheated death over and over, Kicked the ass of a monster so tough Aria's precious baby boy couldn't keep it down, and I could fly circles around god and all his fucking angels with my eyes sewn shut! I'm gonna take that kingdom back, I'm going to make it mine, and in the words of the Rock: If anyone has a problem with it, I'm gonna take their complaints roll 'em up into a nice little ball...AND JAM THEM RIGHT UP THEIR CANDY ASSES!"

Lance punched his fist into the bar, his trademark grin having returned at last, that mad glint in his eye once more. "I'm Lance Motherfuckin' Devereaux...and boys and girls...you're looking at the first King of the New and Improved Wind Kingdom!~"

"YER GODDAMNED RIGHT KID! WOO HOO!~"

Lance turned and saw Giovanni pumping his fist, a wide grin on his pudgy face, something that made Mephisto actually laugh out loud, his booming voice making it sound sinister despite the relaxed grin he had. "Heheheh...I think you've impressed Giovanni kid...good work, and it's glad to see the real you."

Lance just smirked and chuckled, "Yeah? Well get used to him big boy, cause I don't plan on letting that mopey asshole come back ever again.~"

[Arin]

Umbra released Lance when she was sure Lance was in control of himself again, standing there and watching with a smile as Lance announced to everyone that he was going to do just what Umbra suggested; own his pain, and use it to be the future king of a new and improved kingdom. She stepped forward, arms crossed and emphasizing her chest, true to her favorite habit of flaunting her assets "Well, you're not going to be king until you master your own element, young prince. Lucky for you, I've studied under all of the different magical elements, teaching you wind magic should be a breeze.~" She mused at her pun, but there was definitely an air of seriousness about her words. She was going to help Lance not only emotionally, but she was going to help him on his way to reaching his full potential.

===Meanwhile, back at the docks===

Arin, Luna, and the rest of the group were making their way down the ramp from the ship, where a small group of familiar faces were waiting for them. One of which was incredibly eager to see everyone back, and was running around in circles around the older woman. "Welcome back, everyone...Where is Lance?"

Arin scratched his head and sighed "We got into a bit of a fight on the way here, and it got pretty bad. He decided to leave the ship before we docked, to clear his head...We didn't exactly leave on the best of terms, Aria, we found out the hard way that he's pretty emotionally messed up." Aria sighed and closed her eyes, mulling over Arin's words "I was afraid of that...He was in a worse condition than I thought when I first went into his mind...Wait, you said he left the ship. He hasn't learned any flight spells from what I recall, and I don't see him swimming for a couple of miles to get away. How did he leave?"

[Lance]

Lance grinned and crossed his arms, looking at Umbra with a playful smirk. "One on One time with a beautiful lady in tight leather? Be still my delicate little heart.~ I'd be honored to learn what you know Umbra." Lance held out his hand for the witch to shake, his smirk becoming a bit less playful and more sincere.

Mephisto just chuckled and gave Umbra a knowing look. "If you two are gonna be trainin' I got a request, provided you don't mind of course."

=====Back at the Docks====

Alicia stood with Aria and Ciel, her arms crossed across her chest as the group arrived back from the Twilight kingdom...sans Lance and Akatosh and now sporting a female...bug thing. The former pilot didn't give a lick about the latter two however, and instantly went on edge at the mention of there being a fight, and then went from "on edge" to "Completely Fucking Furious" though she didn't show it in any way beyond giving Arin a look that could probably scare the scrap out of that Shadow Wraith back in the Twilight Ruins.

"That's a very good question Aria, a very...very good question, so tell me Arin, exactly how and WHERE is Lance?~" Alicia took a couple steps toward the young man, one of her hands edging ever so slightly towards the very large, very heavy machete strapped to her hip.

"A woman in a black outfit arrived on the ship from nowhere, not unlike Aria actually. She said her name was Umbra, and that she taught Aria back when she was young. Lance went with her willingly, with the promise that he would return later on once things had calmed down."

Alicia's gaze snapped to Luna, who was giving the Airwoman a wary look, Lance's temper held nothing compared to hers, at least from what Lance himself had told her and Arin during the journey. "So what you're telling me is Lance's PTSD got set off helping YOUR fucking bae in that godforsaken ruin, he got pissed at YOU TWO...and now he's off with some mysterious lady who SAID that she was Aria's teach...and you believed her, BLINDLY?"

Alicia dropped the pitiful facade of calm she had projected up till now, slowly advancing towards Luna with every word that she spoke.

"I didn't do so blindly! Akatosh corroborated her story, she's apparently his mother as well as the mate of Alduin, that great black dragon who-"

"SO...let me get this straight...you and your hubby have means to get in touch with Aria...at any time...at WILL, you can talk to us, and get the deets directly from her...and instead you take the word of a man who's lied to you TWICE now...and a stranger, while Lance is emotionally compromised...why did he get pissed anyways, Hm Luna? You obviously know what happened, so tell me, please.~"

Luna backed away slowly, her hand drifting towards her sword out of reflex, but she admirably kept he tone calm despite the fact that she had a woman who was exuding murderous intent with all the subtlety of a neon signboard advancing on her.

"He tried to instigate a fight with Arin, I took a swing at him when words didn't defuse the situation, he threw me to the deck and insulted me, again trying to start a fight. When he brought up his PTSD I...said something incredibly rude and hurtful to him, something that I knowledge that I shouldn't have, he broke my nose and stormed off after that."

Alicia growled and stormed up to Luna, who drew her sword and pointed it up at the woman's chin when she made a motion to grab her. "...get that weapon out of my face or Arin's going to need a new fiance..." The airwoman's tone was low and dangerous, her arcane mana starting to flare out from her body in a corona of energy.

Luna stood her ground, her voice tense and her gaze sharp, not letting Alicia intimidate her. "No...I am sick of both you AND Lance singling my out for your bullshit! I was rude to him when we first met, yes, and I DO regret my actions, both then and now...but I will not be made into a fucking whipping girl for him OR you! Now stand down or I WILL defend myself Alicia Ferris!"

Alicia growled and reached for her own weapon, only to feel a VERY large hand grab her arm and yank her back, nearly dislocating her shoulder. She snarled and looked over her shoulder to see Ciel's Black Knight summon holding her back, the young girl fixing her with a very displeased glare. "That is ENOUGH! I am not letting you three kill each other! How the heck are ANY of you supposed to rule the kingdoms if you just bicker and fight each other like a bunch of...a bunch of fucking CHILDREN!?"

[Arin]

Laughing softly, Umbra grabbed Lance's hand, shaking it softly "Well, if you want to learn everything that I know, you might be here a while, and might be sharing some nights here.~" She gave Lance a knowing smirk and a flirty wink, knowing full well he was likely going to have a flirty retort of his own to fire back with. When Mephisto asked a favor from the two, Umbra turned his way with one eyebrow quirked, curious "Oh? And what project might we be working on this time, Mephisto?~"

When Luna mentioned the name Umbra, Aria's expression softened, both from relief, but also mental exhaustion from just hearing the name. Then, thing's escalated, Alicia's fury growing further as Luna began to explain and defend her actions, especially in reaction to Alicia's growing hostility. She was going to step in, slowly lifting a hand as things reached a boiling point, but Ciel's black knight took action before she could, and Ceil was starting to lecture Luna and Alicia for their bickering...Or, at least, Alicia's aggression, and Luna's asserting herself to avoid being a 'whipping girl'

Lowering her hand, she took a deep breath and simply snapped her fingers, yanking both Luna's and Alicia's weapons from their hands and over to herself "While I am going to have to remind Ceil to try and watch her language again, she is right. The kingdoms fell because of their inability to prevent a civil war between kingdoms. We are all people, and we all have our own shares of personal baggage, but if we want to keep our way of life alive, we need to be able to coexist!" She turned to Arin, looking to her son for answers "This woman. Black hair, black leather suit and glasses, with a British accent?" Arin gave a nod, while going to try and get between Luna and Alicia, but it wasn't needed, as Aria kept him pinned in place by his feet and a wall of space to keep him from interfering "Alicia, calm down. The woman watching over Lance right now is my former teacher. He is in good hands, and he isn't in danger, or even that far away for that matter. But if he is away to try and clear his mind, then we should respect his wish and wait for him to return. Arin, did Umbra say anything before taking her leave?"

Arin crossed his arms, since he wasn't going to move around much because of Aria's interference "Only to confirm the guild hall was where we were staying, for when he was ready to return. She also knows about our hidden agenda involving the kingdoms, Aria." "Then he will come back to us in time. Knowing Umbra, she enjoys sharing her knowledge about magic, so I have a feeling she is going to offer assistance to Lance in improving his wind magic during his stay. In any case, he has a scrying mirror that he can call me with, should he wish to let us know how he is doing."

[Lance]

Lance chuckled, releasing umbra's hand and shrugging softly. "I'd not mind that actually, though Nyx would have to stay close, if only so she didn't think we were doing anything inappropriate for a student and teacher to be doing.~"

Mephisto grinned softly. "Well, The kid here says he's not able to speak to  his Arachne friend, I happen to know how to make a translation Rune for him, but I'd need to hammer it into his armor. I was also thinking of giving his armor and weapons some spit 'n polish too, think of it as outfitting him for the trials to come...and shit, when he pulls through on becoming king, it'll be good advertising for my little side business.~"

Lance chuckled and nodded, his smirk widening a bit. "Hell man, I don't mind. Though, I'm probably going to need some new clothing..."

"Why's that kid?"

Lance chuckled and undid the armor on his torso, removing the gauntlets, arm pieces and the entirety of his chest piece, setting them on the bar and revealing that his tunic was very, VERY badly ripped and stained with blood due to the fighting in the twilight kingdom...it also showed off his rather well defined abdomen, seeing as he had a big honking hole right about where his stomach was. "This, as you can see.~ As much as I'm sure Umbra and Nyx would eat the eye candy for breakfast, lunch and dinner, the rivets in my armor have been biting into my skin a bit. It's impossible to fight for long when you got your armor pinching the shit out of you, ya know?"

Alicia growled angrily when Aria chastised her, only for Ciel's spirit to rather roughly shake her by the arm, the young girl AND her armored creation glaring at the vindictive pilot. "Do. Not. Start. Alicia, I'm worried about Lance too, but Momma wouldn't let him just go off and do something dangerous, okay?"

Alicia looked at Arin and Luna, and then at Aria, her expression dark and her voice filled with anger, though she didn't sound anywhere near as murderous as she did moments ago. "Nah, not unless her kid needed some extra protection anyways...enjoy that armor kid, seeing as he got fucked up so you could live long enough to get back here with it..."

She then wrenched her arm free from the summon, grunting a bit due to the pain in her arm that such an action caused. "Can I go now? I need a drink and every moment I spend here is only driving up my goddamn blood pressure."

Ciel just sighed and looked at Aria, her summon fading away. "I can go with her, we'll meet you at the guild hall once you're done catching up with Arin, okay mama?"

Alicia spoke up again, her tone not changing at all, "I won't ditch her, I'm pissed, but it ain't at Ciel, alright? She'll be safe with me."

[Arin]

Umbra tapped her chin and smirked, nodding in approval "I must say, Mephisto, I didn't expect you to be the bilingual type. I'm excited to see how this turns out." Her attenion then turned to Lance's armor, intrigued by the condition of the metal "Lance? What kind of metal is this? It's in such excellent condition, despite the breaks and dents. Where did you get his?"

Arin remained silent as Alicia and Ciel asked to leave, not wanting to say anything to keep from provoking her and angering her further. When Aria heard their requests, she took a deep breath and nodded "Very well. Take care of each other. And no fighting, either between yourselves or anyone else. Promise me that?"

When Alicia and Ciel finally took their leave, he waited for them to be out of earshot "Well, she officially hates us." Aria sighed and shook her head "Give her some time to cool down. She just needs to calm herself and hopefully see Lance when he's ready to return. But I'm not bringing her to the Dragon's Den until Lance is ready to talk. But enough about that." She pulled Arin into a hug, beckoning Luna over as well to hug her future daughter in law "I'm just glad you're both alive and safe."

Arin chuckled and blushed softly, scratching his head "Yeah, well...It wasn't a walk in the park, you know. We've come close to death several times...We've even encountered it too." Aria pulled away, staring shocked at Arin "Wait! You met the spirit of death?" Arin nodded, and began to recall all of the events leading up to the final trials and fleeing the dark kingdom "...I can still feel them in my mind, Aria. Their pain and their memories. I never knew how difficult the early years of the kingdoms really were."

[Lance]

Lance shrugged his shoulders when he was asked what metal his armor was made of, "It's made up of the old hull from my F-35, I crashed it when I arrived here. It's made up of a mixture of High-Strength Composite Epoxys and Aircraft grade aluminum, making it lighter and stronger than a fully metal skinned aircraft."

Giovanni whistled at that, "Yer telling me that armor is fuckin' aluminum and super strong PLASTIC? Christ, ya leave home for a coupla decades and we're making planes out of goddamned LEGO now!"

Lance just rolled his eyes, "It's not LEGO plastic you ditz, it's a carbon naontube...ugh, look, I'll keep it short and simple since Umbra and Mephisto don't know about that kinda shit. It's an experimental mixture of Aluminum Alloy and plastic Resins, it's made to be light and tough."

Mephisto looked at Umbra, still a bit confused. "I understood about half of that, but I think he's saying that plate is some kinda Human Realm super material that their military uses in those Aero-planes that Aria told us about a while back."

Alicia nodded and turned away, ignoring Aria's conversation as Ciel tagged along beside her.

"I didn't hurt your arm too bad when my summon grabbed it, did I?" The young girl sounded concerned, seeing that Alica was rubbing her bicep tenderly.

"Tch, I'm fine kid...I dislocated that arm when I first met Aria and thought she was hostile, yanking my arm free just sprained it is all, I'll heal up in a day or two."

Ciel nodded and went silent for a few minutes, before suddenly asking Alicia another question. "Do you hate my brother and Momma? You said some...really hurtful things back there."

The airwoman came to a stop and sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "I don't hate Aria, I'm pissed at her for putting all this pressure on Lance to fix this goddamned world of hers, while she hides out all safe and sound. Yeah, she's training you, but if she can alter time and jump through dimensions like I've seen her do, why the fuck is she putting all this on us, huh?"

"Momma says that it's not her place to interfere, after the war with the Cuorum she-"

"She doesn't want to make the hard calls anymore...I get it, I think she's being fucking lazy and irresponsible to just hide like a wuss while Lance, Arin and everyone else puts their asses into the fire for HER grand vision, but I get it. She's like all the other generals and commanders I've met...she can't stand to get her hands dirty, so she makes us bear the weight instead."

Ciel winced slightly at Alicia's tone, the older woman sounded...not even angry, just disgusted and a little sad even. "...Do you hate me for not being angry with her like you are?"

Alicia sighed softly and smiled, looking at Ciel and tousling her hair. "No kid...I don't. She's your mom, even if it's by adoption, and she saved your life too. I don't begrudge you for not being mad at her like I am, and I never will. You're always good to me Ciel, even at my most angry you don't...you don't judge me for it, you just snap me out of my funk and get me to focus...just like Lance does."

[Arin]

Umbra rubbed her chin when Lance explained what the material was, getting an idea of what this metal was capable of "...Lance...Is there more of this metal somewhere? We might be able to use it for your armor's repairs. I might even have some improvements of my own to add into the metal."

Aria was silent when Arin mentioned the pain from the old kingdom spirits, and how rough the early years were "It was a difficult time, yes. We had no idea that it wasn't just us that took residence on that land. After the civil war between the earth and wind kingdoms, there were too many lost lives to stop the massive insurgence of the bandit colony that was hiding in that land. The wind and earth kingdoms were wiped out clean, with so few fighters left to protect their lands. After they were left lifeless, the entire hoard came and attacked the twilight kingdom. Only a few escaped the attack, to warn the other kingdoms of the threat. By working together, the two kingdoms managed to work together to confront the bandit colony, reducing their numbers to a minuscule number, and they scattered to different areas of the nation."

Arin lowered his head and breathed deeply, shaking his head "But they weren't quick enough to save the twilight kingdom..." Aria shook her head, hands folded in front of her lap "Sadly, no. The fire and ice kingdoms were able to stop the hoards, but the twilight kingdom was already left a lifeless ruin, and all of the valuables were taken from the homes." Arin smirked and hoisted up a large burlap sack, something he didn't have before their travels "Well, maybe precious metals. But there are some things of equal value that don't need to be shiny jewelry. Their archives were still completely intact, though the scrolls could use some repairs."

Aria's eye lit up when Arin claimed to have some historic documents from the archives "You found some scrolls from the old kingdom? What did you find?" "Some old tomes about magic and enchantments. It's in an ancient language...But I think I can read it. Those memories from the spirits, it's given me a small understanding of the language, so I can understand the scripture."