Seikou barely has time to react, jumping to the side and dodging the clumsy throw. This is -bad-. He's unarmed still...

Variance is still well on his way to saving the day, just for the record, considering he was at the far side of the fountain square and thus quite a distance from Seikou...

SniperJoe lies on the ground for a moment, before climbing back to his feet. Even now, he realizes he's unarmed, and hesitates briefly.

Seikou says 'Joe! Why are you doing this?! I fought by your side once, remember?'

SniperJoe says, in a strangely calm voice, "There are no sides!" before lunging with his bare hands! His eye is still doing that intense glowing thing, too.

Variance curses mildly, almost dragging his glaive behind him with one hand as he brings the other in front of him in the beginnings of a casting. "Seikou, look away!" As he says this, a miniscule point of light forms just in front of his palm...

Seikou just jumps aside, closing his eyes at the same time in accordance to Variance's shout.

SniperJoe does the exact opposite, stopping and spinning to look in the exactly direction of said shout.

Variance stops abruptly, grasping the light and 'throwing' it in Joe's direction. A streak of what's called white light out of convention trails after the tiny ball, stopping just before the viridian-clad reploid's face and brilliantly exploding in the same instant. (Burst, in case you care)

SniperJoe takes it full-force right in the face, whatever it is.

Variance resumes his sprint, using the flash of sunlight to position himself just in front of Seikou with glaive raised defensively.

Seikou just remains crouched for now, eyes troubled...

SniperJoe stumbles back, blinded, right hand clutching his forehead, as if in pain. "This is not over! You /will/ return what is mine!" The extent of his previous damage becomes obvious as he gimps away as fast as he can in an attempt to escape, his left leg making horrible grinding noises.

Seikou says '...Should we let him go...?'

Variance gradually straightens from his wary, defensive stance, lowering his weapon. "He can't do much in his condition, he wouldn't be too hard to catch up with later."

Seikou looks rather depressed. "Joe-kun... I wonder what happened to him..."

SniperJoe hears Variance say this, and would probably smile evilly, had he a mouth. Marbles = lost. :\

Seikou sighs and sits on the bench again. "...Today has been far too confusing...

Variance finally replaces his glaive on its nearly-invisible catch on the back of his armor, still not meeting Seikou's gaze(out of still watching the now out-of-sight Joe). "That -was- a bit abrupt, I'll agree."

Seikou shakes his head. "Not just that... Before he came, there were these... lights... around the fountain... Lights I've only seen once before..." He decides not to mention the voices singing in his head. That makes him seen a little -too- crazy.

Variance allows a moment of shock to flit across his features before turning to Seikou, eyes questioning. "Lights...?" He wasn't asking Seikou directly; his memory had already answered his inquiry, at least enough for him to mentally ask himself even more questions in response.

Seikou nods. "Lights. Blue over the water, green around that... And the last time I saw those was when they were around Aura."

Variance nods shortly, gaze dropping to the ground as he delves into thought once again. So he -hadn't- been seeing things. Maybe... she -is- coming back?

Seikou says '...Vari-kun, this will probably sound crazy... but... when I opened the music box, I would -swear- someone was singing.'

Variance looks up to Seikou again briefly, then regains the distance he'd held before. "The elementals..." It comes quietly, mostly intended for himself. After another moment, he returns from whatever inner mind-plane he'd traveled to, looking something between quizzical and hopeful.

Seikou blinks. "Elementals? Do you know something I don't, Vari-kun?"
You say '-Something- has to be happening concerning her if the elementals are showing themselves that openly...'

Variance stops himself before he says anything more, slightly startled by Seikou's interjection. He coughs lightly(purely conditioned), glancing off to one side. "Well, it's nothing, really, but..."

You say 'It might be a sign that Aura's coming back.'

Seikou allows himself a brief smile. "...We can hope."

Variance looks to the fountain expectantly, though knowing that the same spectacle Seikou described probably wouldn't happen so quickly again. He seems somewhat distracted, though that in itself is a common occurrance for him. It just looks a little more intense than his casual pondering...

Seikou reamins oblivious to Variance's concentration, too busy focusing on his own thoughts. Aura-chan... Joe-kun... Why does everything have to happen at once?