Pillars of Eternity

Prologue - Preparation Time (Part 2)

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3rd Person PoV

As everyone arrived to the main room, Shiori was seen in the center walking from side to side with a troubled look on her face, something was clearly bothering her and it didn't seem to be good

Shiori: "Hmm...hmm..."

Aoi: "Are you alright, Shiori?" Asked Aoi worried for the Pillar, she didn't seem to have a rest

Shiori: "It's just not good...my assumption was right, this is bad..."

Yoshika: "I'll speak for her. The core of the Headquarters took a lot of damage when the Corruption reached us, and our power has been limited ever since"

Yus: "That core thing seems important..."

Yuika raised her hand to speak, wanting to explain what it was knowing that neither Yus nor Aoi knew of the core

Mazoku: "Go on kid, tell him"

Yuika: "The core of the Headquarters stabilizes the Factions separating them by an invisible barrier and a separate dimension within each barrier, if the core is damaged we can't access the other Factions, nor can the Pillars draw their full power out...in exception of some specific cases" Explained the foxgirl before giving the word to the dimension expert among them

Sora: "The only ones that are free from this drawback are Yuika, Spooky and Yusuru, i noticed it when i was inspecting the core and the barrier between Factions...but everyone else here draws their power from their Factions and the connection with them, if all of us access a different Faction, our power will be severely limited"

Oka: "Boo...so that's why i've felt a whole lot weaker while i was out of my Faction..."

Kaza: "I felt it too, i thought it was just my imagination..."

Yusuru raised his hand, being given the word by Mazoku who pointed one of his guns at him

Yus: "Does that affect our enemies too? Like Kugawa, Hisako"

Sora: "Their power doesn't come from the Headquarters, they draw it from the Faction of Corruption"

Shiori: "So there is one of those..." Shiori didn't know that fact, and neither did anyone present though they decided to leave that topic for another day

Yus: "Then if someone turns to Hisako's side, Corruption shares their energy with them instead of the core..." Thought Yusuru placing a hand to his chin

Shiori: "Me and Sora are gonna get the core checked up, if we manage to find someone that knows how to fix it with advanced Essence manipulation, we can fix the core...but as of now, you can only bring up to four people into the next Faction without counting yourself, Yuika and Spooky, i recommend the lesser the better" She meant that as a way to say he needed to think of who he would bring with him into the next Faction, needed to choose wisely, that could depend on the strength of the team

Yus: "I see..."

Dusk: "Yusuru-san, take your time choosing who you want to bring, this mission can be postponed until you're ready to go"

Shiori: "A bit of time yeah...i can give you one hour to think, Sora and i prepared already to send you and your team into Ashira's Faction"

Yus began to think of his possible companions, looking around the room at everyone that he could choose from yet examining their capacities by who could do most things and who wasn't gonna work out in the Faction, besides Yuika and Spooky he could choose other four people...

Yus: "...Shiori, you're staying to try to fix the core right?"

Shiori: "Me and Sora will just check on it, that way when you find someone that can help us we can tell the problem directly" That discards two candidates, leaving the others for him to pick

Spooky: "Sorry for the delay" Some footsteps approached from the hallway, the Sister of Creation walking in to join the conversation prepared to depart

Yoshika: "Welcome Sp- Spooky..?"

Everyone was taken aback by Spooky's sudden appearance, wearing a new look on her that made her almost indistinguishable if it wasn't for the red and blue eyes and the white hair, she was wearing an orange sweater and longer hair, her height increased too making it harder to identify her

Yus: "Sis..?"

Shiori: "I gave her one of my potions to grow, she said she wanted to get a change of style so there she is!" Shiori cleared all doubts, explaining how she helped Spooky grow and have a better style- if it can be called that

Spooky: "So we're departing? I'm ready for the next place"

Everyone turned to Yusuru hoping that he had made his choice already. With a last glance to everyone present, Yus nodded to himself having in mind the ideal team that he could use this time around...

Yus: The Faction of Waves and Sounds, was it? I can already imagine what we'll need, and for sure it's gonna be good singers, if i had to choose for their voice...i choose...

Timeskip

A portal opened in an unknown location, infront of a normal-looking school inside a city at midnight, music was blasting at full volume in the background and many people's excited shouts followed from the same spot. From the portal, the particular team that's dedicated to fix the Corruption Incident stepped out letting the portal close after a last hammer hit from one of the Pillars

Yus: "Pretty lively in here..." Said the cookie eater, munching a cookie to begin his new adventure

Yuika: "Well this IS Ashira's Faction, she knows how to liven up the mood"

Sora: "We'll instruct you from the Headquarters, make sure you're gonna be alright. I'll send in your disguises, use them through your travel on the Faction okay?"

Shiori: "I went ahead of time and inscribed you beforehand, it was easy with a disguise from one of my potions, though some of you might not be in the same room...don't forget your dorm keys, we'll send them with the disguises" Both Pillars said from the Headquarters speaking to all equally

Yus: "Hold on, disguises? Inscribed? Dorm keys? What does that mean?"

Yoshika: "If you're gonna stay in here for a while, you need to blend in with everyone until Ash shows up, sooo..."

The team turned their attention to the school's doors

Yoshika: "...you're all gonna live a normal school life and find Ashira to recruit her while you're at it, don't raise any suspicions though, good luck!"

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[Word count 1080]