Tagged: nico
Cutscene 24: Master plan
(Note: I hope anyone affected by the blizzard in the NE United States is warm and safe! I’ve been hiding inside with my roommate, watching the snow pile up. Not looking forward to tomorrow’s commute.)
It was a place only an aquatic creature could get to. Even then it was difficult to navigate correctly through the expansive labyrinth of narrow tunnels that alternated between being completely filled with water and dry chambers that necessitated shifting to a non-aquatic (or amphibious) form to get to the next water-filled tunnel opening. Finding the first opening that led from the lake to the tunnels was even more difficult. He doubted that many had the ability and determination to make the voyage.
Of course, that was why Elora had chosen that particular chamber as the place she went when she wanted time alone with her thoughts. The thoughts that were most precious to her and that she normally shared only in small bits and pieces when necessary or in more detail with people she trusted.
Cutscene 17: Define “sneaking”
Alistair sighed as he stepped out of the office of the man who’d been in charge of the Guard mission his sister had helped with that morning. The man had had some choice words to say about his sister’s behavior. Apparently she had “misunderstood” the instructions and had thought that bringing the escaped domestic drake back dead was what they wanted. Of course, all of them knew that Friday was lying. The smile on her face as she stood down the hall waiting for him was enough to convince him of that. Not that he needed more convincing.
He gestured for her to walk with him. “Let’s go for an aerial patrol.”
“Should you really be rewarding me like this? Am I not going to be disciplined for my silly mistake?”
Cutscene 16: Goals
“I was under the impression that you were to attend the planning session this morning.“
The only part of his body that Zephyr was awake enough to move in response was the tip of his tail. Not that that twitch was likely to be enough of a response for Amaryllis. He forced himself to lean to one side and stretch a front leg out. Then he curved his neck and cracked an eye open to look at the drake next to him.
She was in her true form, the sunlight making her feathers look painfully bright as his eye adjusted. Though she was also laying down, her posture was far less relaxed than his. She looked ready to bolt at any moment (as was often true of Swift Drakes, he’d found) and her head was turned so she could look out over the whole valley. Although, he supposed that she had a good reason. The twins were out there chasing each other, climbing on the rocks, and generally enjoying their chance to romp around. With their parents out hunting, that meant that Amaryllis was solely responsible for their safety.
Bonus Cutscene 4: The Murder Squad
(Note: This is the first of the two bonus scenes I have planned. This one takes place at the same time as Quest 4.15 and expands a bit on what some of the other characters in the UC world are up to. If you don’t remember who Whitley is, she appeared a couple times during Quest 2 (2.17 and 2.22; I went back and tagged her in them for easy access). I don’t have any plans to make her more of a recurring character as of yet, but I have a bit of a soft spot for her and the Sovreillis crew anyway. The next bonus scene should be coming up soon~)
Whitley landed on the side of an abandoned stone building close to the border between Sovreillis and Rivillyr. One wall had started to collapse, but, though she heard the stones shifting, the building held under her weight. Nevertheless, she made a note to start looking for a new place to perch during patrols that would allow her to survey the border as well as this one. She lifted her head to get a better look at the forests and fields around her. This was the highest point in this area. She could switch to aerial patrols, but then she might miss some signs of danger crossing their borders, like small noises that the sound of a dragon’s wingbeats would overpower.
Even so, she knew that the Sovreillis Lord would prefer her to perform her patrols solely from the air. That way, she’d be done faster and stay safer. In fact, Ophelia had made it clear that she would prefer Whitley not go out on patrols at all. That was one of the few orders that Whitley had ignored during her service as the Sovreillis General. She knew that the main reason she even had this title was because it was the best way for Ophelia to justify keeping her close at all times. If she didn’t work hard to fulfill the usual duties that title carried, others would get suspicious of the nature of her relationship with the Sovreillis Lord.
Quest 4.15: Chatting up some bros
(Note: I’m working on a couple of bonus scenes to celebrate reaching 100 posts. The first one takes place around the same time as this scene, so I’m hoping to have it posted before next week’s update. I may have a couple more bonus things coming soon, but I might also save them to celebrate the 2 year anniversary of the Intro Cutscene’s posting on 2/14/2012. Stay tuned!)
“You do realize that orange feathers aren’t uncommon among phoenixes, don’t you?”
Risa frowned at the crystal that she was holding. “But how many phoenixes have orange feathers and, around the time the murders started, acquired a book containing the names of dragons who sold phoenix eggs to the Overcurrent?”
Nico laughed. “Only one, I suppose.”
“Right, so you can see why I’d be suspicious.”
“And rightfully so. I’ve still got some more dragons to track down, but I figured it was time to leave some kind of hint about what’s going on.” He sighed. “It was hard to part with the feathers, though. I hate letting others get hold of them.”
Cutscene 10: On phoenixes
Nico had no intention of returning to the Spirit Lands and his sister anytime soon. He’d never been very good at having a “home” for himself. It was difficult for him to form the attachment to a place necessary for such a thing. Places were boring once they’d been thoroughly explored. Unless they were places like the Mid-grounds where there was a fast-paced push for change. Those places were interesting to stay in for extended periods of time. Places like the mountain range where his sister and their merry band of orphans were living? Not enough changes to keep him interested.
Of course, the lack of a chaotic element was what his sister and the others liked about it. After all they’d lost and everything they’d experienced during the Phoenix Hunts, they liked having a place that was stable. A place with no conflict. Where every face you see is one you saw the day before and every conversation is almost guaranteed to go exactly the same way. The same greetings. The same smiles. The same polite questions. The same answers he could never bring himself to care about.
It drove him crazy.
Quest 3.20: Troll name and travel home
It was a utilitarian room. Risa supposed it was technically a decent size, if one were to calculate square footage. It was narrow, though, so it was difficult to judge by looking at it. Not that she had ever been very good at judging room sizes, even when the rooms weren’t narrow. Her size descriptions were usually about as relative as her directions to and from places.
For instance, if she was describing this room, she’d say that it was about half the size of the smallest double dorm room she and Ami had lived in during college. The narrowness made it look more like one of those single person study rooms in the library that had a desk built into the wall with a couple outlets; a single chair; a small prison-sized window that was just big enough to allow a decent amount of natural light through, but too small to tempt forlorn students certain that they were going to fail their classes; and a door with a glass pane in it so everyone passing by could see that the cell was already occupied and trespassers would be pelted with textbooks.
Quest 3.19: Decision day
“We’ve come to a decision regarding Angel Risa’s proposed punishment for the demon.”
Risa tried not to let her anxiety show in her body language. The Council had been in discussions for a day and a half. Judging by the frowns and crossed arms she saw on some of the members and the carefully controlled expressions on the rest, it had been a heated discussion up until she’d walked in with her bros. She glanced over at the Mid-grounds agents. What she could read of their expressions suggested that they were having a good time. The outcome of this meeting probably didn’t have a direct impact on the Mid-grounds. Were they just here watching because they were curious to see what would happen? If she didn’t have a personal stake in all this, she’d probably do the same.
Oh, or maybe they were here because Peri was still acting like it was her job to monitor Risa and Zane. The day before, while the Council was still discussing, a Guard had come to the holding room to collect Peri and take her to a proper guest room. She’d refused. Emphatically. The Guard had looked a little intimidated. Maybe that last bit was because Nico started laughing. He occasionally looked vaguely threatening while laughing.
Quest 3.18: Recharge break
The suckiness of that night was surpassed only by the suckiness of waking up the next morning curled in an armchair with no demon pillow boyfriend to make the position more comfortable. Nico was in the chair next to her, studying the book she’d given him just as he’d been before she’d fallen asleep. Alistair was sitting in the chair across from her. He’d been talking to Nico before she fell asleep. The way that he had his arms crossed and the fact that he had his usual frowny neutral face on kept her from realizing right away that he was asleep. Which was the opposite of keeping an eye on them like he was supposed to be doing. No one had come to check on them since they got back from meeting with the Council that night, so it was probably fine.
What time was it? Normally she could outsleep everyone, regardless of how contorted the position she slept in was. All of her joints protested once she started moving so that she could look for the room’s other occupants. Peri was curled up under the covers of the bed. If even she was sleeping, then it must have been ridiculously early still. Risa frowned. What the balls; why was she awake when everyone was sleeping?
Quest 3.17: Negotiating punishment, part 2
“What’s this? Were you having a discussion without us?” Thirteen asked as Alistair led her into the room.
They were the last to arrive. Alistair had insisted on being the one to escort her there and, since the Council had insisted on him being the one to escort Zane and Nico as well, that meant he had to take two trips. Technically he could have done it in one, but that would have required having Thirteen around Zane in narrow hallways and staircases. Risa was grateful that her brother had realized that that would be a bad idea.
She let out a breath to calm herself as she looked around at everyone in the room. There was a human guard on either side of the chamber doors and one standing against each of the side walls. There was the Council behind their table and the two Mid-grounds agents behind their little add-on.
The rest of the room’s occupants were clustered in the center facing the Council table. Risa was closest to them and had angled herself so she could look at them and the two agents. Peri was next to her, but she’d taken a step back. Whether it was to let Risa have the most prominent position or to be closer to the phoenix that was trying to draw her into a conversation, Risa wasn’t sure. Zane was standing close behind Risa. That was definitely a deliberate decision that both emphasized that she was in charge of their group and threatened retaliation if anyone tried to hurt her. Alistair stopped several paces away from them, a hand on Thirteen’s arm to force her to stop as well.
Unlockable Content 