And so it begins

[Nisorin]

Kerion, Jade, Verrtsi, Nisorin, and the now-awake Celestie stand together on the bridge of the Azrael, surrounding a large and ornate spell circle inscribed in their own blood. Holding their still-bleeding hands out, they allow one final drop from each of their hands to fall to the floor, igniting the circle and issuing the summons. Spirits of all forms begin to gather around them, protected from the Void by the circle. Only one call is not immediately answered, that to Faotemaru, the alchemist of legend and current possessor of the Philosopher's Stone.

[Embodiment of Cringe]

It was only moments before Faote arrived along with the rest of the gathered people. His curiosity piqued, as he glanced about, wondering exactly where he was. That was, until his eyes caught the circle used to summon him. It was extremely relevant to his interests, but with a feeling of regret and duty, he pushed his ever knowledge hungry mind away from it and focused on the now.

"... I'm not too late, am I?"

[Nisorin]

Nisorin and Celestie together move to stand before him, fingers entwined even as they bow low. "Welcome, Faotemaru, to the Azrael. The flagship of the Sons of Plunder. Things have changed since we last spoke to you, and by a great deal. Aralia, the homeworld of the Aralangs in this dimension has been destroyed by a creature born of miss Hikaru Tyris' sins and magic. Therefore, our target has changed. The Archive, who are experimenting with materials that emit a constant field that renders all magic useless, is now our priority. The Relorian Empire will work together with the Aralangs to rebuild, on the grounds that they cease any and all Anti-Magic, be it use or research. We will need you to begin preparations for an all-out assault on the Library, an Archive station hidden within and protected by a Quasar. While you prepare, we will work on retaking several of the places the Archive has subjugated."

[Embodiment of Cringe]

"Eh heh... Uhm.. No need to bow. I'm not that important or anything, and for future reference, just Faote is fine." Faote never really liked being looked 'up to,' and this situation itself seemed to put him in a feeling of awkwardness he feared that would exist until the war would end, or at least long enough until he died. Anyone could reach the same amount of power he did... and for what it was worth, he was a regular human being who indulged in the studies of Alchemy. He wasn't special from the very beginning, so to be bowed to and greeted as formally as possible just seemed.. odd.
Not to mention he held every sin known to the existence of life. The greatest of them, to imitate the power of the highest powers of existence, to imitate a god. That is something he would not bow to, so why these people?

"Forgive my ignorance, but what are you looking for exactly? For the times I've been visited, I've been told to prepare, to bring everything possible that could help in this war. I have, and I wonder, what do you need against the Library?" He asked, after throwing around the awkwardness in his mind for a bit too long than he preferred.

[Nisorin]

"We'll need your help to deal with the quasar itself. Until that's dealt with, attacking the Archive with a force our size is nigh impossible. Once that is done, you may act as you see fit. It will be a long battle, Faotemaru. The Library is extremely well defended, and the Archive is an Empire of technology more advanced than the Aralangs, at times. They are strong and many, while we are few. The Archive is but the first step." Kerion explains, stepping forward in his ornate black armor. "Our ultimate goal is to retake Magic's rightful place as the dominant force, to correct the errors of the Embodiments, even Creation and Destruction themselves, and finally, to put an end to the current God, leaving existence to govern itself."

[Embodiment of Cringe]

"Something to kill a quasar... An Epoch circle would fix things right up, but getting anywhere near it would swallow up whatever resources I have to produce one close enough to neutralize it... I'll be needing something much bigger..." Faote uttered to himself, pondering on exactly what to do. "If the situation calls for it, I will probably need Eve... Or to make a completely new philosopher stone, but that would require reaping more angel hearts than I prefer... Moreover, if I do go with an epoch circle approach, how would I display it big enough to contain the quasar, but not let it swallow it...?"

Faote paced back and forth, thinking, mulling over exactly how one person would do such a thing. Quasars were in a class of their own in terms of danger, and there would definitely be no real way to take it out unless you did some crazy God worthy act of defiance against existence itself or something. Wait, don't I do that all the time?

After a few minutes of random mumbling and thinking out loud, in addition to pacing, he turned towards Kerion. "I'll have a solution at some point, but not now. I'll need some time to formulate exactly what we're going to do about the quasar. But when I do, I swear you will be the first person that knows."

[Nisorin]

He smiles and nods to him. "I understand the difficulty of what we're asking of you. We'd prefer to take the Library with as little damage as possible, so we can find out just how they're manipulating the quasar like that, but we'll take what we can. You'll have plenty of time to prepare, as we still need to take some of their outlying bases before we move for the Library." Comes the reply, followed by a far more curt bow.

"We all have our own preparations to make, but please let one of us know if there is something we can do to help. Celestie and myself have another date with Hell." Nisorin adds, smiling at Faote and offering a handshake. "I bid you farewell, and good luck Faote."

[Embodiment of Cringe]

"Again, please don't bow.. I'm not too big on the formality thing, and I do feel rather awkward. But all the same, I wish you good luck." Faote replied, still quite unsure of what to make of them, but at least they had stopped using his full name like they had been the last few times they visited him. However, he was not so disrespectful as to disregard a handshake.
A handshake symbolized equality. He would take handshaking over bowing any day. The two shook hands, as Faote grinned.
"Say hi to hell for me."

[Nisorin]

Luna smiles at the man, seeming uncharacteristically kind. "Amongst the Relorians, bows are often used for greeting those who are considered stronger or wiser than you, as a sign of respect. It's actually a fairly casual gesture. Most formalities in Relorian society are done with flairs of magic."

[Embodiment of Cringe]

"But I'm not... I mean, I wouldn't even know where to start to do a daunting task like your group is taking on. I probably would have slunk away until someone else did something about it. I may be 'wiser' or 'stronger,' but I'm not so great on just getting out there to do something for the betterment of existence. And in my opinion, that alone should count before you even factor in someone's abilities or magic or even the complexity of their technology. You're doing something I would never be able to dream of leading. And for that..."
The Alchemist bowed slowly, and rose back up with a sort of softness that you could even hear the folds of his clothes move. "I have work to do. I cannot allow this to fall through because of poor planning on my part."

Faote turned, as a portal opened, going to a dusty lab of sorts, parchments and drawings of thousands of circles and seals littered the walls, desks polluted with endless notes, vats of an unidentifiable fire red orange liquid lined across walls, and books upon books, endlessly stacked upon one another in a fashion that made the whole room look like a mountain range.
He was going to use the lab he had before he made False Heaven once more. The one that supposedly contained most of all the secrets that Faote held dear. "Just contact me through this datapad and I'll be right with you." He mentioned, pulling a expanding hologram datapad out of his jacket and laid it on the nearest flat area.

"... I'll see you all quite soon, I hope."

[Nisorin]

Luna accepts the datapad as he walks through the portal. Once it closes, she sighs and shakes his head. "Are you sure we can rely on him? He just seems like a coward, unwilling to take control of his own life." She asks, turning to face Kerion.

"Perhaps, but there is no denying his power. And perhaps the experiences he gains through helping us will help him deal with his fears. I wonder why he even joined the tournament."