[Naiya shows up at Theron's office!  He seems to have stepped out for the 
moment.]
* Naiya shows up there! In full armor, looking -extremely- fatigued, but somehow 
alert.
* Naiya looks around! And not seeing Theron immediately, takes a seat and waits, 
yawning.
[Moments pass.  After some time, the door opens.  In comes a rather exhausted 
looking Theron himself.]
* Naiya stands up, slowly, and greets him with a Maltan-ish wave. "... I am 
sorry for not arriving with the others, I did not realize we had landed until 
recently."
* Theron looks surprised at Naiya, then shuts the door. "It--it is quite 
alright. I hadn't expected any more visitors for the day."
<Naiya> ... perhaps it is just as well. I had wanted to inquire if you had 
checked into the matter of the key I showed you... in private.
* Theron frowns a little. "I'd been...far too busy. Too much on my mind, too 
much to do. But I must ask you. Why is it so important?"
* Naiya averts her gaze for a moment, then looks upwards for a momemt. 
"Fiona..?" She lets out a small sigh, and reaffirms her gaze back on Theron. "If 
you feel it will aid you, I will tell you. Otherwise, I ... I would prefer to 
keep it private."
<Theron> Fiona?  Does she have something to do with this?
<Naiya> She's testing me.
* Theron sighs. "Well, I'm not a man to pry. However, I'm afraid it is not an 
artifact that I have seen at all.
* Naiya 'hmms'. "I'm fairly sure there are seven others. I suspect there's one 
for each element... and I know who has one of them, and I have one of them. But 
I'll need them all, and I've come no closer to finding them..."
* Naiya fishes out the red one she has. "... I hope you understand why I do not 
want to reveal this to everyone."
* Theron thinks into his hand, then shakes his head. "I've heard of no such 
thing, I'm sorry."
<Theron> I do understand though.
* Naiya tucks the key back away. "My compatriots. Where did they go to...? I'm 
afraid I caught up to them too late."
* Theron opens a ledger as he sits in his desk and dips his pen in the ink. 
"They went upstairs to the library. Not long ago I believe."
<Naiya> Theron Gaulin. I thank you for you offer of help earlier... even if you 
don't know of it, the offer itself was very gracious. I... I hope you will not 
quit your efforts, and tell me if you do hear anything. *she salutes, in a very 
formal Zaxon style.*
<Naiya> But for now, I shall take my leave.
* Theron doesn't salute back. Possibly because he's too engrossed in his ledger 
now to notice it. "You have a good day. I appreciate your services."
* Naiya does that. Take her leave, that is, heading for the library.
[Naiya walks down the hallway and makes it to a corridor.  As she turns a 
corner, she happens to bump right into Nasira.  Literally.]
[She mustn't have heard her coming.]
* Naiya looks up, quickly. Bumping into something does wonders for getting your 
attention, then steps back.
* Nasira bumps into Naiya! Metal hurts, maybe, but she doesn't show it. She 
studies Naiya with her one eye for a long moment, then pushes her way past none 
too gently.
<Naiya> Nasira!
* Naiya waves at her, trying to flag her down to stop. "Will you ever let it go? 
Grudges are not meant to outlive a person! I've said I'm sorry!"
* Nasira stops. Naiya can see her fists clench, then she whirls, one hand going 
for her knife. "I told you not to talk to me!"
<Naiya> ... You told me not to order you, not to ignore you.
<Naiya> I promised I would not, and I wil keep that promise. I will not in any 
way try to force your mind or actions, so if you're going to ignore me, then I 
can do nothing about that.
<Naiya> I can only ask. So I shall ask.
* Nasira glares for a long moment, and something flickers behind her one-eyed 
gaze. She forcibly relaxes her fingers, leaving her weapon sheathed. "Fine. 
You're right."
<Nasira> You're right.  But your apology means nothing to me.  So don't bother.
* Nasira turns and goes back to making her way out.
<Naiya> ...
<Rowyn> (If Naiya follows Nasira, stay in this channel.  If she goes to the 
library, join the main channel soon.)
* Naiya yells after Nasira, in Caladeem, "I do not want our paths to split in 
this state! Over a panicked mistake! If my apology means nothing, then maybe 
this will!"
* Naiya reaches behind her shield, and withdraws her pistol. After double-
checking it, she fires off a shot in Nasira's direction, above her head. She 
not-quite yells, though still loud, in Caladeem, "I challenge you!"
* Nasira hears the shot and spins, her knife already out and saif half-drawn. 
She snarls and dashes forward. "<The last mistake you'll ever make.>"
[The servant approaches the situation and gasps, then yells out. "Stop it!  Both 
of you!  Before I call the authorities!"]
* Naiya doesn't look away from Nasira, but yells at the servant, in common, "Do 
not interefere, please!"
[The servant yells at Naiya.  He seems to be keeping his distance from the 
fighting. "I do not care what your situation is.  This is a private residence.  
If you must conduct this foolishness, you will conduct it outside or you will be 
free to conduct it in the prison yards."]
* Naiya raises an eyebrow at Nasira, then dances away from her, to the door. 
"Outside, then. This has been put off long enough." She reloads while she does 
that.
* Nasira narrowly avoids Naiya, and she slams her dagger's pummel into the wall, 
denting it.
* Nasira stalks out.
* Naiya takes a deep breath, watching Nasira like a hawk. "... and now you hold 
yourself back."
<Nasira> It's not your wall.
<Naiya> If my apologies mean nothing, then I will give you back your fight. I'll 
not let our paths split so ill if I can avoid it.
[The servant simply watches them, shaking his head at the wall.  He sticks 
around though to make sure you get OUT.]
* Naiya walks outside, not looking back.
[Both of you get outside!  My what a lovely day.]
* Nasira steps out, taking in the surroundings as she turns to face Naiya. "Why 
should you care?"
[It seems all clear.  The courtyard in front has birds chirping and some landed 
on the fountain nearby.  A few are on the bushes bordering the guild-hall, more 
in the trees.]
<Naiya> Fiona teaches that you should make amends when possible. ... and as I 
have said, I do not want this state between us to continue and fester, to grow 
into something larger.
<Naiya> Whether our paths split here, now that we're back here, or they stay 
entwined in travel, I will correct this.
* Nasira barks out a quick laugh, switching to Caladeem. "<You're not fixing a 
thing. Ready yourself.>"
<Naiya> <I've been ready for a year!> *she takes aim again*
* Nasira 's eye gleams, and before Naiya even finishes taking aim, she's run 
forward and jumped high into the air, right hand smoothly drawing her saif as 
she falls, bringing it upon the armored girl.
* Naiya is caught unprepared- she takes the brunt of the attack, but her aim 
doesn't waver. She lets loose a single shot, which nearly explodes in her face.
* Nasira takes advantage of the shot and spins, slicing horizontally with her 
saif as it melts into that brilliant golden orange glow. The knife is in her 
left hand as she finishes her rotation, and she jabs it directly for one of 
Naiya's elbow joints.
* Naiya twists her arm out of the way, barely. There's contact, but she's fast 
enough for it not to make full contact. She hisses as the blade goes through her 
armor.
* Naiya reaches behind her shield with her free, quickly pulling out a grenade-
like thing and tossing it straight at the ground, covering her face with her 
shield as she does so.
[Naiya's concentrating too much on the fighting but Nasira hears an explosion 
coming from around the back towards the library.  Both of you see a person stand 
up from out of the bushes.  He's dressed like a captain but all in red, with 
small spectacles on his face (and also the one described that Enzo met outside 
last session!).  He curses out, seeming not to care about your fighting.] 
[He does seem to care about the explosion.  He curses at that. "Dammit.  So 
soon?  This isn't good."  He puts his fingers in his mouth and whistles 
sharply.]
* Nasira jumps away from the grenade and gives Naiya a look. "<Later,>" she 
promises as she dashes for the building.
* Naiya spares a glance at the guy, then at Nasira. It clicks a moment later 
that that's where the library is.
[Naiya hesitates so the sailor rushes forward and clasps his hand around her 
arm, shaking his head. "No good.  Hopefully they'll get out of there but...damn.  
I hope she got back there in time.  Come on!"]
* Naiya softly replies, probably not loud enough to be heard by Nasira, "<Later, 
then.>" She makes tracks to where the explosion came from.
* Naiya glances at the sailor again. "What happened?"
* HandsomeSailor just shakes his head. "No time to really go into details. Let's 
just say someone's after your friend. I don't know about you though, but I don't 
wanna be toast."
* HandsomeSailor grins. He almost tings, but not quite. "I'd fight this guy 
myself but eh...where's the point? There's bigger fish to fry. Come on." He 
tugs. Tug.
* Naiya blinks a moment in confusion, then goes along with the tugging. Tug!
* HandsomeSailor tugs her all the way down the path and stops, continuing along 
so that the momentum carries her past him. He stops at the bottom. "I'll wait 
for your friends here and tell them where to go. You head for the tavern. I'll 
make sure they know where to go."
<Naiya> ... is this about ... *she thinks for a moment* ... Filis?
* HandsomeSailor raises an eye at Naiya for a moment. "Who?"
* Naiya shakes her head, dismissively. "Nevermind."
* Naiya heads for the tavern, then!
* HandsomeSailor nods, and stands his ground, looking back at the Guild hall and 
tipping his hat slightly. He looks determined and ready for anything to come his 
way.
[End here.]