Jayden went on, telling his plan—rather plans. 374Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4SD9mF3H73
He pointed at the naughts and crosses and arrows below, the stratagem they would follow to quell the Dark Weaver and save Nu.
"The 'X' is Dark Weaver," Jayden said, "the circles are us." He drew his companion's attention to the arrows. "Dark Weaver technically has three consciences, but there’s no way that they can be a master of multi-tasking." He pointed at each circle. "Each one should be capable of being distracted to some degree. The idea is to distract at least two of the three—in this case it would be Nuallis and Shadow."
I see, Van mused silently, clever.
Without objection, the viewers giving their full attention, Jayden went on. He looked to Vandal. "Vandal would be used to distract Nuallis," he said, "Those two are a ship so I would imagine that Vandal would have better chances of reaching her than anyone."
A ship? Van wondered, what does that mean?
Jayden noted the confusion on Van's face. "She'd be willing to do what she could to keep you safe, right? Also, she seems to have slight jealousy for Navi so hinting at you going back to your wife may bring her out. Yes, you'll be playing off these emotions. You're going to be a bit manipulative but with good reason." When Van nodded solemnly, Jayden's gaze fell to his weapons. "I know you won't shoot at Dark Weaver since it's Nuallis body so talking is the next best option." Jayden pointed at the furthest left ring. "This is you."
Jayden turned to Ignatius. "Magpie would be useful to distract Shadow. He has a creepy fixation on her since he originally possessed you and they’re essentially a pair." Ignatius frowned at this but saw and accepted the dark truth. Jayden paused for a moment, then continued. "If she’s present, she could potentially appeal to his obsession with her. The idea is that he wouldn’t essentially attack her, more so try to restrain her which would divvy up the attention more." Jayden pointed at the ring in the center. "She'll be here." Jayden looked around.
But Magpie was not here at the moment, Van knew. She hoped she was well. Ignatius seemed to think the same, by the look on his face.
"What about the other entity?" Questioned Van.
Jayden shrugged. "It’s hard to place what the Aether Spirit would do as it didn’t exhibit extreme hostility until it was corrupted by Shadow. Hopefully, this means that it wouldn’t try anything, but the main point is to have two of the three distracted."
There was a murmur of agreement among the party.
Talon spoke up. "What about me and Moryuu," he said, "do we have a part in this?"
Jayden pointed at the furthest right ring. "Talon, you would be here and would act as a transporter since you're not really a combative type. If things go south fast, you need to get everyone on the front end out of there quickly. However, if everything goes well, you could make a portal before the eye and potentially rip it free from the Dark Weaver. Though, I'm not sure how fixed this thing is to their person."
"I remember," Vandal commented, "there's a silver chain. There are two loops. I believe they meet at the back." Vandal's face twisted in thought. "If I can somehow break the links …"
"Ignatius could potentially help him here with some sort of spell if he is not helping Magpie. They may figure something out to loosen or break it free." Jayden drew their attention to the back ring. "I'll be here. My main mission is to take out those wings. Those things are massive and grant too much motion and offense and defense. I'm going to limit their mobility if the plan goes south. This keeps Dark Weaver from attacking and defending as well as running."
Ravage began to pout. "Awww!" she uttered, annoyed "when do I get to play?"
"You have a part in plan B," he told her flatly. "It is not too different from the first." He turned to Van again. "You would still be the best candidate to distract Nuallis but there’s something you can make that no one else can—Banfrow. Due to how large Dark Weaver’s wings are, chopping them may take too much time if I can’t get a clean cut." Jayden nodded at Moryuu. "If you're paired with Moryuu, the Banfrow you'd create would essentially be a bomb if Moryuu hits it with a bolt of lightning. A large explosion should be enough to ground Dark Weaver." Van bristled at this. "If you're up for this, you and Moryuu would be behind Dark Weaver. The only issue is that if you join Moryuu, we have to find a new way to distract Nu unless you make enough Banfrow to pass off to Moryuu and you assume the previous role at the left."
"I can produce a charge of Banfrow," said Van, "I can still fight with my words if need be."
Ignatius still looked worried. "About Magpie," he began, "playing off obsession …" "If that doesn’t sound good with Magpie, Ravage could act as if she had caught her and present her."
"A ruse?" Ignatius said.
Jayden nodded. "She could either sway Shadow to give her power for the good work or potentially act as if she holds Magpie for ransom. You could join the farce and present yourself as beaten or try to play hero and get Magpie back—either way, Shadow should be distracted." He turned to the portal-maker, pointing at the right ring. "Now, Talon you and I can pair up…"
"I seriously don't like the sound of that," Talon blurted, "considering how Cordis feels about me."
"It'll be tense, I know," Jayden allowed, "but if you can open a portal before the eye, I could potentially use the tentacles to reach through to pry the eye from Dark Weaver. If they're cut, they can grow back. No one else has to get hurt trying to get at it. Also, with your portals, I have better reach. I can pull any of us to safety. Considering one of those barriers … they’re sturdy but not indestructible so we'd have to act quickly to either reinforce or retreat."
"So that's the plan?" Muttered Van.
"That's the plan," answered Jayden, "We—"
Something crashed down in the outer hall. There was a faint greenish light emitting from the corridor.
"What the hell was—" started Talon.
"Quickly," Vandal said hurriedly, "to the back of the stage."
The others did not need convincing. They all seemed to know who it was.
Dark Weaver entered the audience area, scanning the dusty and broken seats. "You're hiding," it called out with multiple voices, one Van recognized as Nuallis, the other, Shadow's. "Face your obliteration without fear."
Behind the rotting curtains backstage, Talon made a portal on the floor. There was not enough space, so it was only big enough for one person to go at a time.
"Where does it go to?" Van inquired.
"Just outside," said Talon, "in the streets."
"What about the beasts?"
"Better those guys, then Dark Weaver, right? Plus, Magpie isn't with us to handle Shadow."
"We should look for her," whispered Ignatius, "after we escape Dark Weaver."
"Totally," said Talon, "now let's go."
One by one, they jumped in. When they all got out the other end safely, Talon closed it. 374Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ572e5UPLpx
