By the Jya's Command. [Private]

[Zelrius]

Zelrius undocked from the ship in the Fallieni capital, greeted by the mob of Soldiers and High Ranks of the Jya's court, all congratulating Zelrius and Michael on a job well done in Artifact hunting. The golden haired boy didn't smile or acknowledge any of with the exception of the Patriarch herself, the Jya. He had always felt this admiration for her, and a great trust in everything she said, despite his questionable obedience to any type of authority other than the Jya herself. It was this trust that he didn't ask any questions when instructed by the High Priestess and her Lady's of the Court to go to the outter rims of Tular and go hunting for an object. It was strange; Michael had warned over and over again that they shouldn't meddle with things of the Corrupted or Demonic, yet Zelrius for some reason chose to follow the commands of the Jya, rather than of the only person in the world the golden haired boy had ever called Friend.

Within moments of walking off the ship and the little 'Welcome back Ceremony' Zelrius, Michael, and Gwendolyn, were ushered into the Palace and left alone, with exception of a few guards to protect the Jya, in the Jya's chambers. With that, Zelrius handed over an object he had wrapped in a ripped shirt; the objective Artifact from their recent 'mission'. The elderly woman smiled, handing it off to one of the guards who took into a back room.

"You have to go back to Tular now," The old woman began to explain in the Fallien tongue after some words about the Artifact were traded.

"Back?" Zelrius began a bit annoyed now, "It's hard to go back to a place you haven't been to before."

"You know what I mean, Brigadier. Go to the Corrupted plains. Show those evil forces the power of Fallien and it's Jya."

Zelrius glared for a moment, something he wouldn't have done in any other circumstance, not toward the Jya. Normally, he'd obey without question, but something about the way she said it, and that last bit just didn't sit right with Zelrius; It conjured up his usual rebellious attitude inside. Of course, he still nodded, saying 'Hail' in the native tongue. For reasons that would be left to your imagination.

With that, Zelrius turned, translated roughly to Gwendolyn and didn't know whether Michael needed a Translation or not. As of this far, the Fallen angel showed a quick understanding of things once they were explained to him, and Language was more than likely going to be one of those things. The golden haired Fallien Commander headed out and back to the Ship, commanding the men to rest for the night, and that they leave the next morning.

[JLScrolls]

Michael stayed silent throughout the return to the palace and the subsequent conversation with the Jya, but on the inside he was happy after all, he would never turn down an opportunity to kill demons, or maybe if he got lucky a devil or dark angel, whatever you wanted to call the abominations. He could see some tension in the features of his friend however and considered asking him what was the matter when they left the chambers, but decided against doing so to respect his privacy, instead he asked "Do you wish to break for Tular on this night or in the morn?" Taking in the response he called a courier over to him. "Boy, I shall be needing you to go to these individuals and tell them that the Jya is sending us on another expedition, if they complain remind them that the pay is good."

The courier in the meantime was almost having trouble standing, something about the way he was looking at him gave the sensation of standing in multiple times his accustomed gravity. He tried to speak up "Sure sir, I'll just be needing 20 gol-" The pressure increased to the point of being unbearable and looking at the man he got the mental imagery of standing before the brightest sun, his breath hitched and he couldn't seem to regain it. "Ill be right back sir" he wheezed out and then sprinted the opposite direction to each of the men specified as fast as his legs could carry him.

[Zelrius]

"I'd rather rest, personally. Plus," He glared at the Elf girl, who met the Commander's gaze for but a second, and then turned away quickly idly trying to find something to look at other than the pair. "That worthless hunk of Flesh called an Elf is probably tired. Lucky us, we can sleep in our Chambers in the Palace tonight." Zelrius stopped for a second to obeserve Michael's conversation with the Courier. The Commander tried his best not to burst in laughter as the Courier hurried off, and the gravity in the room seemingly let up a little. Zelrius arched and popped his back, a slight moan of relief exiting his breath. "I am going to say a few things; Number one, Wicked magic. Number two, Could you atleast warn me? I think that instance, and the one in the Court room the day we met, are enough to cause me back pain in a few years. Number Three; Try not to overbully the paid men too much. They might complain, than you and I have to go back to court and explain why we are abusing our power. Neither of us want that."

Or maybe they did want that. Zelrius honestly didn't know, he just felt a kind of excitement when it came to that sort of thing. Wherever there was trouble, or the ability to cause headache to anyone in a higher position, or any position at all, The Golden haired Commander normally jumped at the opportunity, more than happy to be the one to cause such headache. "With that, See you in the morning. Gwendolyn, we're off." He called out to the elf, walking to his Chambers, the small framed Elven girl meandering, albeit lagging, behind.

[JLScrolls]

"Apologies" He replied sheepishly. As Zelrius walked off he turned into a narrow corridor electing to take a shortcut to his chambers. Clambering out the window of the palace, he turned his body skyward and lept for the next window up, repeating the process till he was on the palace roof. Walking to the west facing side ha jumped down onto his balcony and walked into his chambers. He packed and replaced his gear for tomorrow and went down to the baths, shrugging his overcoat off as he walked in he called to the servants to draw his bath, once he was satisfied with the volume, he clambered in and began to unwind from the journey's toils. He pondered over why the Jya could want them to go back as a servant girl lathered his hair. As he didn't believe the bullshit patriotism she was spouting, ah well, it was no matter. Whatever reason she sent them back, he resolved to deal with the situation in the exact opposite way she would want.

[Zelrius]

As Zelrius laid down on his bed, the Chains around Gwendolyn's ankle making sure she didn't try to steal away in the night. Of course, it was strange; The small Elf girl never jingled the chain, Never tried to cut the post she was tied to, never made any complaints. During days when Zelrius was intentionally overly harsh with her, He only enforced more punishment on the small elf, and yet she still took the beatings and still followed his every command. Given many opportunities to run away, and Gwendolyn took none. The Golden haired Commandant had noticed it on and off, and rather than commending her or rewards Gwen for it, Zelrius only shoved more punishment upon her.

When the sun arose, Gwendolyn spoke softly "Master Blackfyre, we should get an early move on." With that, the Golden haired Commander groaned, and rolled out of bed. He got up and in a small fit of anger shoved her to the ground, The small elf lifted up her hands in defense "Y-you said to wake you up early-"

Zelrius lifted a fist to get her to stop, but didn't bring it down to strike her "I know what I said, dumbass." He unlocked her ankle from the post and began getting dressed in his Military attire. "Go awake Michael, you and him will be at the ship in One hour."

[JLScrolls]

Michael opened his eyes as he heard a knock on his door. Not bothering to throw on his trenchcoat he opened it to find Zelrius's slave girl. Said girl seemed distracted by his tattered wings that were normally covered up by his trenchcoat, while still only a sparse few feathers, they had improved in health and quantity nonetheless. Clearing his throat to get their attention he asked "Does he want me to come down to the docks?" She shook her head yes and he threw on his shirt and coat, slung his knapsack over his shoulder and took a running start to leap out of the window. He landed on the castle ramparts, and from there leapt to a residential rooftop and continued on his way to the ship. Gwendolyn could only stare for a moment before running to her own chambers.

Michael made it to the ship in record time and looked around for Zelrius, as soon as he spotted him he made his way over and tapped him on the shoulder. The other man turned away from the conversation he had been having and took note of his appearance, "I'm all packed and ready to go." All that we are waiting for now is your slave girl to arrive and we can be off."