That Person's Name Is...

[Joline]

Agnès had been escorted to her room not long ago. She had considered objecting, but each time she began stammering an attempt at saying something along the lines of "No, I don't need a room, but thank you for the offer", she was silenced. For servants, those below this King's command were quite powerful, though Agnès was not the type to be irritated by that. The decadence of this building made her feel almost sick, but she could not deny that the furniture and bedding in the building was beyond wonderfully comfortable. She had allowed all grace to flee from her a few minutes ago as she tumbled to the queen-sized bed in the room she had been brought to, which was equally as despicably decadent. She saw it fit to take this time for changing into something more comfortable - Perhaps it would be wise to change into the tunic she traveled in back in Luxendarc? She recalled the monochromatic tunic, with its knee-length skirt hemmed with black fur, its puffy black sleeves and gloves, its knee-high black boots with little fuzzballs hanging on strings...

After a while she felt weight on her chest. It was slight weight, of course, but weight nonetheless. Agnès opened her eyes to see the outfit folded nicely on her stomach, which she moved off to the side of the bed. She slid off of and stood up from the bed to the floor - Even though she had only spent a few moments lying down, she longed for more time to simply relax and rest her weary body. However, that time was not now, as there was definitely more to be done - But what?

It was then that Agnès heard a knock on the door. A deep knock, from some kind of heavy wood. Fitting for a palace to use such material. "I will be there in a moment!" the vestal called, hoping she was loud enough to be heard through the door. It wouldn't be right to keep someone waiting just for my own comfort, she thought, so I'll answer that now and change later. With a few surprisingly loud heeled steps across the floor, she reached the door, and from her position she caught a quick glance at herself from a mirror. She brushed her hair off to the side a little bit, putting it back into place as it normally was, then she opened the door and stepped back.

An unfamiliar face stood before her, a man of slightly pale but ageless skin, dark brown hair coloured like her own but pulled back, with a scar on said face by the right eye that Agnès found peculiar for a few moments, before scolding herself mentally for such a thought. Instinctively she offered a bow, like she had the King, and a smile as she raised her head. This man did not appear unsettled by eye contact, which she found comforting. "My apologies for that. My name is Agnès Oblige. What business might I have with you, sir?" she asked. His clothes looked about as pompous and extravagant if not more so than her own (Though she did not like how her own looked), making the vestal wonder if perhaps they were of similar positions. She did not ask, however, deeming it inappropriate to inquire on such a thing so early on. "Would you happen to be one of the King's men, perhaps?" the girl stepped aside and made room for the man to step into the room if he so desired.

GET OVER HERE SHAY AND WRITE STUFFS
OKEH
OKEH. THERE. DONE.

[Shay Cormac]

Shay opened his mouth to speak after knocking, before his actions were interrupted by the sudden creaking of the door opening before him. Stepping backwards, Shay was hoping he didn't interrupt anything by coming here so quickly. Suddenly, Shay could hear a small voice calling out to him after the initial knock.

"I will be there in a moment!"

Shay heard this, remaining silent for now. He didn't know why exactly he was doing this, as he usually would have had something to say, but with how this past day or two has been going, Shay wasn't sure if he could find the correct words for anything anymore. As the door opened fully, Shay had to look down slightly to see a somewhat small woman with brunette hair kept in place with a fancy black headband, although not wearing much else other than comfortable looking pajama-esque clothing.

She bowed, and immediately looked Shay in the eyes, to which he did the same. Shay was about to introduce himself, but to his surprise, she was the one who spoke first.

"My apologies for that. My name is Agnès Oblige. What business might I have with you, sir? Would you happen to be one of the King's men, perhaps?" Agnès introduced herself to Shay, stepping away from the door's entrance so that Shay could enter. Needless to say, Shay was pleased with how easily she seemed to get along with people.

Deciding it was his time to speak, Shay returned the bow himself, before responding back to Agnès and her questions. "My name is Shay Patrick Cormac, and you would be right about now being one of King Gilgamesh's men, but only about an hour ago did I start..."

Agnès tilted her head at the answer, continuing to listen. Before Shay could continue, he felt an itch at the neck of his clothing, and he noticed how much his outfit he had on seem to almost contradict everything he had said about being new. Scratching at his neck, Shay went on with his words.

"I apologize for any inconveniences I might have caused by barging in like this, but I hope I didn't cause to many. I had to look professional for the occasion, as I didn't get much time at all to speak with the King of this city... With that being said, there's something Gilgamesh wanted us to discuss, or do, for that matter. May I come in and sit down?" Putting emphasis on his last question, Shay looked at how interested Agnès looked at all of his words. Even though Shay couldn't help but feel strange about this whole situation, he didn't stop himself from smiling, although this time it looked a bit less menacing than it might have when Shay did the same with Gilgamesh.

Agnès nodded her head and quickly replied to Shay's request with a simple 'yes sir,' stepping aside more to make a point he was welcome, which Shay thought was unnecessary, but he enjoyed how obliging the girl was nonetheless. Shay raised an eyebrow slightly at the thought of the word "obliging," and then remembering her last name, almost chuckling at how fitting it was.

Letting Agnès sit wherever she may please, which happened to be a comfortable looking divan against the far end of the wall placed next to a window, with a nice view outside the palace. Sitting on the left side of Agnès, Shay clasped his hands together and explained what exactly he was here for. Leaning back on the cushions behind him, Shay looked over to Agnès, explaining why he was sent here.

"You might not like what the King requested us to do, but he suspected you might have been up for it, and he said I wasn't able to do this alone if I had messed up. To be able to join this 'New Babylon' fully, we're going to have to go about and accomplish the mission Gilgamesh held for us Primes... Which is to assassinate the Stormtrooper captain at Carrefore." Shay looked as gentle explaining this as he possibly could, suspecting nobody but him would really be up to this task. She didn't even know why exactly Shay was trying to join New Babylon, but instead of tooting his own horn, Shay figured he'd let Agnès ask any questions that she might have had now.

[Joline]

Assassinate. Join. Why?

Agnès' expression quickly turned adamant. "Unacceptable." She did not want more blood on her hands than she already had, as she had already fought far more than she had ever wanted or needed to. Needing to assassinate someone seemed completely out of the question - In fact, it seemed like something along the lines of We'll keep you safe from danger so long as you go out and put yourself in danger. This man seemed oddly comfortable with the topic at hand, however, making Agnès feel somewhat uneasy around him. However, she did see merit behind assisting him... But who was she to take sides in such an affair? Had she picked the wrong side in coming to those who would have others killed by those they had only just met?

That seemed oddly trusting. Too trusting for the King, who had only just been so reluctant to give her any sort of help. He had delivered, though, so perhaps she owed this kingdom. It would have admittedly been nicer if he had delivered what she had asked for, of course.

"...But perhaps I can offer my assistance somehow," she continued. "I am not very capable on my own, but I can try to provide assistance for you from a distance." She picked up her rose-coloured bow from her bed, then she laid a hand down on the outfit she had summoned not long ago. As her hand made contact she noticed that her hand had been covered by a black glove - In fact, her clothes felt heavier but softer. She looked down and found herself wearing the travel clothes she had worn in Luxendarc instead of what she had been wearing previously, the clothes she had summoned just before she had been called upon. She pulled her hand back and let out a light gasp in a bit of shock, wondering just how that had been done - She had never been aware of such an ability previously. Whatever she had done, it was interesting indeed. She regained her composure and turned around. "I am capable with a bow, but I also have magic I can use to support you. I am competent in close combat, though it appears I do not have my sword with me. As a result, I will not be able to help if I am needed in the heat of battle." The thought of Excalibur, the blade she had used while Edea or Ringabel had handled support, seemed almost blocked off to her as it was. Perhaps this was Omni's doing as well.

Shay, she thought as she recalled his name, took on a rather curious expression when Agnès said 'magic'. Perhaps she would need to demonstrate. Agnès summoned an arrow for her bow in her left hand, removed her right glove and looked away as she made a little cut on the back of her right hand with it. She looked back and saw a little red line across her hand - Nothing serious, though it would soon begin to bleed. "I can repair minor injuries without much difficulty," she explained as she hovered her other hand over the cut, creating a greenish aura between the cut and her healing hand. Before it could begin to bleed, the cut had vanished. "When it comes to more serious injuries, however, I doubt I will be able to make much of an impact in any short amount of time without a very great amount of exertion." At that she put her glove back on.

She wondered, then, if there was any means by which she could learn what she could and could not do in the Omniverse. Find out what her limits were, for example. Something she could use for getting information... Maybe she could make such a thing using Omnillium. She made herself comfortable and began to focus. "Is there anything you know of that can serve as a means of gaining information? I will try to create something to serve that purpose, but I would like to know if perhaps you know of anything that serves that purpose."

After a little while spent waiting, a little rectangular device coloured white, small enough to fit in her hand and smaller in depth than her finger, appeared in her left hand. Strange, she thought. What could this be? She stood up with the device in hand, slinging her bow over her right shoulder. "Do you know where we are going? Lead the way and I will follow."

Sorry about taking a while to post. I wanted to squeeze in Agnès making a Mobile Dataverse Device because I have something I want her to do with it. It's going to be fun!~

[Shay Cormac]

It came to a surprise to Shay that Agnès was actually considering to do this with him. More surprising, was the abilities this woman was showing off to Shay, and how useful it seemed in the midst of a battle, although that was probably the last thing Shay wanted to mention at this point. A feeling of slight guilt ran over Shay as he thought about how accepting he was to this idea, and how he was basically pulling in somebody who wasn't just because somebody socially and politically higher than the both of them said to do so.

As Agnès fiddled about with her Omnilium, Shay paid only slight attention to the device she was cooking up in her hands. Nothing could prevent Shay from feeling doubt about all of this now, and he hoped Agnès didn't see that doubt in his face. Although, maybe it would have allowed her to be more comfortable around her new-found ally, it wouldn't have helped complete the mission at hand. Shay blinked, remembering he was only doing this for the citizens of this city, and their well-being. Even then, it was no excuse going around murdering anybody he was assigned to do so, right?

Shay stiffened up a bit as he thought about his previous affiliations with the Assassins. If Shay wasn't careful about this, he'd be doing no different than they were, ending up terrorizing and killing people they thought they were protecting. As Shay sat there on the divan, thinking about all of this, Agnès already got herself ready for whatever was to come on this little task, speaking up.

"Do you know where we are going? Lead the way, and I will follow."

Shaking his head, Shay got up, about to head out the bedroom door, before realizing he was in no proper clothing to go out in the middle of a desert night, sneaking around a heavily fortified camp.

"Well, I can't be going around looking like this... This'll only take a minute, wait here please!" Shay said to Agnès, emphasizing the 'one minute' he was going to take by raising a single finger into the air, then dashing off into the bathroom. Closing the door behind him, Shay put his hands on the sink, looking into the mirror.

Once again, he decided to pull another stunt with his Omnilium, realizing that he needed some more suiting apparel for the occasion. Shay stood and focused, not once taking his eyes off of his own reflection.

Shay continued to look at himself, thinking about what he's done in the past. The Assassins.

'Nothing is true, everything is permitted.'

The Assassin's Creed, to realize we must not be free, but we must be wise. It's tenets;

'Stay your blade from the flesh of the innocent.'

To ensure peace in all of the world, only to end corruption and greed, nothing more.

'Hide in plain sight.'

Become the greatest illusion, materializing out of nowhere, and leaving without a trace.

'Never compromise the Assassin Brotherhood.'

Unfortunately for Shay, he had already broken this rule. Or perhaps for him, it was nothing more than his greatest wish. With such vague rules and motives, it was hard to interpret the Assassins as the ones that could ever be in the wrong. Their ironies surrounding these tenets always had Shay doubting himself, yet they always embraced it.

Promoting peace, yet committing murder. Commanding to make the people wise and open-minded, yet obeying strict rules. Reveal that blind faith is dangerous for all, yet doing it themselves.

Were these flaws? Or just interpretations? It didn't matter now, not to Shay. He was part of the Templars now.

'May the father of understanding guide us.'

It was as simple as that. To leave the world be. Under rule, but among peace. Yet, Shay was not unaware of how a high-ranking Templar could use the power handed to them for their own personal gain. It was why the Assassins took no hesitation in killing the Templars and anybody that would follow their Order over the Creed. Shay knew how evil complete order could be. He also knew of how dangerous freedom was if taken too far.

Too much freedom leads to anarchy. Too much order leads to a revolution.

That was it. The radical Assassins took to the idea of being too free instead of wise, without any rule. While some of the Templars could easily become corrupt with greed, controlling the unenlightened masses. It all hit Shay just then, as he continued to look into the mirror, a bubble of light encasing him as he continued to focus.

Balance was the true key to this world. If not his own, then it would very well be in the Omniverse.

Shay closed his eyes for awhile as the bubble of Omnilium began to fade. Looking back up, Shay saw he was in his old custom-tailored Assassin outfit. It brought back so many painful memories, yet he was glad they were there, reminding him of why he changed into the person he is now. He pulled his white hood down to his blue-gray buttoned-up coat, adjusting his white undershirt. Pulling his hands up, Shay looked at his Templar ring, before popping up his two hidden blades, then sliding them back down to his cuffs again.

Opening the bathroom door, Shay closed it behind him again, before turning to Agnès. She was sitting on the divan still, although now trying to figure out what exactly the device she had spawned was supposed to do. Her attention averted to Shay, but before she could say anything, Shay raised his hand so he could speak.

"Agnès... I could tell you weren't to fond of this whole thing when I first entered this room to explain to you what Gilgamesh had asked of us... The only reason I'm confident in my abilities to do this is because, well... I was trained to accomplish missions exactly like these for years under my previous affiliations outside of these Verses. We followed a simple Creed, and that was peace through freedom, to end the lives of the selfish and powerful."

As Shay continued with his heart-felt speech, Agnès listened with a surprising interest. Although, it was the kind of interest that looked to be more sad than anything else.

"Although I was content with that organization for a long while, they eventually lost their way. I had to leave. Some of them were honorable, but I was proven that not all of them were, being shot in the back by my brothers, eventually having to hunt them down. I want to say this, Agnès, because I take no pleasure in the slightest when ending anybody's life. I only do what's necessary, and I followed this path because Gilgamesh seemed to take good care of his people. If anything happens to threaten innocent lives, I vowed to myself I'd gladly give my own to protect them."

Agnès' mouth was open slightly, confused and somewhat touched by Shay's words. He kept on.

"To prove this to you, and the King, since honestly he looked more like he was sending me off in mere annoyance, I'll keep this as clean as possible. I'll keep my blade and lead from anybody but the target, because I've no gripe with the Stormtroopers themselves. Getting to Carrefore might be a problem, but we can easily ask a local in the city on where exactly it is. On that note, shall we?"

Emphasizing his last question, Shay walked over to the bedroom door, opening it to signal that he was ready to go.

[Joline]

Agnès found herself enveloped by the device she had summoned. Technology was beyond alien to her - Very little existed in Luxendarc, and what did exist was very primitive, not to mention she had rarely if ever seen any. "What a peculiar object," she thought aloud. "What kind of magic is working within this? I wonder..." she considered for a moment taking it apart and figuring out what made it work, but she decided against such an action - It would take time, energy and skills she lacked. Perhaps if Ringabel was here, he could apply his knowledge on Grandship to figure this contraption out. All the work he, Zatz and Datz had done on the sinking country of an airship went straight over Agnès' head, with complex calculations, hands-on work with black fluids and strange-looking pieces of metal and lots of technical jargon.

After being bombarded with questions on something she had made, she slipped the contraption she had made into a pocket in the coat over her shoulders - Hopefully it wouldn't fall out, as she had never used the pockets previously - And waited patiently for Shay to return.

When he did return, however, she was surprised. Shay had gone from grandiose to practical quite quickly, though she was not one to talk about practical with her outfit of white and fur. It was more fashionable than functional, what she wore, while his outfit screamed ready for battle. His expression spoke more than words could describe - His mind seemed to ooze out of his every orifice. This was the expression of a troubled man, as she knew from the times she had seen Tiz and Ringabel with such expressions. He spoke, and Agnès listened with her finest focus. Her bottom lip drooped somewhat with her jaw, however, as shock moulded her expression. At last he finished, and she did not see fit to speak at first. She rose from her bed and changed her face to one more relaxed. "Precisely. I feel the same way - I will not let innocent lives be ended for any reason." The two proceeded out the door and down a hallway, and Agnès swung the door shut behind her as she walked out of the room behind Shay.

She was unsure as to whether or not it would be wise for her, too, to share a few details about herself. She was an experienced fighter, though she only ended lives where necessary. She and her allies had been fortunate enough to never have that need, as most of their opponents surrendered when they were heavily wounded, though the Grand Marshal of Eternia had come close to being killed. She counted her blessings since that day. The closest thing she had done to killing was her most recent fight with the God of Destruction, but killing such a thing was far from a crime. Killing that which would kill was not a crime, was it?

"What is your opinion on all of this?" Agnès asked. "Have you been told anything of our target? What he has done to warrant targeting in the first place?" she wondered if it was her place to ask for a moment, but stopped herself from thinking that shortly after - If a life was in her hands, she needed to know precisely why she was being told to snuff it out. "Additionally... I am not very familiar with this Omniverse." She still struggled with the word, and that was clear. She continued her verbal struggles with "What is a stormtrooper?" It would take quite some time for any of these words to roll off Agnès' tongue like most words did, that much was definitely clear.

Fun fact: Agnès and her friends fought someone with the title 'Templar' and beat him so hard that he couldn't ever use a sword again. The more you knooooooooow!
Don't worry, Agnès won't lay a finger on you. At least not yet~
Short post is short. Apologies.

[Shay Cormac]

As the two Primes left the bedroom door, Agnès looked up to Shay, beginning to ask her fair share of questions.

"What is your opinion on all of this?" Agnès asked, before continuing, "Have you been told anything of our target? What has he done to warrant targeting in the first place?"

Shay raised his eyebrow as Agnès went on. "Additionally... I am not very familiar with this Omniverse. What is a Stormtrooper?" When Agnès finished asking all of these questions so quickly, Shay took a deep breath, remembering all of what she had asked. Walking into the palace's main entrance room, Shay responded.

"Well... From what I hear, our target is held in the middle of a Stormtrooper camp at Carrefore, threatening to take down Gilgamesh and anybody who follows his rule. If I assume correctly, this usually ends up in a full-on raid of the city. Even if the chances are unlikely, I'd not want to risk it." Shay took a glance at Agnès, before looking back ahead to the front entrance of the palace's interior.

"As for the Stormtroopers... I'd come to believe they're just soldiers working for the Empire over at Coruscant. Again, I don't have complaints with the lesser-ranking ones, since a few helped me when I was first placed into the Omniverse, therefore I'm only eliminating the Captain put down there." Shay continued to answer to Agnès' questions, as he walked out of the palace, nodding his head at the two guards defending the palace's perimeter as the two Primes walked past them, although they paid no mind. Shay swore he could faintly hear the aggravated shouts of Anos in the distance. Shay almost chuckled.

The two continued to walk out of the palace's exterior entrance and into Nippur. Tilting his head, Shay put together a fancy idea to perhaps prevent blood from spilling on both Agnès' and Shay's hands as he thought about the mission the two were about to take part in. Shay smirked a bit.

"Say..." Shay began, looking down at Agnès, "I wonder if we could perhaps still please Gilgamesh without putting this Stormtrooper Captain to rest?" Upon hearing the idea, the smaller woman looked back up at Shay, surprised at the offer he put up.

"I had remembered, the only requirements to complete this were 'taking him out,' and his helmet for proof..." Shay's smile widened.

Shay went on, "Perhaps we could give him more than just a simple helmet?" Shay finished suggesting to Agnès his idea as subtly as he could. He then awaited a reply to the offer, hoping it would make her more comfortable about participating in this.

"Well..." Agnès raised her head, the optimism in her voice seeming to rise a bit. She continued, "I'd appreciate if that was the case, but I'm certain you already know it would be more difficult..."

Shay smiled again, before speaking up. "Of course, but I'm sure we could definitely handle it. Besides, it would give us a good name among the people, yes?" Agnès nodded at the semi-reassuring comment. Shay blinked, looking ahead of him, finally realizing he was in the middle of the crowded city of Nippur, only a few blocks ahead where he had met Gilgamesh.

Easily finding himself blending into the crowds, Shay noticed Agnès was having a much harder time adjusting to the oncoming waves of people. All of the optimism beforehand was gone and turned into slight disturbance. Her hands were balled into fists, almost trying to cover her own face with them, looking around frantically, attempting to look as if she wasn't bothered by all of this.

Shay giggled under his breath as he looked at Agnès trying to distance herself as much as possible in the middle of the loud and active plaza. Gently grasping at Agnès' shoulder, Shay escorted her to a lesser busy sidewalk, making his stance as prominent as he could to make it known the two were trying to get past.

As the two got onto the sidewalk, Shay let go of Agnès' shoulder, following along the sidewalk towards the exit of the city only a couple hundred meters away from where they stood.

"The two guards patrolling the perimeter of the city's gates should be able to tell us where Careforre is," Shay looked back down at Agnès as he spoke, putting on a more serious expression than he was showing beforehand. "This might be your last chance to turn back," Shay quietly said to his partner.

[Joline]

The pair stopped, and there did not seem to be many about. Agnès mentally counted her blessings. Being around so many people and feeling so insignificant among them was a strange feeling - Shay managed to blend in with the many people previously around her so well, but she did not, and she had struggled to find her way through the group. Such was to be expected with her terrible sense of direction, she though Tiz would say if he were here. She turned to face Shay, who she unfortunately had to look up to in order to meet his eyes. His expression was serious, causing a bit of worry in her, though she listened as he spoke... And then she was furious.

"Unacceptable!" Agnès shouted in response. "I will not simply let you do this all alone! This is much too difficult a task for anyone to complete alone!" She heard him in her voice, the one she had been thinking of only moments ago. "Let me bear this burden with you!" She stopped herself. It wasn't like her, even remotely, to lash out like that. She let out a sigh, a longer and slightly raspy sigh, one of shock at her own words, one she had not let out for a long time. "I apologize for that," she began again. "I should not have been so aggressive with my words..."

"There's no need to apologize," Shay responded, which rather shocked her. "Just don't jump into things like that while we're on this mission together - For both of our sakes, we need to be as careful as possible. Like I said, I don't take any pleasure in lives ending. That applies to enemies and allies alike."

That was reassuring, at least. She hadn't expected a violent reaction, as she had been among the kind of people who would never act such ways with her, as her friends were often almost too supporting, if such a thing was possible. She cleared her throat and, as she led the two through the gate, she saw a pair of guards walking towards them - Or the gate. One or the other. "I will handle this," she said over her shoulder as she walked toward the two. As she turned her head back to face the two guards, she saw Shay's expression was almost puzzled.

"Excuse me," she began as the two neared her. "I am Agnès Oblige, vestal of wind. By order of the King, myself and my ally are to deal with a target in Carrefore. I humbly request the most convenient directions, and then I will be on my way." the two guards looked at one another, at first rather confused, though Agnès' dead-serious expression did not seem like one that would lie or joke about such a thing. Of course, that was true, because she wouldn't. The guard on the left was the one that spoke up, and with a few quick words... She had absolutely no idea where she was going. That was to be expected, of course, because of her terrible sense of direction - It was a miracle, even with the path and signs, that Agnès had gotten to Nippur. Regardless, she thanked the two and returned to Shay. "How did it go?" he asked. As a response, she cleared her throat and parroted the directions back at Shay. This only seemed to further his confusion, even if only by a little bit.

"I am not the most reliable when it comes to directions," she stated, "Especially when it comes to following them. However, I can assure you that what I told you is exactly what I was told. Would you like to lead the way? I imagine I would only get us lost."

Wow, this took way longer to post than I expected... Apologies. Then again, it really was my fault... Reminder: If Mamgnès takes too long to post, a poke and a reminder is welcomed. If Mamgnès takes even longer still, a reminder and a poke with a spear is welcomed. Thank you, have a nice day~!

[Shay Cormac]

Shay walked onwards into the barren desert land of the Dunes, with Agnès still by his side, only ever so slightly behind him. Agnès' head was drooping down slightly, still regretting her sudden snapping at Shay. He had to make it up to her, somehow. Shay thought about it for a while, overthinking the situation, feeling it was his fault for underestimating Agnès, almost sending her off in a sense.

Sighing a bit, Shay looked upwards at the horizon, watching the sun go down. This would definitely help the two in terms of sneaking, but Shay could only hope Agnès was well-adjusted to the cold, knowing it was about to get freezing in a few minutes. Behind him, Shay could see the city of Nippur fading from his vision as the two Primes walked onwards to Carrefore.

Both Agnès and Shay silently watched the sunlight pass over them, quickly turning into the darkened night. As the moon rose slowly above the horizon, Shay looked over to see Agnès' expression, completely dazed by the sea of stars surrounding the entire sky. The wind in the air became cold as ever, only comparable to some sort of arctic tundra, although the sand at their feet confused the feeling of being in a desert. Even Shay could admit, the stars above the two Primes distracted him easily from both the cold and their long walk to Carrefore.

Shay began to speak, before turning his head towards Agnès, shivering slightly. "This would be beautiful hadn't we been in a damned desert..."

Agnès almost giggled, still staring upwards as the two began to walk. The two walked over the broken down railroad Shay had previously been following to get to Nippur, Agnès paying no mind to it. Shay had wondered what uses this could have if it was rebuilt, whatever it was for. Both Shay and Agnès walked for what seemed to be about an hour from this point. All they had saw in their trek to where this Carrefore were simply dunes, small bushes, and rocks.

Although, the more they traveled, the more the area began to dense itself with savanna-like wildlife, the two Primes seeing trees and various other dried grasses as well. Both Agnès and Shay were fortunate enough to not meet any of the more carnivorous animals which were expected to be located in this general region, to which Agnès assumed were all asleep, and to which Shay didn't care. The only thing that soothed their nerves was the abundance of glistening stars, and the crescent moon in the night sky.

Shay didn't want to ask if Agnès was sure they took the right direction, seeing as she was making subtle and slight shivering motions in the cold and rigid desert night. Shay kept himself controlled, but only slightly. Shay couldn't help but to make the mental comparison of this cold weather and the North Atlantic, which still baffled him, even though he was aware how extreme deserts could get, on both sides of the coin.

The two Primes' breath began to turn into slight fog. Even the stars at this point could not help them move along, only their will to keep walking. Shay's mouth began to dry, and he could only imagine how Agnès was feeling right now, watching her teeth chatter a bit. Even before this, Shay could recognize Agnès' comfort in the heat, now turning into a slight disturbance of the cold. Shay was glad he didn't have to feel the unbearable blistering of the sun again, but now he just felt bad for Agnès. The only gripe Shay had at the moment was the length of time in which they had already been walking. Shay did not stop, however. A break would only worsen the issue.

At the very moment the two even began to consider giving up walking, Agnès' eyes went wide in surprise at the growing figure of a cluster of fortified buildings. Agnès let out a short gasp of breath. Shay opened his eyes to investigate the noise, only to find an ever so slightly excited Agnès looking off in the distance. Shay saw what she was looking at, the group of buildings growing closer and closer the faster they walked towards it. Agnès took no hesitation in speaking her opinion on the matter.

"I would believe we have arrived, Shay! Carrefore..." Agnès' voice died down a bit, seemingly in relief. Shay smiled a bit, stretching his arms outwards, before looking down at Agnès. Nodding towards a large dune, Shay started to jog towards it, signalling for Agnès to follow.

When the two Primes arrived at the top of the tall dune, Shay was fortunate enough to get a very nice view of the buildings below. Shay was expecting it to be more fortified, but much to his surprise, it looked more to be a village rather than an Empire outpost. It was a small town emphasized by the oasis surrounding the outskirts of the village, making it easy to spot the more technologically advanced portion of the area itself, which would be the likeliest location the Stormtrooper Captain would be settled in, or at least to what Shay assumed. Agnès looked on at Shay, knowing he was processing all of this information as he looked onwards into the village of Carrefore. Shay turned to Agnès once more, speaking to her his plans.

"The best idea I can come up with at this point would be to bypass any security nested at the outskirts of the village... Avoiding all civilian contact by climbing on top of the higher buildings... Before dropping off at the obvious Empire-controlled fort in the middle, to which I'd assume the Captain would be likely placed," Shay explained to Agnès as he continued to look off into Carrefore.

Agnès gulped at the mention of "climbing," to which Shay hopefully didn't notice. She admittedly wasn't very good in that regard, especially emphasized by her usual choice of footwear. She found it best to admit such before she ended up ruining the chances at completing the mission because of her lack of climbing skill, at least in comparison to Shay.

"Actually... I don't think it would be best if I found myself climbing... For I am not very talented in such areas," Agnès said to Shay, trying her hardest not to sound embarrassed. She knew Shay had to have been confident in his mobility to suggest the idea without hesitation, which made it harder on Agnès to admit her lack of confidence. Shay looked back to Agnès with a raised eyebrow and a slight grin.

"Well," Shay responded, "you could go down and scout out the area for me. Besides that idea, nobody said you couldn't try, now! I could teach you a few things."

Agnès looked down, thinking about Shay's offer. She thought it to be a teasing remark at first, but as far as she knew him, Agnès wouldn't doubt Shay was serious in that claim. She replied.

"If you think you can, Shay. I simply do not want to hold us both back when it comes to accomplishing our goal, here..." Agnès looked up to Shay as she spoke, with a bit of a serious expression on her face.

"I trust you won't," Shay said, hoping to reassure Agnès. As the woman let out a slight sigh, Shay continued to look on into the insides of Carrefore, trying to inspect the place as close as possible. Shay hummed to himself, scratching at his subtly bearded chin, before raising his arms a bit, and opening his palms. Closing his eyes, Shay began to channel a wave of Omnilium through his arms and into his hands. Agnès noticed this quickly, looking at Shay summoning whatever it was he was trying to summon.

It took a good full minute, but when Shay was finished, he held an elastic-looking band in his left palm, and a piece of cloth in his right hand, seeming to match the color of Agnès' current outfit. Shay took both of the objects in his hands, before giving them to Agnès, quickly explaining their purpose.

"Since we don't want to be caught in the process of completing the mission, or even after the mission is completed, I'm going to suggest pulling your hair back, and putting this mask over your face, so they won't recognize us."

As Agnès took both the band and the face mask, she saw Shay pulling out the band holding up his own ponytail, letting the now messy, somewhat long hair fall to his lower neck. He then pulled up his own dark gray face mask, and only afterwards did Shay put on his white Assassin hood, another signature to his previous organization.

"Good point..." Agnès admitted, pulling back her hair, tying it up, before continuing. "Thank you for your consideration, Shay."

Shay nodded, watching Agnès as she then put her face mask on, finding a comfortable spot to tuck it in her clothes. Upon finishing, Shay took a single look at Agnès' appearance, and as he suspected, she looked almost completely different. Shay smiled under his mask, before glancing back at Carrefore.

"You ready, Agnès?" Shay asked, to which she nodded.

"I would believe so."

[spoiler]

Thus begins the New Babylon faction quest, "They All Fall Down."
Give it your best, Agnès!

[/spoiler]

[Joline]

Agnès felt the cold of the desert night bite at her down to the bone. The conditions had been much worse during her travels, specifically in Eternia where white powder rained from the sky on clear nights, and where a wet glass-like material would grow over stony surfaces on specifically cold days... But, as she was used to the desert, mainly desert nights where even the thick stone brick walls of the Temple of Wind were not always enough to block out the elements, this wasn't too bad. However, on such days, she would typically resort to bundling herself in as many blankets as she could get without troubling any of the acolytes. Tonight, however, she was not so fortunate. She regretted that a pair of thick, opaque tights or leggings would not fit very well with her current outfit, as her knees and thighs felt like they would soon freeze.

Her cheeks had likely already gone rosy to fight off the cold, but luckily the mask Shay had provided (Which was oddly comfortable) assisted in such an endeavour. Having her hair tied back was quite convenient, as well, as it allowed for slightly more mobility, and if a situation turned sour, she wouldn't need to worry about her hair obscuring her vision or being chopped by blades passing her by. A little bit of walking drew the pair closer to and eventually almost into Carrefore, which was a quite secure-looking but seemingly desolate place in the middle of the night. It was likely the two were not viewed as welcomed guests, in part because they would appear as if they were trying to conceal themselves - And so Shay stopped against the wall of a building lining the outside of the city. The walking Agnès had grown so used to, with the little pom-poms on the front of her boots bouncing gently against her calves rhythmically, quickly stopped as well. And, without a word, Shay offered a little nod to the Vestal before leaping up into the air about half his height, at which point he began to climb various slightly protruding portions of the wall they were previously against.

In a sudden bout of shock, Agnès realized that she may have been in the process of being left behind. "Shay!" she called up in a whisper. "What advice do you have to offer? I do not know how to--"

"Keep a cool head and just try. If that doesn't work, just do as I do," he returned even more quietly. She strained to catch his words, but she understood the message. She would need to jump... The last time she had jumped, at least of her own accord, was when her group had received the Valkyrie asterisk, when she and her friends were trying to figure out who could use it best. In short, she wasn't even close to capable with it, so she didn't have high hopes for this. Still, she bent her legs down and stretched them out swiftly, sending her up into the air just less than Shay had gone, kicking up a little bit of sand in the process of leaving the ground. As soon as she was in the air, her eyes darted around looking for somewhere to place her hands. A pair of bricks sticking slightly outwards came to mind first, which Agnès grabbed. Shay had already almost reached the top in an amount of time she considered impossible, but that was all the more reason for her to hurry. Instinctively she reached up for an unlit semicircle sconce-like object, black metal likely filled with ash and wood on the inside. She pulled herself up, using the bricks as footing, then she reached for the top of a windowsill as a last grip. With one foot on the rim of the sconce below her and one hand on the windowsill, she reached up and took Shay's hand with a smile, unfortunately concealed by her mask. With a little bit of effort, she pushed and he pulled her up to the roof.

"See? That wasn't so hard, now, was it?" Shay whispered. "You did a pretty good job, there. All you really need to work on is speed." Additionally, Agnès took note of mentally, she would need to work on finding less awkward means of climbing - At one point she felt like she was doing the splits with where her footings were. Then again, she really wasn't athletic in the slightest, so it wasn't unusual for her to be easily tired out or to exaggerate physical feats verbally or mentally. On the bright side, though, she wasn't so out of shape that she was out of breath. "Right... Good. Where are we heading next?" Agnès breathed - Fine, maybe she was a little bit tired. The walk to Carrefore wasn't forgiving, so she had a right to be tired.

From above, despite her considering the place a city, it seemed much less... Grandiose, for lack of a better word, now. Compared to, say, Florem or Ancheim, it wasn't quite as flashy or expansive respectively. It looked much more to serve for function over fashion, which Agnès admired, and the efficiency and uniformity were impeccable or at the very least notable. However, those were not always qualities the Vestal could stand behind, as they were not always morally sound ideas. Off in the distance, past a number of rooftops, the tops of buildings eventually reached a very swift height crescendo, for lack of a better term, where everything seemed... Outlandish. The technology involved seemed beyond even airships, and those were far beyond her comprehension, so this was simply confusing to her. Shay grabbed Agnès' shoulder, pulled their heads together somewhat and pointed at a building off slightly to the right, taller than most of the buildings around it. "I'd bet that's where our target is," Shay whispered. "That's more than a bit of distance to cover if you're not that confident in how agile you are. If you want to stay here, I can leave you here and..."

Agnès was visibly less than impressed, and that could be seen in her expression. "Do not even make the proposition." At that, Shay nodded with an expression of mixed worry and respect, mostly the latter, and led the pair with a jump between buildings. Agnès followed, and they continued their travel towards the location Shay had pointed out before - A strange tower-like structure, with artificial light pouring through the windows.

WOAH, Agnès actually posted! And it only took, what, three hours of sitting on the post and combing through for typos and mistakes? *Sigh*

[Shay Cormac]

Leaping forwards, Shay took no time to look down, not worrying a bit about falling to what would have been a broken ankle if he had messed up. As soon as Shay stepped onto the ledge of the building he had just jumped onto, he looked back to see Agnès hesitating slightly, before mimicking Shay's movements, diving to the ledge.

Agnès' left leg slipped off the end of the building upon landing, and the expression on her face as she lifted herself back up with only her right leg was nonetheless terrified. She continued to run forward, sighing under her breath as she observed Shay take yet another leap towards a building, only this time slightly higher than the one she was on top of now.

Shay's hands grabbed the ledge of the structure, quickly pulling himself up as he did so. Agnès went wide-eyed for a moment, before tilting her head down slightly, focusing as she ran as hard as she could. Trying her best not to make a sound, her will to do so didn't amount to much, as Agnès grunted heavily as she took a large jump at the building in front of her.

Agnès' heart sank mid-flight as she realized her arms could not reach the ledge that Shay had previously grabbed onto. Gravity began pulling Agnès downward, and she almost wanted to scream, but she did not let herself do so. Instead, Agnès took the half-second she had to think and immediately looked down, frantically trying to find something to grab onto as the arc of her jump began to deviate downwards.

Almost as soon as Agnès' sight left the ledge of the building, she could feel a clenching grip at her forearm, catching her before she fell. Looking up, Agnès' worry immediately faded away seeing Shay with his arm stretched outwards, grabbing at Agnès. Nodding to her, Shay began to pull Agnès back up, her legs assisting Shay's weight, making him do less work.

Immediately after pulling Agnès onto the roof, Shay knew she was going to say 'thank you' for his efforts, but instead of letting her do so, Shay put his index finger to his mouth, covered by his mask. Agnès looked for a short second, then realizing she still needed to be quiet. Nodding at Shay this time, Agnès turned towards the towering structure in the middle of the city still a few blocks away from where they stood.

Without a single stop thereafter, the two Primes continued their running, climbing, and leaping to their target. Both Agnès and Shay had nothing but determination written all over their expressions, fueled by their beliefs that taking down this Stormtrooper Captain nested in this city would not only protect the citizens of Nippur, but please King Gilgamesh as well. At this point, however, Shay nor Agnès could much care about the likes of Gilgamesh, only minding to keep the Stormtroopers away from their people.

Traversing through this strange desert city by night was nothing more than tedious, tiring, cold, and unforgiving. It became evident however, Agnès was getting more and more used to it by the minute, at least alongside somebody like Shay, who has admittedly done worse in this regard. These few minutes of nothing but getting through stone walls, ropes, and ladders with nothing but their arms and legs felt as if they lasted forever.

Although Agnès paid no mind to the ground below, every time Shay jumped rooftop to rooftop, he looked down to see barely any inhabitants of this city roaming the streets, although the explanation for that one was easy; they were asleep. The one thing that always caught Shay's eye whilst looking down however, were the Stormtroopers lazily patrolling the streets below. They were almost identical to the two Stormtroopers who were guarding the gates of Coruscant back in the Nexus, though this time, all of the soldiers were camouflaged with an easily recognizable desert brown pattern. It wouldn't be much help to the troops now, however.

In the midst of their running, Shay suddenly stopped, before raising his arm. Agnès noticed it at just the right time, stopping before her head ran into Shay's arm. Agnès' breath was heavy and tired, whilst Shay looked as if he could sprint another few miles without even breaking a sweat. It was almost as if Shay was showing off instead of actually being practical, but Agnès dismissed the thought, finding herself a tiny bit jealous. Though, she could admit, she was getting better at this whole climbing routine.

Agnès looked onwards, finding the reason Shay was stopping the two dead in their tracks. The Stormtrooper fortification was only a couple buildings away from the two as of now. Crouching down, Shay went to the very ledge of the roof both he and Agnès were on top of as slowly as he could, Agnès quickly following.

Shay clicked his tongue at the sight of the tower beneath him. All he could see was Stormtroopers following each other in pairs below, and not a single opening in the fort left untouched. Agnès could tell Shay was even baffled on how to deal with this kind of situation. Scratching at his covered-up chin, Shay took a moment to focus into the situation, the expression on his face making it seem as if he were inside an entire world of his own.

About a minute passed whilst Shay observed these Stormtrooper's movement patterns, to which Agnès took her time to do the same. It was just then that Shay had rose to his feet with a surprising speed, to which Agnès flinched at slightly. Staggering a bit, Agnès stood next to Shay, wondering what he was going to do just then, still trying to be as quiet as possible.

As slowly as ever, Shay walked over to his left, right above a dark alleyway creating the gap between the building right next to the one the two Primes stood on. Just as slowly as he walked over to the edge, Shay turned to face Agnès, whom was still frozen in confusion.

Just like that, Shay raised his arms and nodded to Agnès, before falling backwards. Agnès' eyes went wide in surprise at the sight of what had just happened before her. She almost ran in a horribly desperate attempt to catch Shay.

Only a second later, the all familiar sound of the ex-Assassin landing on a pile of hay could be heard.

[Joline]

Agnès was, to put it one way, shocked. Confused. What was there to do next? She hadn't received any sort of instruction on what she was supposed to do. It seemed as if Shay knew what he was doing, but Agnès had absolutely no idea what to do next...

Perhaps she was supposed to follow? No, she didn't think she could match the way Shay had leaped into the hay below. The way he had fallen and landed was beyond professional-looking, like he had done it multiple times. But wouldn't it hurt to land? Surely if Shay had landed on hay in a wooden cart, the hay would scarcely comfort. And wouldn't the wood creak? But for some reason it didn't. Perhaps he was used to this, had done it enough to know exactly how to make landings silent. But the question still remained; What was Agnès to do? There was something she could do in this situation, right?

"...heard something over here," said the slightly distorted voice of a man in odd-looking white armor. He tilted his head - She assumed it was a he based on the lack of curves and strong-looking shoulders - Slightly to the side, as if he was confused. "Just get back to your post. You're tired and you're hearing things, that's all," went another man in matching armor. They almost looked silly next to each other, with their jet-black crossbow-like contraptions in hand and the blank expressions on their helmets. She almost laughed a little, causing her to instinctively put a hand up to her mouth, though she remembered only a moment later that she was wearing a mask. Covering her mouth would be pointless because of it. The mask was uncomfortably moist from exhausted panting, and so she pulled it down. It wouldn't hurt to leave it that way for a little, would it?

"Probably just the wind blowing something around," finished the first man in white before turning and leaving. He turned back around for a moment, causing Agnès to instinctively duck down. She had almost forgotten in that time that she was supposed to be hiding! Agnès heard a sigh, then footsteps on stone under a thin layer of sand. Nervously she peeked over the edge of the shin-high wall she was laying down beside, which was all that was keeping her from being spotted, where she saw the armored men in white walking to the cart of hay. Agnès' eyes widened - What if they looked in and found Shay? This could be a disaster. It could completely ruin their plans...

But just as she thought that, in a blur of movement, the soldiers' helmets flew off, their crossbow-like devices were dropped into the sand and they were yanked, hard, into the hay. She saw struggling limbs slowly go from frantic, swift and sloppy movement to weak and desperate attempts at... Something. The two men in white were pulled in their entirety into the hay, leaving nothing un-camouflaged - Then Shay stepped out, little golden-beige straws falling off of his clothes and out of his hair. Agnès stared on, looking as if she was about to have a heart attack still. "Think you can lift me back up?" Shay whispered to the girl, and she nodded woodenly as she extended her arm down. Shay jumped up and their hands connected, and while Agnès struggled to pull Shay up, after a few seconds of putting all her strength into it, Shay was on the roof with the Vestal.

"Sorry about not saying anything. I heard them coming, so I waited to knock them out," Shay explained. Agnès let out a sigh of relief - She knew that Shay wasn't the type to end lives at the drop of a hat. Why didn't she trust that?

The building they needed to climb was just up ahead. It would take time to climb, but it wouldn't be too difficult if she had Shay leading her. Ultimately, she would just be copying his movements. Shay nodded yet again, and Agnès watched as he began to climb yet again.

. . . .

After checking a few lit windows for the target with no success, the sixth window was the charm. Agnès hung to the right of it while Shay was opposite herself, peeking around the corner occasionally, waiting for the perfect moment. The landing would be rough if they dropped, and so the Vestal had felt like she was going to vomit for what felt like hours already. The target had been talking with someone inside for a while - Formally, so it certainly wasn't something personal, but Agnès couldn't make out a lot of the words he said. They sounded, for the most part, like nonsense. Like the kind of things Ringabel would call the parts of the airship, or the kinds of things the Eternian Forces would and had used as code.

Those thoughts were quickly brushed aside, however, footsteps and a door shutting indicated the target was alone at long last. Shay pushed forward onto the open windowsill and jumped into the room - As Agnès did the same, she found the target face-down on the ground. "Agnès, get me something to tie him with," Shay called quietly. "Keep quiet. You're late for an audience with Gilgamesh," he finished. The target growled into the carpet, and for a moment Agnès feared he would shout. She found some rope and a few strips of fabric, which she handed to Shay. After a few moments spent tying the man's wrists and ankles along with using the fabric to keep his mouth shut, they began the long climb down.

[Shay Cormac]

As Shay carried the now helpless Stormtrooper captain down to his inevitable demise, Shay could definitely feel the weight of the man's body crippling his ability to stay on a wall. Shay could see Agnès' worried face above him, the man on his shoulder struggling, making it even harder for Shay to concentrate. Shaking his head, Shay couldn't handle it anymore.

"If you be quiet, I might vouch for your survival when you see Gilgamesh's face." Shay spoke coldly, making sure he sounded as serious as possible. The captain only mumbled to himself for a single second before sighing, going limp on Shay's shoulder. Looking down, hoping all his worries were gone just then, Shay was painfully reminded that won't be happening any time soon. A few Stormtroopers began looking around the building, but thankfully enough, nobody found the bodies in he haystack.

Well, not yet, anyways. Agnès leaned over to search the area, thinking it would be more in line for her to redirect Shay, considering he's the one now carrying their target. Breathing in a bit, Agnès quickly took to liking this idea, before hopping over the windowsill, and shimmying on down next to Shay, and a dirty look from the Stormtrooper captain.

As silently as she could, Agnès whispered, "I'm not quite sure how exactly we're going to get out of this... The only thing I can come up with is leaving from the back of the building, or the opposite side in which we came..."

Surprisingly enough, Shay responded almost immediately, despite his current situation. "Either way would work, as long as there's not too many people watching over it. We just have to make sure we don't mess this up, since this is usually the part in every plan where others get caught," Shay groaned slightly upon finishing, before nodding in the opposite direction of Agnès, signalling her to start moving. Her eyes fluttered for a moment, realizing she was going first this time.

Agnès gulped a bit, before calming her nerves, and beginning to move her entire body to the side. Perhaps it wasn't as fast as it would be for the likes of Shay, but he was glad to see her learning nonetheless. The Stormtrooper weighing Shay down as he followed Agnès began to worry the two Primes, them both knowing that if Shay missed a step, the captain would fall, or both of them would, and that's nothing they wanted to happen.

Shay almost thought for a split second whilst climbing, that perhaps killing this captain would have been a better idea in the long run. Or he was just getting soft. Looking down, Shay remembered what it was like to murder another person simply because they were in some sort of military working against his affiliated group. There was always that uneasy feeling that they didn't deserve it in the slightest, and the worst part is, he couldn't escape from doing it, no matter what side he was on. Perhaps that was why, Shay thought, he was giving this Stormtrooper mercy.

In the process of shimmying down the wall the two adversaries were climbing on, Shay began to mumble under his breath, much to Agnès' dismay. Groaning slightly as Shay kept climbing down, even he was getting annoyed that this was the fastest way of escape, now that he’s got a large man in moderately heavy armor slung across his shoulder. Even Agnès was beginning to doubt Shay’s ability to both hold onto the wall and the Stormtrooper Captain at the same time.

Shay was really beginning to loathe how much he was struggling with this. What took the two Primes minutes to get down the wall they both were climbing on, Shay felt as if it took forever. As soon as Shay’s feet touched the dusty ground beneath him holding the wall he was previously climbing on, Shay couldn’t help but to let out a sigh of relief. Dropping the Captain to the floor, Shay already began to walk forward, only turning to face Agnès for a short moment.

"I'll look ahead and see if there are any other guards here. Keep watch of him. If you see anybody coming, run towards me," Shay whispered, Agnès responding with a short and gentle nod. As Shay began to walk onwards, Agnès was about to turn around, before something in the corner of her eye caught her attention. There was a bright light emitting from behind the corner Shay was about to walk into. The ex-Assassin turned back around, only to see a white blur forming in front of him, and a strange bright light rushing towards his chest.

All Shay could hear in the background was Agnès' short gasp as both of them saw a Stormtrooper guard appear seemingly out of nowhere and burn the bright beam of energy right through Shay's abdomen, despite his efforts to jump back. Sure, Shay had been stabbed before, shot even more so, but absolutely nothing he had previously went through was comparable to this. What Shay expected to feel like cold steel cutting through his body, was rather a feeling of molten slag melting through his body, but even that might have felt better than this.

With a loud grunt, the Stormtrooper heaved away at his whirring energy weapon, only to be interrupted by Shay's elbow rising towards the guard's throat. As it connected with a surprising amount of force, Shay immediately felt the horrible burning feeling go away from his body, although that didn't help the current pain he was in. Staggering backwards slightly, Shay clasped at his wound, expecting to feel blood seeping from the gaping hole in his torso, only to find burn marks.

Finding it increasingly more difficult to breathe, Shay looked up to see the Stormtrooper raising his 'sword' for another attack, yelling another one of his war cries. The temptation to just silence this guard for the rest of eternity with his own blades was rising, but before Shay could flick his wrists upwards, the faint stretching sound of a bow could be heard behind him. Hearing that, Shay smiled a very impish grin, before staying still for just a moment as the Stormtrooper rushed forward.

As the noisy beam of energy swooped by Shay's chest again as he quickly hopped out of the way this time, the guarding soldier could barely react to Shay's sudden movement to the side, allowing Shay to grab at the Stormtrooper's arms, holding him in place as the sight of Agnès raising her bow graced Shay's field of view. Before she was about to fire off a quick and easy shot to the head, Agnès' aim suddenly flicked downwards, the resulting shot hitting the Stormtrooper's foot and sticking him to the ground beneath them.

Before the guard Shay was holding up could even scream, Shay had already wrapped his arm around the Stormtrooper's already beaten up neck, squeezing the consciousness out of him in a manner of seconds. As soon as the body Shay was holding went limp, he slammed the Stormtrooper back down on the ground, his ankle visibly twisted as a result. All that could be heard now was Agnès giving off a small sigh, although Shay didn't know if that was signalling she was annoyed by this delay, or relieved it was over.

Before Shay himself could celebrate, the next sound he made immediately resulted in a violent and wheezing cough, groaning as the feeling of pain immediately rushed through his body again, without the adrenaline numbing his nerves. Agnès quickly rushed over to Shay, holding him up slightly, already worried for his health. In the back, the Stormtrooper Captain could be heard angrily mumbling to himself knowing another one of his troops failed him once again. Shaking his head, Shay looked over to Agnès.

"Shay, you must allow me to treat you...! This wound looks bad, especially considering we need to get out of here as soon as-" Agnès began, before Shay interrupted as quietly as he could.

"I'll let you do that after we get out of here, like you said... There's no way either of us would survive if we stayed. I can already hear the others looking for us... Besides, I think I've had worse...!" Shay teased, chuckling slightly. Coughing again, Shay stood straight to try and control his breathing. Sighing, Agnès nodded after a moment, before clenching her fists, jogging towards the Stormtrooper Captain, picking him up with a surprising amount of motivation to her movement.

"Very well... but you will allow me to help you after we're out of sight," Agnès finished, Shay smiling at how much of a drive she had in her now. Nodding, Shay then looked behind the corner he was previously attacked behind, noticing nobody was there to stop either of them now.

"Now's our chance. Let's leave this damned place," Shay ordered quietly, giving both Primes the cue to run.

And so, they ran.

[Joline]

Agnès was out of breath from running before Shay was. However, feeling rather ashamed and embarrassed by that, she continued to run on raspy breaths that felt like fire in her lungs - Not to mention, she didn't want to risk stopping and feeling the hands of an enemy wrapping around hers, or worse, a blade or projectile piercing skin, waiting for a led shot to land... But Carrefore was far past being just over the horizon. It was so far away that even its highest points couldn't be seen in the distance.

Shay stopped and Agnès took that as her cue to stop as well. The Vestal put a hand on her thigh and a hand on her throat to try and support herself - She wanted more than anything else just to stop, or better yet, get some rest. She hadn't done so since she had gotten here, had she? And the sun had rose already... As Agnès realized what time it was, she reached up and rubbed sleep lazily out of the corners of her eyes. Afterwards, she turned around to face Shay, who had just put down the target on the sand at his feet.

"We should be safe here, but we won't be for long," Shay said. "Please, sit down. I can treat your injury, if you let me." Agnès pulled down her mask, feeling that it would be most comfortable to stop wearing it at this point - It wouldn't help her, either. As Shay answered her request and sat down on the sand, pushing around the sand a little as he got comfortable (If such a thing was even possible in the current situation, or even in the desert), she too sat on her legs with the white-hot sand beneath her. She couldn't imagine herself or Shay being comfortable here, though she could try her best to make that change. Starting, of course, by helping mend the whole 'Shay got stabbed' thing.

As Agnès examined the wound - Which she rarely had the luxury of doing, as being in the heat of a battle as a White Mage or Spiritmaster usually meant amassing a large amount of white magic for general mending of a target's fleshy bits - She flinched a little. It appeared to be some sort of burn, which made a faint sizzling noise in the dead silence of the dunes. Agnès' white magic felt significantly weaker here, and she imagined she wouldn't be able to do the miracle work she normally did, but she could at least try.

Agnès took in a deep breath and began to focus. Her eyes locked on the open wound, determined, and her black-gloved hands began to give off a greenish glow. She moved her hands closer to the wound, and as she did so, the glow began to move from her hands into Shay's skin surrounding the area. As the glow left Agnès' hands, it was replaced by more and more, glowing brighter or darker with inhales and exhales. Every now and then, Shay would grunt or flinch or let out a sigh of relief - It was working, she mentally assumed, though she assured Shay vocally that everything would be fine. And, if what Shay was saying was true as minutes passed by, she seemed to be succeeding. The wound, too, seemed to be closing.

Eventually it seemed that the injury would be ready to heal on its own. "My ability to heal seems significantly weaker than it once was," Agnès explained, "But I believe this wound should heal in a matter of hours. It does not appear to have received the chance to get infected, and so long as it is not cut open more..." The Vestal trailed off, assuming Shay got the point. "We will be home soon. I suggest you try to get some rest when we arrive."

Odd. Was it home?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Closing the gap between Agnès, Shay and Nippur was comforting. Having all of this behind her was something that Agnès wanted more than anything - It had to be one of the most nerve-wracking experiences she ever had. In her mind flashed the visage of Konoe Kikyo, bearer of the Ninja asterisk, whom she imagined she had likely seemed to be during that mission as opposed to herself.

No, she wasn't like her. Konoe would have killed her target. Agnès was better than that, or so she liked to think. She then thought of Shay, who seemed used to this. He had spoke of being used to it as well, hadn't he? On one hand, Agnès felt guilty for making Shay drag an amateur around, but on the other hand, she wondered just what he was capable of, being able to do such things alone. It couldn't be comforting to one's mental state to do that on a regular basis.

Though this felt a lot like jumping to conclusions, even if she was outright told such things. Besides, it seemed like that would be behind him, if anything. She never wanted to do that again, either, if she could help it. "Agnès? Are you in there?" Met the Vestal's ears as she tuned back into reality. "Did I say something wrong?" Agnès jolted up and blinked a few times. She must have lost herself in thought. "Oh! I apologize," she began. "I started thinking, and..."

"Don't worry about it," Shay replied. "Come on, it's not far. I can't wait to get this off my shoulder," he added and shrugged the shoulder that the target was over. The target offered a rather irritated grunt as a response. "I understand he's not on our side... But I hope he is all right."

"I just hope he doesn't get killed after all this," Shay sighed and the pair strode into Nippur.

AT LONG LAST, WE HAVE DONE A THING! *High-fives Shay*

[Shay Cormac]

As the two Primes walked their way back to Nippur, the cold, unforgiving desert night began to fade into a chilling warmth whilst the sun rose at their backs. Shay, with the Stormtrooper Captain at his back, and Agnès with her hand on her mask. Breathing in it another time, Agnès soon got tired of the moist feeling of breathing into the cloth constantly, and figured Shay would want it back. She could admit however, as sinister as it looked, it did look quite nice. Or at least, that's what she imagined.

Remembering her hair was also still tied back, Agnès pulled down the mask on her face, since she was finally out of sight. She looked at Shay as he walked forward into the city of Nippur, her mouth beginning to speak.

"Shay, I believe these are yours, you may have them now since we're clear--" Once again interrupted by Shay's words, a bad habit of his, Agnès almost jumped a bit as he spoke so quickly, although in a tone that was lighter than she expected.

"Keep them, might come in handy again. Besides, you look nice with your hair pulled back. I might be biased though..." Shay finished, chuckling as he took off the hood of his outfit, raising his hand to the base of his scalp, pulling his own hair back, before putting it back in place with the ponytail holder he had in one of his pockets. Agnès smiled at how bright everything was seeming to be now that all the adrenaline from participating in an infiltration mission was out of her body.

"Very well, I'll keep note of that, my sincerest of thanks," Agnès replied after a short moment of silence, keeping her mask pulled down.

Both of them continued their walk, and at this moment, Shay definitely felt a great sense of peace within him as he went back over the mission they had completed. Well, almost completed, as they needed to get their target back to 'point A,' but other than that, they were good to go. Shay hadn't felt the satisfaction of going the extra mile to do what he thought was a step in the right direction. A chance at redeeming his darker, previous self.

Even Agnès, his only real associate here in the Omniverse, didn't know the lengths he went to do what he thought was right back then. Hell, Shay doubted Agnès would even trust a man that forced himself to kill his comrades to prevent their wrongdoings. Maybe he could have avoided all of this when both sides realized all that conflict was just a heap of bad misunderstandings, but Shay continued, because if there was one thing his previous childhood friend, Liam was right in saying, it was that it was much too late to walk away peacefully. At least, for people like them, in a conflict the one they were in.

Shay barely realized that the two of them were now in the sprawling city of Nippur at this moment, the ground beneath him definitely not reminding him of that fact. He was almost embarrassed to see how easily he got distracted by things. Agnès could already feel the weight of the looks of the roaming civilians of Nippur, seeing how the two are carrying off a Stormtrooper Captain, the only thing slowing them down being the condition of Shay's chest.

Cracking a smile at every single civilian in the town making way for the two Primes, Shay looked over to see Agnès quite distraught of that fact, knowing how she wasn't really used to this kind of attention. Wiping a bit of sweat off of his forehead, both of them continued to walk off to the main road leading to Gilgamesh's palace, a silent walk all the way there.

Finding themselves almost at the front door of the palace itself, Shay stopped for a moment, looking at Agnès.

"No turning back now. Wonder how Gilgamesh is going to react to this..." Shay wandered off in his thoughts, speaking both to himself and Agnès, her expression just becoming more and more uncertain.

"Well," Agnès began, gulping slightly, "only one way to find out."

The two guards still at the front door of the palace itself made way, wide-eyed to see one of their enemies being taken prisoner of what they also thought would be mere cannon fodder for New Babylon. With the doors opening before them, the two Primes would soon prove that they were much more than that.