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Day 1- First Meeting
A sniffle echoed through the halls of the Praetorium's research level. A lone Miqo'te's ears are flat against her head as she silently mourns the burnt-out reaper in front of her. She took a breath and hurried through the opened blast doors. Inside, she wandered into an absolutely massive room. Not much more than halfway across stood someone in a stark shade of red armor reminiscent of Ishgard's dragoons.
"You have been leaving a fine mess in your wake, adventurer," the figure said- arms crossed, the adventurer noted, as she drew closer.
The Miqo'te stopped and a smile creased her face as she recalled the flash of explosives, the sound of collapsing steel, and the smell of burning ceruleum. "And here I was hoping for total carnage."
The Imperial huffed. "Children's toys, the lot of them. Regardless, I'm impressed, savage. To commandeer a reaper so easily and unleash havoc," he chuckled. Whatever he meant to finish with was drowned out by the chime of her linkpearl.
"Is someone there!?" Cid's voice rang through.
The man in front of her raised his arm, bringing it near his face. Something flicked open on his wrist, and his head turned downwards. "Garlond, old friend," he said dryly, "How it warms the heart to hear your voice again after all these years." The Miqo'te made a few hand signs as he spoke, and aether swirled about her body as she vanished.
"...Nero? Is that-" she silenced the call; she wasn't about to take any chances. Silently, she crept outside the inner circle of the room. Slowly.
"You sound... well," this Nero said. His head turned right and then whipped left. "It would seem-" up, "this savage land agrees with you." Nero raised his arm skyward, his conversation forgotten, and a beep resounded from his armor. A large red hammer with a spiked head nearly half the Miqo'te's size landed in front of him. He gripped his weapon and raised it cautiously. She wasn't in striking range. Not with her knives. She made a hand sign- Ten- followed by a second- Chi.
Nero turned his head towards her, but not before A bolt of lightning flew from her fingertips and struck him in the chest. The flash blinded her briefly. Long enough that next she saw, Nero was flying at her blunt end of the hammer pulled back. Before she could leap, she was struck- sending her flying across the floor. She pooled aether to her feet and oriented herself so her feet made contact with the wall. She jumped and flipped in the air before landing on the ground. She struck a similar pose to what Nero first had, ignoring the throbbing pain on her side.
He laughed a little. "Quite a shock that was, savage." His voice rang with excitement. "But I have also taken the liberty of preparing an electrifying stage for you." Lights rumbled to life just behind her and a static field sparked around the edge of the room mere ilms behind her. "Might I know the name of Garlond's pet?"
The Miqo'te picked the hat off the floor and replaced it on her head. "D'rena," she reached for her knives. "And you should know, I'm tingling with anticipation."