[IC] Myriad AoW Chapter 1 - Rise from the Cinders

[Sutoratosu]

Lucille

"...Good choice, staying quiet." She turned her eyes back to the path ahead. He was practically her bitch now, she could sense it in his very heartbeat. Perhaps it was far easier to act high and mighty when you had the stolen powers of others backing you up, eh? Regardless, she spurred Borra forward a bit faster, still being sure to keep the dampening field up. She had neither the aid of the Aquila nor of Ginny, but Des's eyes were a fine middleground between the two, and as they made their way, it wasn't long before he spotted the hollowed alcoves of the bell tower. With a squeak, Lucille had his sight as well, and they headed towards it.

Before long, Despereaux had also pointed out the form of the angel atop the facade. Bora came to a halt, fur beginning to blend in well with the darkening streets... honestly all he needed to do to avoid sight was avoid any of the open light fixtures set up for the public's convenience. Silent as a ghost, a lurking shade in the darkness, he was like death incarnate as he stood there, only those burning crimson eyes visible. Lucille put two fingers to her mouth and gave a long blow, the sound of the shrill whistle nigh immediately bending and contorting itself into a purely directional beam that shot up towards the Mage's perch, audible to him, and him alone in the night, filling his ears as loud and clear as if she were right next to him.

[krim]

Raziel and Lucille

Looking up from his book, Raziel winced a little as a sharp whistle pierced his eardrums. Taking a quick look around, and then down, he dropped from the ledge when he saw Lucille. On his way down he set the book back in his inner robe pocket opposite of the one with the ashes. "Huh. Didn't even have to use the Night Wisps. Nice job." he muttered as he looked at the eyes burning into him from the shadows. "I'm guessing our little friend is with him...?" he asked quietly. The beast slightly unnerved him, now that he was so close to it, to tell the truth. "If he's awake, we can start questioning him at the meeting point. I've got my entry secured into the alliance compound with minimal...recognition." he said, wishing it had been a little more minimal.

[Notus]

Jesse

Cana covered her mouth with both hands and nodded energically to show she got Jesse´s message. Then she ran to the middle of the room and waved her arms to get the guards´ attention.

"Hey hey, misters! Do you want to play a game?" she asked excitedly. One of the men sighed, visibly tired from the day, but another one shook his head and smiled, deciding to play along. "Sure Cana, no problem. What shall it be?"

The girl clapped her hands and smiled back. "Let´s do a staring contest, you three against me! Don´t worry,I´m not afraid of taking you all on." She said with a defiant look. The man who spoke to her laughed, signaled for the others to roll along with it and answered. "Ok, then here we go!"

It didn´t take 20 seconds. Before Jesse could understand what happened all three men where laying on the floor, deeply asleep, while Cana turned to him with a triumphant look on her face. "Right, they won´t bother us now! Wanna play staring contest too?"

Bargus

Haze lifted an eyebrow, visibly interested. "Well well, it´s great that none of you were hurt in the process, but judging by your performance earlier that shouldn´t come as a surprise. And after that, what did you do with the attacker? I´d like to take a look at him, if possible.

Jarvis & Rhaeza

The captive looked surprised, but still suspicious. He didn´t take Rhaeza´s hand, but instead used the opening to roll backwards and put a few meters between him and the werewolf."Don´t give me that. I´ve been given an exact description of you, and you´re still trying that kind of tactics? Well, that won´t work." And then, as if forgetting the situation he was in, it was his turn to shoot questions. "What do you plan to accomplish by attacking the Alliance?"

Gabriel

It didn´t take long afterwards for the little group to start dispersing. First to leave were the humans, then Iceliste, Juliet and the angels, leaving Ledoroch alone with Gabriel. The blue demon started preparing for leaving as well, but before that he looked deep in Gabriel´s eyes. "Listen Gabriel, I was serious before. I mean, when I said you could come to me for help anytime. No matter what kind of problem you have, I´ll try my best to find a cure, I promise."

He packed his last things and looked at the street with vacant eyes. "This world´s already seen too much suffering. I vowed to do what I can to fix things, but it´s a job that will take more than just one generation and more than just one race. If I help you now, I´m sure someday you´ll end up repaying that favour to someone else."

[Sutoratosu]

Lucille & Co., Raziel

"Oh, the bitch is awake alright..." she said, a crooked little grin on her face as she cracked her knuckles- a sound that was surpisingly loud as it carried through the night air. Whether she had amplified it simply to intimidate the prisoner on Bora's back, or simply for show, was nigh impossible to tell though. "I got him scared stiff, told him what I'd do if he didn't behave... you shouldn't have too much getting what you want out of him." As if to prove it, she turned to Bora and the captive angel, still flashing that rather... disturbing smile. It was hard to tell for certain in the dark, but... it almost seemed like her teeth were sharper than any humans should've been, their points shining like razors in the moonlight. A sight probably made only all the more worse for the prisoner by the fact of the cold and dead emptiness of her eyes...

"Isn't that right, bird boy?" She asked, rather cheerfully despite the obvious menace just beneath the surface, as if they were just playing a game..... a game of cat and mouse. "You're going to keep behaving, and answer anything Raziel here asks you, now won't you? And you'll do it truthfully and with a smile on your face...riiiiight? You've cooperated so well up to now, It'd be a shame if I had to...hurt you when you're so close to being done."

[Chevaleresse]

Gabriel sighed heavily, pondering for a moment. It was an odd sound to hear from a seeming child; it wasn't an expression of petulant frustration like one would normally expect. Am I really about to do this? I should know by now that it's hopeless, yet I cannot help but reach out for what looks like it anyway... "Okay. But, Lerodoch, you must promise me two things; firstly, tell nobody what I am about to tell you, and second, I must ask you not to jump to any hasty conclusions once I inform you of the symptoms." The difference between his previous tone and this was jarring; he had all but ceased to affect his childish persona, and while his voice wasn't actually different, it almost sounded as if it belonged to an entirely different individual.

[Ragnar]

Jesse, Cana's Playroom with her bodyguards pass out on the floor

"Sounds fun, but I'm afraid I have to decline..." Jesse reveals his visible self in front of the girl, utterly confused as the three guards went down and fall asleep in an instant. hypnosis perhaps? Jesse questions himself. "How about we play a different game instead, something that doesn't involve your eyes and somewhat relaxing..." Jesse kindly asked the child with a warm smile. "Like, uhm.. tell me something about yourself over a tea party, yeah a tea party..." Jesse snaps his fingers and gains an idea. "We could share stories and such. I'm sure you're pretty lonely here having to deal with your stuck up bodyguards all the time" Jesse said, wandering around her room and started to set up her tea party playset in front of her, gathering her stuff toys around the miniature table, stooping to the child's level of understanding to get some information.

"There, all set.. you can play the host," He said crossing his arms. "Well, aren't you gonna invite your guest and introduce yourself?" Jesse asked the girl nicely.

[IntSys]

Bargus

"That, I don't know. I got the information when they subdued the thug. Of all that I know, they might have taken the thug elsewhere to interrogate them." Bargus sighed. "By the way, have you eaten dinner yet?"

[Notus]

Lucille & Raziel

The angel shivered at that display of malevolence by Lucille, and he was hardly at fault by doing that. "Ye-yes, I´ll answer whatver you ask. But... I actually don´t know much about this whole thing..."

Jesse

"Well, aren't you gonna invite your guest and introduce yourself?"

Cana hurried to sit down on the other side of the table, then assumed a dignified air that actually looked plain funny on her childish face. "Good evening, Mr. Angel. Why don´t you come in and have some tea?" She welcomed him with a lower key voice and carried her movements a bit to much deribelately, trying to imitate Haze. "I´m miss Cana Vitalos, High Directress of Ravenmere Magic Academy and the best mage the world has ever seen! I welcome you to my humble dominion." She said, bowing exagerately.

Bargus

"By the way, have you eaten dinner yet?"

"No, I haven´t. Maybe we could talk this over over some food then? And if in any case you can contact your friends, I´d like very much to have a word with them about this case."

Gabriel

Ledoroch noticed Gabriel´s change in atittude, but other than raising an eyebrow he did nothing to demonstrate surprise. "No problem. I promise you I won´t tell anybody - I´m a doctor after all, that would be against my working ethics."

[InnocentSerenity]

“Us meeting like this will look suspicious!"

Karol

“More suspicious than a half-demon roaming around the streets of an Angel city?”

Karol squinted her eyes as she looked at the Cambion in front of her. “Listen, I expected little ol’ Missy to be lost on her own, so I thought I’d come looking to save ya.” Karol had a smirk on her face as she puffed out her chest, feeling important. “You should feel glad, you proved me wrong. Good job, Missy!”

“Got somethin’ to hide? You’re awfully scared of looking suspicious with a ‘twelve-year-old human girl‘ that knows you.” Karol gave her companion a sarcastic smile. Though, the large bag with a Sniper Rifle is probably pretty suspicious. Despite her thoughts, Karol didn’t admit anything.

“In any case, seems like you’re doing somethin’ around here. I’ll be keeping you in check for now, since I’d feel better knowing you’re doing something productive than just trusting you to be doing something.” Also, I’m kind of bored.

“Something fancy in that building over there?” Karol ran towards the signpost by the fancy archway. “’Marblegate Magic Studies Meeting’, huh? Think we should check it out? Seems like we might find some interesting stuff.” Karol looked towards Misara, waiting for a response from her.

Edited September 22, 2016 by InnocentBoy

[Cool Girl]

"Suit yourself!" said Misara as she pouted.

"And for your information, I am not a missy. I am a woman."

"I shall check out this place. Do whatever you want, but don't stand in my way!" she then said.

[Ragnar]

Jesse, Cana's playroom. Tea time bitches.

Jesse shrugs and decided to throw away his maturity out the window, and plays with Cana in her little tea party as her guest (roleplayception), showing a bit of his sensitive side to the lonely child.

"Thank you Directress Cana, you're too kind to invite me here." The angel courtly bows at the child and takes his place on the ground alongside with her dolls."Oh, right, where are my manners, I suppose I should introduce myself to such a lovely lady" He started.

"My name is Jesse,the angel of stillness, the saint of killers, A lethal guardian angel who shoots bad people from afar to protect the good ones for a living and I'll be your lovely guest at this evening." The sniper honestly describes himself to Cana, cause what the heck, she's a child. "And this is Mr....uhm..Eagle, It belongs to a friend of mine." Jesse said and briefly looks at he bird on shoulder giving it the look to play along.

"So, if you don't mind me asking, how did earn that prestigious title and how was your day in Marblegate so far, m'lady?" Jesse curiously asked while he leans his ridiculously small plastic cup in his hand towards Cana, suggesting to pour some imaginary tea in it.

[Chevaleresse]

Here goes nothing. "Well, to make a long and frankly quite unpleasant story short. . ." He lowered his voice until it was barely audible, checking to see if there were any unwanted listeners near before he continued. " I am a vampire, and have been such for many long years. I came to this conference hoping to find a cure, as all of my attempts to locate one myself have ran into dead ends. Before you ask or assume anything about me, I satisfy myself using livestock or wild animals - and no, synthetic blood does not work."

[IntSys]

Bargus

"Sure. I guess you have other men in the room too, otherwise you wouldn't leave Cana alone, would ya?" Bargus lead the way to the restaurant.

Central Hotel 2F, Restaurant

Chandeliers hanged over the tables and candles on the tables glowed orange, with the carpets and the wallpapers colored with red and brown, the whole restaurant was designed to get the appetite going! The waiter seemed to recognize the magic ID in their hands from afar, and immediately came to take them to an empty table.

Surprisingly, they use paper menus here.

Bargus quickly read the menu and put it down, waiting for a waiter to come and take their orders. "Ah, where was I...oh yes, one of the friends I spoke of is staying here with me tonight. I doubt if he would actually sit there and relax, though." He smirked and continued. "It's all right. I'm sure he will come back sooner or later, and when that happens, I'll have him meet with ya."

[Sutoratosu]

Lucille, Raziel, Prisoner [outside the Bell Tower]

"Good, good little bird boy~" she chimed eerily, her voice carrying a hollow, resounding ring to it almost like a literal bell, the mere sound of it probably enough to make the angel's head begin to spin... Raziel probably could've felt something of it's effects as well, standing so close. The lingering resonance stopped soon enough though, as she frowned at the mention of ignorance. She could tell from his pulse that he was being honest on that front, sadly. "Well then... whatever, it doesn't matter how much you might know, just that you give him everything you do know... simply play along like the good little man-pidgeon you are, and I'll let you go back to whatever miserable existence you had before your little crime spree...well, minus the ability to ever use your sigil magic again, but eh, that's justice for you..."

With that said, she turned back to Raziel, her teeth reverting back to human form near instantly, demeanor nigh completely void of the menacing air of predation that had been so easily exhibited just moments earlier. Almost as if it was as easy for her as flipping a switch

"See?" She said. "He's whipped; he might not have much to give you, but whatever he does will flow like water. So...you do know the way to the meeting point, don't you? 'Cause I certainly don't, been busy babysitting this dolt ever since we caught him..."

Jesse, Aquila Senpai [Canna's Tea Party]

The golden eagle again glared at the angel as he called her a "Mister". Unlike the last time though, rather than issue a few sharp bitch slaps, she restrained herself to digging her talons a bit deeper into his flesh- still not enough to draw blood, but still sufficient to communicate her agitation...fucking referring to her as a male... the nerve of it; Mistress Lucille was completely blind, and yet, even she had identified her correctly... this sharp shooting vagrant had no excuse, other than plain being too much of a lazy bum to notice.

Of course, she failed to take into account the fact that the Mistress had a far more intimate and spiritual connection with her right off the bat than merely being a shoulder ornament, and knew just what she was from the feeling of her soul...but still...

rude much....

[krim]

Lucille, Raziel, Prisoner

Raziel couldn't help but grin at the blind girl's methods. While he wasn't fond of torturing, he could certainly provide it, and knew just how menacing that kind of threat could be. He got a bit of a headache on her last words though - some type of mind numbing effect, he thought - but it quickly disappeared. "Good, good. I don't need much from him, honestly. He should remember the sigils that he used at the very least...right, friend?" he said, throwing a glare in the angels general direction. "Anyways. I'm not sure as to the exact location, but I recall our allies saying something about a hotel. If I had to guess, I'd say Central. It's the largest and closest to the middle of the city. That way." he pointed in the direction he came from.

[Jory]

Jarvis

"That depends- what do you plan on gaining by being a thick-skulled imbecile?" Jarvis spat at the man. How dare he insult Jarvis's honor with such slanderous accusations. "My slow-minded friend, we are the light in the darkness, the vorpal blade of honorable intent which seeks to skewer the very heart of this pervasive evil. We are evidently working toward the same end, so why must you insist on making such disreputable claims?" He slapped the man hard across the face, leaving a stinging red welt on his cheek. "Were we your enemies, I can assure you only that you would already be dead. Drop your facade of machismo and help the enemy of your enemies!"

[M_Cowher]

Rhaeza

"Wait, you've been given exact descriptions of us?" Rhaeza said, after Jarvis's satisfying smack across their new friend's face. "If this is true, then my original suspicion may very well be true. There has to be a traitor in the leadership of the alliance, or at least a well informed member. Not just anyone knew about our counterinsurgent group here." The thought of a member of the alliance causing these attacks alone was disturbing, but high enough to know about their task force? 'There is a real problem here, if only we had some way of warning Vermillio. If we really want to stop these attacks, we may have to go way farther than stopping the attacks here.' He thought, realizing how daunting of a task it would be if this were true.

[Sutoratosu]

Lucille, Raziel ((I'ma just move us on real quick))

"Oh...right..." She sighed in agitation. "I think I did hear someone say something about a hotel at some point...figures...fine, no point wasting anymore time here." With that said, she hopped back on bora and the bear started treading through the shadows like a wraith in the night, eyes burning their ire filled crimson. The girl didn't have to look behind her to know the mage was following, nor could she have even if she wanted to. His scent and the beat of his wings was indication enough.

***********************************************

She pulled the bear to a halt as Des squeked and pointed at one of the buildings coming up in the distance, sending her his vision of the sign. Lucille glanced back Raziel before giving their prisoner a rough kick to the chest as she turned on Bora's back; nothing so powerful a blow as to break bones or cause any type of real injury, but certainly forceful enough to send the man off balance and falling to the cobblestone ground, right beside Raziel.

"There it is..." She said, staring at the magus with those hollow eyes "I trust you can take care of getting him inside and finding the others. I've got to find a place to hide four tons of fur and muscle...there's no way he's getting in there without causing too much of a stir. I only wish I didn't have to go in either..."

The last part was muttered under her breath, just barely audible enough for Raziel to catch it as she turned and headed further down the street. Despereaux's gleaming eyes could be seen peering from the shoulder of her garbs, sight peircing through the dark like it was nothing as he scoped out potential areas of concealment. Hopefully it would go over better than it had last time, they still had quite a bit of work in this city... though again, that incident had been more or less her own fault in the end, so...

[krim]

Lucille, Raziel, Prisoner

"I know how that feels." Raziel muttered. There was a great deal of research to be done, and the night was short. He hoped that the prisoner had what he needed so he could be on his way. Helping the angel to his feet, he said "You're going to follow me now, understand? I don't need you making a scene, so shut up and act like my mute brother." before pushing him ahead into the hotel and making his way to the front desk. "Excuse me, but there didn't happen to be a demon through here this night, would there? His name is Bargus. My brother here" - he glanced at the prisoner - "and I need to see him for a business meeting." he asked.

[Notus]

Jarvis & Rhaeza

The combinination of Jarvis´ slap and Rhaeza´s sincerely surprised statement seemed to get across to the man and make him a bit more conversation-friendly. He massaged his cheek where Jarvis had hit, and gave them a suspicious look. "What, then you´re really after the killers too? Under whose command are you working? Do you have any credentials to prove what you´re saying?"

Jesse

"Well, of me the best mage of course, the title says it! And beating Miss Valerie in combat for the Academy, when I do that - I mean, when I did that - I got mister Haze to be my servant and buy me all the toys I wanted! Yeah, that´s it." she said, stuffing her chest and raising her chin in a pretty comic attempt to look proud. Then she resumed answering the second question. "Oh, and this city stinks! Everyone treats me as a little kid. There´s all those adults acting like they know it all, and Mr. Haze doesn´t let me play on the streets. I´m here just for watching classes after all..."

Bargus

Haze took a glance towards the door and exitated a bit before following Bargus, but ultimately left Cana on the care of his subordinates, oblivious to what happened inside the room.
....................

The waiter arrived soon, and Haze asked for an appetizer and water. "Well then, I´d be really interested in talking with this friend of yours. Actually, your group looks quite interesting, judging from the ones I´ve seen at least. What are you looking for in Marblegate?"

Gabriel

Now Ledoroch raised both eyebrows, unable to hide his surprise. Still, it didn´t go past that gesture. "Oh well, I thought I sensed something... odd about you, but never thought that would be the case." He told Gabriel. Then, realizing he might have sounded rude, he continued. "I apologize. Actually, you´re not the first case I´ve seen of a vampire wanting treatment for their condition. I understand it must be a terrible burden for you, but unfortunately I still haven´t found a way to revert that... At least not with blood magic alone. I could try a complete blood transfusion , but once someone becomes a vampire, the body itself transforms too much for me to do anything." He sighed. "Maybe I could do something if I worked in tandem with someone able to modify your body. That would be quite the intrusive process though."

Misara & Karol

The inside of the mountain, although having many ellaborate carvings on the walls, was mostly wide rocky corridors and rooms of the same blueish white stone. It looked like a gigantic cave complex, with the corridors having enough space for a crowd to get past them without any problems.
They got past some rooms being prepared for the lectures that would take place in the following days, all of them spacious and full of confortable chairs, and ended up in a huge pair of metalic doors, with the sign 'Ceremony Hall' hanging on the wall beside it. Soon after their arrival, an angel came out of the room looking at a clipboard with a concentrated expression. Seeing the girls, he stopped what he was doing and talked to them. "Oh hello, are you here for the meeting? Can I help you with something?"

Raziel

"Bargus? Oh yes, I think we´ve got a guest that fits your description. Just a minute." The angel at the counter checked some light screens and then resumed answering Raziel "It seems he is on the restaurant, sir. Do you want me to take you there?"

[IntSys]

Bargus

Bargus gave the waiter his orders - A medium well plate of steak, and a jug of root beer. He looked back at Haze, hesitating for a second before answering. "Well...I'd imagine you getting involved sooner or later." He sighed. "We're hunting down a group of assassins, aiming to create strife among the races." He said it at a particularly quiet voice, making sure no one else overheard him.

"Considering you're a bodyguard yourself, you should take care."

[Chevaleresse]

Gabriel breathed an audible sigh of relief despite the rather lukewarm answer. "There is no need to apologize; I consider myself fortunate that you didn't go for some sort of sharp implement." He laughed ruefully once or twice, shaking his head slightly. "Still, it seems that you at least have some sort of idea, which does make me hopeful. I wasn't lying when I said I have researched healing magic in the manner I described, in the eventual hope that I would find a way to modify a bodily template in such a way that the changes would persist after the enchantment was removed. I haven't had access to prolonged time to study, however, I am sure you understand." Gabriel continued to cast about, ready to assume his childish persona immediately upon someone approaching. "I would continue to discuss this, but sadly I am actually here for other tasks. Once they are dealt with, I will seek you out, if that is acceptable to you of course. I must be going soon." He offered a polite bow to the demon, and started to leave. "Oh, and as I alluded to previously, do seek me or my 'father' out if you run across anyone particularly suspicious, and try to avoid being left alone. Suffice to say that the city may not be as safe as one may believe." If Lerodoch didn't say anything necessitating a response, Gabriel would leave, and begin the process of locating Jorgen and hopefully meeting up with the rest of the party.

[InnocentSerenity]

Karol

“I gotta say, this place looks nice. Who knew caves made nice meeting places?” Karol checked to make sure her Rifle was safely hidden in her bag. She would rather not look suspicious at such a formal place.

Karol noticed the angel coming in their direction, whispering in Misara’s ear. “Follow my lead, Missy.”

"Oh hello, are you here for the meeting? Can I help you with something?"

“Why, yes, my name is Karol Barnes, and this is my younger sister, Misara.” Karol felt no reason to hide her name. She doubted anyone would trouble her simply because they knew her name. “We got a bit lost, and I forgot to bring a watch, so if we’re late for anything, I apologize.” Karol leaned toward the angel’s ear, pretending to not want Misara to hear. “Misara took me awhile to find when we split up, so she apologizes, not me.”

“Now, if you don’t mind maybe taking my sister and I on a tour, we’d truly appreciate that.”

Edited September 27, 2016 by InnocentBoy

[Cool Girl]

Karol noticed the angel coming in their direction, whispering in Misara’s ear. “Follow my lead, Missy.”

“Why, yes, my name is Karol Barnes, and this is my younger sister, Misara.” Karol felt no reason to hide her name. She doubted anyone would trouble her simply because they knew her name. “We got a bit lost, and I forgot to bring a watch, so if we’re late for anything, I apologize.” Karol leaned toward the angel’s ear, pretending to not want Misara to hear. “Misara took me awhile to find when we split up, so she apologizes, not me.”

“Now, if you don’t mind maybe taking my sister and I on a tour, we’d truly appreciate that.”

The hell, girl?! Oh well, I'll just go with her plan for now. Misara thought

Edited September 27, 2016 by Cool Girl

[Ragnar]

Jesse, Cana's tea party

As Cana begins to explain, Jesse felt the Aquilla's sharp talons pinching deep on his shoulder. He winced, almost cussing in front of the child from the pain. Jesse bites his lips and casually tries to shrugs it off. 'What the hell is your problem?' He said by the looks of his eyes, briefly glaring at the moody bird with an annoyed expression on his face. The boy is still clueless about on what's upsetting this feather beast or its gender for that matter. All Jesse knows is, it responds whenever she dislikes something he does. Jesse then quickly turns his attention to Cana with a smile and a nod,as if nothing happen, trying to hide this little conflict between him and the eagle.

"Oh, and this city stinks! Everyone treats me as a little kid. There´s all those adults acting like they know it all, and Mr. Haze doesn´t let me play on the streets. I´m here just for watching classes after all..."

"I'm sure he's only doing it for your safety, seeing he's entitled on guarding the best mage in the world" He said to Cana, riding along on what the girl said from earlier. "and for a good reason too, Not everyone in the city of angels is a saint you know." He said

Best mage huh? Noted. but not convinced. Jesse thought to himself as he pretends to take a sip in his cup. But even so, She is still a high priority target for the criminals out there. seeing she comes in this city with a buttload of bodyguards like some famous person or something. Im sure there's a reason why there's a tight security around her.

"so, what's a high wizard such as yourself doing in marblegate anyways? surely you must have a tight schedule and a lot of responsibilities on upholding that prestigious title"

Edited September 27, 2016 by Ragnar