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[Ilyse]

 

Chapter Four: The Idea of Sorrow

 

“I still see things that are not here. I just choose not to acknowledge them. Like a diet of the mind, I just choose not to indulge certain appetites; like my appetite for patterns; perhaps my appetite to imagine and to dream.”

 

-John Nash, A Beautiful Mind

 

Outside the Atlanta Police Department

Atlanta, Georgia

Time: 9:24

 

The mysterious man remained silent in response to what most would perceive a poor attempt to disguise a rude greeting, but if he was offended, he didn’t show it. Rather, the man opened up the Buick’s back passenger door, indicating that he wanted them to go inside. It didn’t seem like that he was going to hurt them or anything, so the three of them entered the back seats as the man entered the driver’s seat.

 

“Well, Minerva, Gideon, and Anabelle, I trust this mission went pretty well for you to end up behind the bars.”

 

A voice filled with amusement and just plain mockery came from the passenger seat in front of the three. A brown-haired boy sat there, a long sword leaning against his shoulder and pressed on the floor underneath the glove compartment. Dressed in the ceremonial magi clothing of the Verditius family, Geoffrey du Pont – both the current heir to the Du Pont family fortune from the French writer Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours and the current master of House Verditius – looked back at the passengers he had just freed with a smile.

 

Spoiler

 

“Well, I guess in the big picture, all of you are still considered rookies, so with getting away from Odette Lyons with your heads on your shoulders is something of an accomplishment, I guess. William, start driving.”

 

The silent man named William nodded as he started the engine, and began driving away from the police department. Reaching inside his coat, Geoffrey removed a folder and passed it to Gideon, who sat between Anabelle and Minerva. Opening up the file, there were several pieces of papers that seemed to be a report regarding Odette Lyons, as well as five pictures attached to the top by paperclip – one of the photos featuring the magi that had gotten away.

 

“I’m not sure why Monsieur Gregory had you go after Odette Lyons, but rest assured, he won’t be giving you lethal missions. None of us may like any of you three, but you’re all still my responsibility, and I’ll keep you safe.”

 

Flipping through the folder, it seemed that Odette Lyons was a rather ordinary woman, and nothing in the report seemed to indicate that she held any magic potential. She had once been the victim of a sexual assault some years ago, and had a grandmother who was murdered by the “Butcher Baker” in Anchorage, Alaska. It would seem that she had been only two at the time, and her mom was a mentally unstable woman, whose condition worsened upon seeing the mangled and ruin corpse of her own mother during her pregnancy. Naturally, she had a very abusive parent, and the father was out of the question.

 

The sexual assault was an irony, given that her grandmother had been violated prior to her murder, and in some way or another, Odette Lyons changed. She had recovered from the experience surprisingly quickly, and with almost no “repercussions”, she resumed her daily life except it seemed her appetite for one-night stands increased exponentially, eventually leading to her escort services in Atlanta.

 

“The other three pictures to Odette’s right are three other companions we suspect are similar to her – they were transformed into mages because of the presence of ‘Aleph’.”

 

All three passengers saw the picture to the left of Odette’s, a hooded man with gray skin whose face was more or less hidden except for the evil gleam shining bright from within the darkness of his hood. The rumors circling the magical community seemed to imply that the hooded man had essentially become the very essence of magic itself; the madness of manipulating the rules of the world and tampering with realms far above mankind.

 

“We began calling their little group ‘The Fiend’s Society’, but they seem to forgo the idea of having a name to call themselves. However, it had been difficult to follow all five of those people’s moves, and one of them really concerns me, the picture that is second-to-last on the right.”

 

Gideon unclipped the picture from the folder and held it up to make it more visible to those in the backseat. It was an Asian boy wearing something of a sleeveless hoodie, with what is probably permanent bed head and tired-looking eyes.

 

Spoiler

 

“His name is Won-chul Cho, a Korean high school student whose parents had been living overseas in Japan for a few years now. He disappeared in Shenzhen, China, a few weeks back, and we have been unable to find him. He attained a very strange power – it’s reminiscent of House Ex Miscellanea’s magic, you know, the creation of separate space.”

 

As Gideon clipped the photo back into the folder, he passed it back to Geoffrey, who grabbed it without looking back. Tucking away the folder, Geoffrey stretched his arms upwards, groaning with satisfaction. The car came to a stop right outside Minerva and Gideon’s hotel. Exiting out of the car, Geoffrey wagged his finger at the passengers in the back seat.

 

“This here is my stop, William Gorman here will be employing you three in his uh, new ‘Thoth Covenant’. Don’t worry, Anabelle, I made the arrangements over many phone calls to your employers. It’s quite an honor, William here was the one who managed to get so close to catching your father, Minerva. I like to joke that William is hunting himself, get it? They share the same name! Haaaa…I should’ve been a comedian.”

 

And chuckling to himself, Geoffrey closed the door and walked into the building, tapping his sword on his shoulder while jauntily whistling. The glass door closed behind the boy’s retreating form, and then William Gorman began driving the car forward, his destination being Nebraska – the location of the current Thoth Covenant base.

 

_________________

 

Airplane to Haneda Airport

Closer to Tokyo than Shengzhen

Time: 5:40

 

The chattering stopped, and so the did the sounds of the insects hiding in the darkness. Soon, all doubt cleared from Max’s mind – there were no insects, and all of this had just been some disgusting magic that tried to penetrate his mind through fear. But alas, the boy that liked to call himself Nesuferitu had picked the wrong targets.

 

Or did he actually pick the correct ones?

 

The airplane began to phase out of existence, and everything began to change in front of the four magi sitting on the plane. Nicole was still asleep, unnoticing of anything, and to Rudy, this was actually strange – no matter the barrier strength, magic that seemed to alter their very perception of reality should be enough to wake her up, but she would not awaken. The boy seemingly ignored Rudy, and as he bent downwards to pick up the game console, all the people simply dissipated into the darkness, as if they had never been there this entire time. After dusting the handheld, Won-chul Cho remained silent for a moment while the plane continued to disappear into the darkness.

 

“Well, I guess the butler who isn’t even part of House Ex Miscellanea was the only one willing to play the game, but I’ve got to admit that you’re right, Jonathan: it was a dumb game, and I do feel bad for bringing it up.”

 

And everything in the plane then disappeared – the seats, the passengers, even the barrier-covered Nicole disappeared into nothingness. Max and Jonathan ended up finding themselves standing, with no chairs underneath them, before the darkness seemingly drifted into the boy, revealing a desert with a giant, stone head right behind the Won-chul.

 

“I was getting bored of the fact that none of you seemed to have realized you were trapped in my magic the moment you boarded that private jet. It’s a little late now, but welcome to my Phantasmagoria. My name is Won-chul Cho, one of the three who are destined to completely obliterate this world.”

 

Won-chul then disappeared from sight, vanishing in place only to reappear right behind Jonathan, with the latter’s sunglasses in his hand. Examining the glasses, Won-chul scoffed before crushing them in his hands, letting the pieces fall into the sand.

 

“Cheap.”

 

Before Jonathan could react, Won-chul vanished once more, to appear behind Rudy. Shoving the bearded mage into the ground, Won-chul began stomping on his back, his neutral and bored expression unchanging.

 

“Not entertaining.”

 

Sighing, Won-chul vanished once more and reappeared on the top of the giant stone head, which resembled that of a demonic lion. Won-chul sat down, legs crossed while staring down at the three mages with disdain in his eyes.

 

“It’s surprising just how little your boss saw. I was one of the two ‘bodyguards’ – I got rid of the one I disguised myself to be – and I made this whole realm while putting your sleeping bodies into a private jet headed for Tokyo. Do I want to stop you? Not really, there’s no fun in that, but like always, the first level is just so boring. So I wanted to watch you guys, but I’m honestly no game designer, and the ‘I, Spy’ we just played was pretty poorly made, I’ll give you that.”

 

With a yawn, Won-chul snapped his fingers, and the whole desert disappeared in a black smoke, along with Won-chul. The darkness was everywhere, and there was nothing to stand on, nothing to grab on, and nothing to see.

 

Rudy was the first to wake up, startling Nicole as he jerked upwards while she was reading a novel. Max awoke soon after, with Jonathan waking up last – of course, Jonathan was the only one that really had any rest from that. The private jet that Caixia had chartered began to land in Haneda Airport, and as it turned out, Nicole actually wasn’t scared of airplanes – much to Rudy’s disappointment.

 

A pretty-looking man bowed to them, standing next to a luxurious black car as the four passengers stepped out of the plane.

 

“I am Koshima. Welcome to Tokyo, members of House Ex Miscellanea. Hsia-san, you will follow him for your ride to your new apartment. These three will come with me into the car towards the ‘Marduk Covenant’.”

 

As Nicole departed, with a brief ‘good-bye’ to Rudy, Koshima opened the door to the limousine, inviting the guests inside.

 

___________________

 

Café Milton

Paris, France

Time: 16:54

 

So his name was Mikey. That was short for Michael, right? Alaina was about to ask him for his last name, but the woman leaving the café building responding to Mikey’s gesture for a waiter was perhaps the most gorgeous woman she ever saw, and it made her words hide within her throat.

 

Spoiler

 

The patroness, Sienna Milton, smiled at the young man and woman; despite being of European descent, she wore a purple kimono and a flower ornament in her hair reminiscent of a classic yamato nadeshiko from Japan. Of course, Alaina felt strangely outclassed – maybe because she was younger, but in terms of attractive characteristics, Alaina definitely felt a tier below the patroness.

 

“Oh, taking her out for a drink here? Monsieur, you do know how to make the ladies feel more refined!”

 

As Sienna giggled, Alaina spotted a light coming from the patroness that startled her – it was the same light as a “magician”. Standing up, Alaina grabbed Sienna by the shoulders and raised her voice, demanding in French.

 

“You’re a mage, aren’t you?”

 

Sienna didn’t look startled by Alaina’s accusation, but instead her smile widened in response, and she threw her arms around Alaina, surprising the girl in return. In French, Sienna welcomed Alaina with a ton of affection.

 

“My dear Alaina, how I watched you grow – I could never try and help out, due to my duties, but I have not known you become aware of yourself! And this young man is also a mage, is he not? Although it seems he is recently awakened…”

 

As Sienna continued to prattle on to the shocked Alaina, Michael could barely understand a word being exchanged in the conversation. Unfortunately, Michael wasn’t French, and did not know the French language. However, should he interrupt them? Perhaps they might be discussing what happened earlier?

 

Although, if they were, that’s actually pretty scary.

Edited by Ilyse, 07 February 2015 - 06:56 PM.

[Wasted]

Yvette van Rooyen

Oddweird

 

Whatever turn the story was bound to take after she and her new companion had jumped the window of the building nothing could have prepared Yvette for where they ended up after landing in the dumpster. Her expectations would have certainly contained such a fresh piney fragrance for one. Being displaced from the center of Johannesburg to the middle of some kind of enchanted forest was also far from anything she could have imagined. Although there was a chance that the forest itself wasn't it enchanted, but Yvette felt it was safe to assume based on the talking rabbit creature.

 

Yvette prided herself on her quick thinking and ability to adapt to changes, but the feeling of displacement took some time for her to acclimate. This was further exacerbated by the feeling of depression that had come over her ever since they had woken to find themselves in the forest. For some reason she blamed the twisted glowing true for her misfortune as she sunk into crippling despair. Yvette did not know whether she or the man would have been able to leave had the rabbit not saved them, such was the oppressive nature surrounding the tree.

 

The haasie (Rabbit) was actually kind of cute, but extremely surreal.

 

“I wouldn't go near that thing if I were you – it drove Mister Criamon mad after he tried to examine it – we faeries call it the Idea of Sorrow, and we like to steer clear from it. Oh, right, where’s my manners! My name is Baggins the Faerie Rabbit, and welcome to the Faerie Realm!”

 

It was a lot to take in and Yvette wasn't sure what the rabbit was on about other than that the glowing tree was dangerous so she latched onto the one familiar aspect of his introduction.

 

"A Baggins huh? Yvette van Rooyen, pleased to meet you. You don't look much like a hobbit though...is this Middle Earth? I mean I know Tolkien was born in SA, but this seems a little too...far removed from what I'm used. Down the rabbit hole if you'll excuse the pun."

 

She was rambling she realized, but it helped her work through the situation and come to terms with it. She was conversing with a rabbit that seemed to have human level intelligence so why not simply treat it the same. Yvette wondered if this rabbit...Baggins, had any connection to the thugs that had kidnapped her. It had mentioned something about fairies. Is that were they were then? Some kind of magical realm? It seemed the man with her had similar questions.

 

"Realms and Faeries? Are you telling me these things actually exist? And what or who in the world is Criamon?"

 

"Criamon sounds like a person from his explanation, perhaps someone of import since he is well known," reasoned Yvette, "but I'm more concerned with why we are, and not in an existential way, more in a how the fuck we came to this location and for what reason kind of way."

[KDPtheKing]

From Darkness To Light
DeShaun Campbell

The plan failed horribly. The nutcase chased after the boy as though he wanted that kid's butt. Pedobear look in his eye would scare anyone who looked. The as they others chased the man, they could tell, THE THIRST IS STRONG WITH THIS ONE.

As they ran, the darkness behind followed. The two in front seemed to get farther and farther away and the plan was falling apart right before their eyes. It was like the revenge DeShaun was after was going to end with a casualty. On top of that, the eerie feeling behind him just grew and grew, which made DeShaun run even faster. Though they didn't know it, the darkness behind was about to be a blessing...sort of.

Eventually, the kid was caught. The man had him in hit mitts. Yet, in a flash of panic, the kid saved himself by slashing the man in the face, causing the man to release the boy and freeing little man from pedodoom. The man fell down yelling in pain as DeShaun and the other three ran straight over him.....literally. No one stopped to get a second lick, instead, they just kept running to the proverbial "Light at the end of the Tunnel." But it actually was. The group
Had finally escaped from the PEDOBEAR's den and everyone was safe. Well as safe as they could be.

Just when one roller coaster was over, another one starter. Out of nowhere, a man in a red outfit shows up all epic-Iike and grabs him and he older girl and warps away to a building on top of a city. The change as so quick, DeShaun wasn't able to grasp the change immediately. Did we just....from there.....to here.....why...how....home please?. He was at a lost for words as not even his mind could formulate thoughts to ask the question. Just as he was getting his bearings, he was then again whisked away to another location.

This time, the location was more serene. A farm where the entire place was quiet except for the wind. It was nice to be there instead of that cave too. However his mind only wandered to Janice. The image of his mentor dying right in front of him. No, being slain right in front of him replayed over and over followed closely by the shooting of his two friends in a loop. Tears formed on his face but he held them in as he was done crying. The emotions were still there but he couldn't continue to to mourn, at least not yet. But he remembered them, opening his locket on his chain, DeShaun also pulled out his wallet and got the picture of Janice out to look at. "I guess I need to get a third compartment for Janice now too. Hehe." He let out a light laugh to try and ease his nerves. Then the man spoke about a Covenant of some sort.

"The Thoth....Covenant? Don't tell me we're dealing with those kind of people.". The girl who was with him said as she questioned what was going on. Yet the words didn't come out clear to him as he came back into the conversation near the end of it.

"THOT Covenant? Who the heck made a club for THOTS? Moreso, why are you taking us there?" However, the man was gone and the girl had followed after him. Seeing that, DeShaun hopped up and followed quickly behind. Once he caught up with the girl, he decided to finally speak out and introduce himself, though he wasn't sure if she would bite his head off or not, he just did what he normally does, be cordial.

"Hey, I'm DeShaun.". He said as he caught up to her. "That was very quick thinking back there. Sorry about my anger, I had never been so pissed off before in my life.". That was obviously a lie but he normally doesn't lose his cool like he just did. "Thanks for cooling me down back there. That was really cool, Ya know?". He said sticking out his left hand, showing his bracelet that his father had given him. Not on purpose but because DeShaun was a lefty.

[SliceAndDice]

 

The man who seemed responsible didn't react to anything said or done by the trio. He simply smiled, opened the door of the car, and beckoned them inside. Annabel skipped ahead of the other two, and given recent events and declarations Gideon thought it wise to provide a buffer between her and Minerva. As he climbed in, however, he caught sight of the man in the passenger seat and suddenly began to understand just what was going on. Geoffrey du Pont- Minerva's uncle, Basillia's acquaintance, and head of Verditius itself, was responsible for providing the bail. Gideon's shoulders noticeably tensed up once he knew what was going on. Seeing Geoffrey in person always irked him, primarily because he looked no older than 16 years. And taking orders from somebody who looked so much younger than him, with all the apparent ignorance and arrogance of adolescence to match, felt wrong regardless of which way he sae it from. Sure enough, the first words out of Geoffrey's mouth were mocking tones that made it clear exactly what he thought of them.

 

"There were some... complications. Namely that Ms Lyons possesses magic, in spite of the intel we were given."  He managed to stop himself from adding "by you." Opinions and juvenile temperaments aside, this was still a person whose bad side was to be avoided.

 

The folder he handed back to Gideon contained little added information on Odette Lyons. The sexual assault cases were previously unknown, but everything else had been in the dossier he and Minerva had received prior to leaving home. The other photos, however... those were new. As was the picture of Aleph, the man who could apparently grant magic to ordinary people. It was all very troubling. And once again, Geoffrey was displaying his youthful love for what could only be a slightly more grown up version of "I know something you don't know na na na, na naaaaaaaa na" as he exited the vehicle and left them in William's care. As the car sped off, Gideon broke the silence after a short while.

 

"Very well. Mr Goreman, would you mind informing us what this Thoth Covenant is, and what it has to do with this boy that has Lord Verditius so concerned?"

[Officer Judy Hopps]

Minerva Fairchild

 

A Long Drive

 

With little more than silence, Minerva followed the man's guidance to enter the vehicle. Annabelle stepped in first, Gideon second, and she moved last. Within it was someone she had hoped to never see. Her uncle. Instantaneously, her jaw fastened tight and her gaze cast itself out to the window while her eyes immediately went distant. Folding her arms stubbornly, Minerva didn't utter a single word as he spoke in such a mocking tone. She would not give him the satisfaction of her uprising against his comments, his unfairness.

 

In fact, he didn't even get a reaction for the description of these new rising adversaries. They were targets, nothing more to Minerva. Though it might not have seemed to be, she was intently listening to every moment, every intention. And every scathing tone her uncle put forward.

 

This was how it had always been since she had joined the family. For years, it had been bites of passive aggressive bitterness, of which she had weathered for years now.  Slowly, but surely, it had evolved in to far more scathing comments, and still, she endured the lot of it. However, it was not in her to refuse to show her discontent with it. Yet the moment he mentioned the name William, her head swiftly snapped to first her Uncle, and second to the Driver.

 

Her eyes narrowed annoyingly, her gaze sharpening tightly upon the driver for a few moments. Without a doubt, her Uncle noticed, judging by the widening mocking grin upon him.

 

Even still, fuming with righteous and fair anger, Minerva said not a word. With her arms still guardedly folded and her father's saber resting against her thigh. Waiting for this miserable ride to end. However, she had but only one question, and that was for the Driver.

 

"How do I find him?"

Edited by The Hawk's Eye, 08 February 2015 - 03:26 AM.

[Darkoda]

Anabelle

The subtle and the direct

 

Their rescuer didn’t say a word at all, simply opening the door and pointing for them to enter. Ah well, why not, might as well find out why they were sprung and all. With her typical devil may care nature, Anabelle entered the car, watching the young kid who she had no idea about who he was supposed to be although she certainly did know where she’d seen that kind of clothing before; it was a similar uptight fashion to the Tytallus higher ups, ceremonial magi clothing. So they were definitely bailed out by a mage family and given how she didn’t recognise him at all, probably the Verditus family. The reactions of her friends all but confirmed it.

 

She was only there for a moment and it was obvious enough that there were some issues between this person and those two. Taking into consideration what bits she knew about Minerva’s family situation, she could make a reasonable guess to who this person was. Or not, it didn’t matter much in the grand scheme of things.

 

“Hmm, that’s one way to put it. I can’t say that playing with the police was a total waste though not having to stage a prison break was nice.”

 

For all that the mage head was playing at mockery, Anabelle wasn’t exactly prone to being cowed, or for keeping her tongue in check and given the lack of attempts from either of the two to stop her, she was going to deal with this how she dealt with anything; by saying what came to mind and rolling with the punches.

 

“It’s nice to know that we’re being looked after despite your weird passive aggressiveness though; good to know that family heads can put their issues aside and not do things like send people on missions with blatantly wrong information. That reminds me, I need to give a few dear handlers food poisoning at some point.....” Everything from her tone to her expressions were the picture of sincerity, enough that anyone who didn’t know her might actually have to question if she was being serious or mocking the guy right back. For her part, Anabelle was a bit more interested in the history of this Odette Lyons now.

 

“A girl with cause to hate the world empowered by the most dangerous magical terrorist out there. Well that explains a few things.”

 

Then the file was returned and the guy mentioned how she’d been transferred over to this Thoth Covenant, whatever that was. “Really? Well then things are getting more and more interesting. By the way, who are you?  I mean I can take a guess but if I judge you based on your similarities to the Tytallus head, I’d have to admit that there is a pattern in magic family heads being thinly veiled assholes and I don’t want to lose my running bet with Minerva. No really, I’d rather not have to wear an outfit of her choice for a day, she’d probably stick me in some silly robe or something.”

 

When whoever he was finally left, Anabelle watched him walk away, another question on her lips. “How do you guys avoid getting into police trouble all the time, walking around with swords like that?”

[Diabolical Rhapsody]

 

Marut Zvijer

 

A lot of things happened before they were brought up to a swanky private jet, out in a beaten down hanger. Though the gash had ripped a good part of his jacket, it was only a flesh wound on his chest. So when the redhead went and patched up the gypsy girl instead, Marut took the opportunity to step out of the vehicle and admire the machine in all its glittering beauty.

 

Growing up in an impoverished part of Istanbul and then making a living in the grime and rat-infested back alleys of Zagreb and Bucharest. Marut had, not in his wildest dreams, ever hoped to live the kind of life he was seeing in front of him. If his father had enjoyed all this and left his mother to toil and break under the bludgeoning of fate that she finally succumbed to, he felt all the more angry now. He wanted to wring his throat now.

 

But that thought was put to rest as the redhead leaned close and whispered what he didn't want to hear. That the tracking was also magical and that whatever organisation she was from didn't know the whereabouts of his father.

 

'Fuckin rat!! I swear I'll find you and suck the life out of you' he mumbled to himself as the redhead receded back and addressed everyone. 

 

Not caring to look if the others followed, Marut simply picked up his bag and went into the jet. Seating himself at a plush recliner as the lovely ladies came up, one by one. He lounged in the chair as the redhead spoke again. Offering them all a wonder drink or so he thought by the way she said it.. He picked up the bottle without a second thought and downed it in one shot.

 

He felt his eyes get heavy and a warmth of a smile radiate his face as he closed his eyes and reclined as back as he could. It was truly magic for the drink tasted exactly like the Boza his mother made for him when he was eight. That whiff of cinnamon, the fermented taste of chickpeas and the coolness he felt in his tract were all strangely nostalgic.

 

He was a man who hadn't cried in ages, even when his mother died he had just kept his head about and gave her a proper goodbye. In all his years since, he had worked hard to cultivate this hard coconut like exterior which suddenly with one shot had cracked and melted. A few moist tears lined his closed eyelids slowly forming a mini lake as they gathered in the trough where his eyes were in regards to his cheekbones. His mind went back to the last embrace he had with his mother, a small smile gracing his scarred features as he just left the world be.

 

'The Thoth Covenant! looks like a nifty place' 

[Imnostrong]

Unknown Location
Unknown City, Unknown Country
Time: Unknown
 
Iam sat down
 
Still trying to make sense of what just happened.

He was running with his live.

pushing his leg to it's limit.

the plan was for him to distract the man while the other land the finishing blow.
 
but the mad man caught up to him, leaving his fellow kidnapee while waving his scalpel around and letting out a terrible laugh
 
he could hear that the laugh is getting nearer and nearer until....
 
his shoulder were grabbed

Iam touch his shoulder...
 
He could still feel the mad man grip...
 
He remembered that he instinctively waved his rusty scalpel in panic
 
and he accidentally cut the madman face..
 
the plan had failed, but the objective was achieved
 
he dropped the rusty scalpel and continue to run.
 
until he reached the end of the tunnel...
 
he look back..
 
there's only one girl with him.
 
the other girl and the black man were nowhere to be seen.
 
only two of us survived?
 
Damn...
 
as he regret of what had happened
 
a boy with dark bags under his eyes and earphones plugged into his ears walked over, yawning. He was dressed much like a student in a manga series he usually read.
 
Shifting his bag over his shoulder, he speak out in Perfect English

“Yo, Koshima said you two would be here. You’re Laura and you’re Iam, I’m guessing? I’m Banri Miyamoto, and welcome to Tokyo. You’re far away from home, both of you, but if you want an opportunity to learn your current situations, then follow me.”
 
"Hello..."
 
The girl named Laura replied
 
without any response he walked away

 

KOSHIMA??
 
TOKYO??
 

 

Unknown Location
Tokyo, Japan
Time: Around sunset

 

Iam followed the man

 

He lead them to the train station and take the train

 

Even though he has so many questions that need to be answered.
 
he just stay silent.
 
 
Lost in his thoughts about the other girl and the black man.
 
even thought they not know each other, a sense of camaraderie was there.
 
they were in the same shit hole.
 
it's a shame that he cannot learn the other two's name.
 

 

 

On The Train

Tokyo, Japan
Time: Around sunset

 

once in a while he chat with Laura.
 
tell him about his age and his hometown in Vienna.
 
he could tell that she was trying to avoid the subject of what just happened.
 
She's a kind girl.
 
15 years old, attractive, fluent in English, French and German.
 
She feels like an older sister.

 

Banri was just there on the train with us the whole time.

 

Deep in Silent.

 

No conversation, no body language, no eye contact...

 

and suddenly...

"Could I call my parents to tell them I'm fine or something? I don't have my phone, but I don't want them to worry... Or is that not possible?"
 
Laura said...

[Wandering Rogue]

RADICULUS

 

Had they heard what was said?  Called his glasses cheap.  Cheap?  Radiculus' shades were handmade by an armless Chinese boy named Ping.  Yes, he made them with his feet.  Honestly, the things that boy could do with his toes could put magicians to shame.  When Radiculus had met him the boy was playing the beggar while all the while snatching wallets.  Yeah, an armless pickpocket.  Don't act like your not impressed because Radiculus surely was and if such a man could be impressed than the rest of the world should be in awe.  Ping was good but not quite enough to steal from the hero of man.  Which is to say Max saw it happen.  At first, Radiculus was understandably upset but looking into the eyes of this young man he could see something of himself.  He had once felt not unlike an armless chinese child living in poverty and forced to steal with his feet.  How? Well that's rather personal and very, very complicated.  Filled with metaphors and allusions that would go over your head.  Suffice to say, Radiculus gave Ping a job and pays him a stupidly large amount of money to keep him outfitted in a style befitting one of his eminence.  

 

Radiculus liked his sunglasses a lot and was relieved to find that they were not in fact broken.  So happy, in fact, that he considered handing out his spares to homeless people at the airport to make them feel better.  He didn't of course because what would they do with expensive designer sunglasses?  That'd be stupid.  Radiculus kept them safely locked away in his secret compartment that nobody knew about, not even Maxxy boy.  

 

“I am Koshima. Welcome to Tokyo, members of House Ex Miscellanea. Hsia-san, you will follow him for your ride to your new apartment. These three will come with me into the car towards the ‘Marduk Covenant’.”

 

"Shotgun,"  Radiculus said quickly before anyone else could.  He smirked confidently as he went to claim his seat while leaving all his luggage behind for Max to take care. He made himself comfy and plugged in his phone to the adapter in the car and put on the best traveling music he could thing of at the moment.  "Don't worry.  It'll grown on you.  Like a wart or something."

 

The Song

[Chizzy]

 

[Michael Santos]

 

Mikey was a little taken aback by the patroness' stunning beauty. A girl like Alaina definitely looked plain in comparison. And before he had the chance to order drinks, the gorgeous lady quickly struck a conversation with Alaina. Unfortunately, she began speaking in French: a tongue Mikey had zero familiarity with. This made the dialogue between the two ladies extremely hard to follow. From what little he could gather, Alaina seemed to know the older woman, leading him to believe that there was a small possibility that they knew something about what had happened earlier. However, he didn't want to interrupt the small chatter, as that was the respectful thing to do. Instead, the young man simply waited for the ladies to finish.

 

That's when he suddenly felt a tingling sensation around his nose. His nostrils flared. "Ah, shit!" he anxiously thought to himself.

 

This was not good.

 

Mikey tried his best to hold in his sneeze, but it was all to no avail.

 

The poor boy bellowed forth a powerful sneeze, causing him to unwittingly unleash his latent wind magic. A harmless, but forceful, wind blew past the ladies, flipping their dresses up and throwing them into disarray. 

[Ilyse]

 

Chapter Five: Spider’s String

 

“I have lived eighty years of life and knowing nothing for it, but to be resigned and tell myself that flies are born to be eaten by spiders and man to be devoured by sorrow.”

 

-Voltaire

 

Ialian Academy of Wisdoms

Dallas, Texas

Time: 13:15

 

The bell that signaled the end of morning classes and the beginning of the two-hour lunch recess rang out all over the academy, and students stretched out their limbs as they stepped out of their respective classrooms, with the walkways and hallways being filled with chatter. The schedule for the Ialian Academy was a little strange when compared to the normal school routine, given that classes essentially take up all day with long recesses in between for the meals. The idea is that to truly learn magic, you’d have to live in the essence of hexcraft at all times.

 

Of course, the students here personally think it’s just a load of shit, but they can’t really complain. The sexual encounters couldn’t be done any earlier then after curfew, the pranks and other enjoyments of youth sacrificed in favor of a career in magic – to be a magician, one can’t enjoy the simple pleasures of life, and by the time they graduate, the simple pleasures of life are beneath the sorcerer’s understanding of the world.

 

Such is the fate of the Leviathos twins, who sat within the warm lounge of the Tytalus Halls, the warm fireplace keeping both of them warm. Whether or not you could say they were popular at school was really up to them – do they see these people as legitimate friends or are they just being sucked up to due to their position in a House within the Order of Hermes?

 

Well, everyone was kissing their ass, and is free to continue doing so. There was unfortunately a more pressing matter at hand – what stood in front of them were two sisters of House Bonisagus: the younger sister, with the body of an elementary school student and heterochromia, was Cecilia Sheffield, who had the inquisitive gleam in her eyes that showed a girl who was a natural at detective work, and the older sister, who was only a year older and already much more developed, was Lilah Sheffield, who had the kind expression that did not betray what was hidden underneath.

Spoiler

Spoiler

 

“I’m telling you that Hunter Gray guy from the Hall of House Tremere is up to something weird. I was listening in to that creep during the short break late in the morning, you know, and they were laughing about some sort of plan they got going…”

 

As Cecilia prattled on and on, it seemed as if she was mainly talking about the prevention of some harmless prank being committed by a few rebellious students. As Cecilia, who was both panicked and excited, began to speak in gibberish, the younger sister felt her mouth covered by Lilah’s hand, who used her free hand to indicate that Cecilia should quiet down. After coughing into her fist, Lilah smiled at the Leviathos twins and picked off from what Cecilia wanted to say.

 

“My dear sister here is trying to tell you that it’s not just a prank: Hunter Gray is targeting you two, specifically.”

 

That in itself was shocking news. Hunter Gray and the Leviathos twins have not once talked to each other, and had no reason to be enemies. If one were to ask about Hunter, he was the model student of the Academy, and greatly excelled in his abilities to use House Tremere magic. Why he would want to hurt the Leviathos twins was very uncalled for. After a moment of silence, Cecilia resumed in speaking up again, although she was much more calm this time around.

 

“Basically, I feel that you two should be wary, and keep an eye out for whenever Hunter Gray approaches you two. We may not really be friends, but he’s really suspicious, and I think that it’s in our good conscience to warn you two before something terrible happens.”

 

With that, the two Sheffield sisters left, and the twins sat in front of the warm fire, their lunches unfinished as the bell that signaled fifteen minutes before classes resumed rang out all over the campus.

 

This place was supposed to be safe. It was meant to be safe.

 

The Leviathos twins sat next to each other near the back of the room during their afternoon lecture in magical engineering. Sitting several rows ahead, smirking, was Hunter Gray, who was spinning his pen in his left hand, distracting himself from the professor’s drawl. The fifty minutes that Hunter Gray and the Leviathos twins sat in that class was the longest hour in either of the twin’s lives.

 

Spoiler

 

As everyone began packing their study materials in their bags, Hunter Gray was one of the first to leave the room, and he dropped a smile to the twins as he walked past them and to the door. He never even looked in their direction before.

 

Their next class was in ten minutes, but Hunter Gray apparently had a recess. If they followed him, they might find out what’s going on – although missing class is a very offensive action to the professor, and neither twins wanted to experience the punishment. Was it worth tailing Hunter Gray?

 

____________________

 

The Lair of the World Egg

Faerie Realm

Time: 11:32

 

Baggins looked almost offended at Yvette’s attempt at humor. Ruffling up its fur, it looked at Yvette with something of pouting look, its teeth showing through as to intimidate Yvette: the resulting image was a ball of fluff with teeth sticking out and skinny appendages, similar to a kindergarten art project.

 

“Calling me the likes of a hobbit! Never mind we both like living underground and don’t require shoes to survive: good Tolkien ended up here himself at some point, and I will tell you that I’m the inspiration for Bilbo!”

 

After its ramble, Baggins sighed and let all the fur drop to its normal position, sitting down dejectedly on a tree stump as it kicked some nearby pebbles around.

 

“Anyways, I can see you two don’t really believe in this place. That’s alright, I was expecting that: a lot of people lost the ability to see the magic and the mysterious in the world, and it’s beginning to translate here, the land of imagination! The forest grows more twisted as its powers wade, growing weaker for every non-believer born above – it used to be so beautiful, so, so beautiful…”

 

Baggins looked out into the distance, towards the direction of the Idea of Sorrow. It seemed to be reminiscing about the past, and for almost a moment, Lee and Yvette could see the forest that it used to be – more lush, more alive, more powerful. The fantastical creatures got along incredibly well, and their was harmony all over – all because of a kind man, whose ultimate fate was madness inflicted by the curse of the ancient tree that stood so close to where the three are right now.

 

“Mister Criamon was a really kind man. The other two Founders, they were in touch with nature, but they were more animal than man-kin. Mister Criamon was the first of the man-kin to really stand by our side. The goblins and the kobolds decided to serve under the other houses because of the high living standards, but Mister Criamon made sure the rest of the faerie kind weren’t brought out above in chains. After his death, the other Founders left us in respect for him, but nothing was the same afterwards. He couldn’t prevent the rest of the man-kin to continue believing in us.”

 

Baggins began to cry, and it tried to wipe its tears, rather unsuccessfully.

 

“The treats he made with bread and carrots were so delicious…I never had those since, but I miss him even more!”

 

The rabbit began howling at this point, and it curled up on top of the stump, relieving what were probably fairly painful memories. Yvette and Lee looked at each other, actually feeling very uncomfortable. They could easily just leave Baggins there and see if they can find a way out of this “Faerie Realm”, or try to comfort him – but he was a fucking rabbit, and how the hell do you comfort a rabbit?

 

____________________

 

Current Base of the Thoth Covenant

Somewhere in Nebraska

Time: 2:43

 

William Gorman was quiet, ignoring both questions from the Verditius pair – he had no intentions of bringing up anything, and the message got to the three passengers, and they remained relatively quiet during the entire trip. Several bathroom stops were made, where Minerva made a point to time her trips every other stop to avoid going in at the same time as Annabel (and it worked wonders), and one dinner was eaten after eight hours of the ride.

 

The mages mostly slept, kept to themselves, while William Gorman simply continued on, until a sign that read “Welcome to Nebraska” went right past the passenger window. An hour after entering the state, Gorman made a right turn and began driving through a dirt path that cut through a wide field, which ended right in front of a barn. Stopping the car and turning off the engine, Gorman stepped out of the car and waved to his passengers to come out, as well.

 

Another group of three was approaching the barn from nearby, and Gorman whistled. The tallest figure in the approaching group waved back, and then the group of three vanished – only to reappear right in front of Gorman and his guests, revealing themselves to be Jack Allen and his two kidnapped children.

 

“Ahoy, Gorman! Jack Allen has arrived!”

 

DeShaun and Evangeline were caught off guard by the phasing thing once more, and fell to the ground, dizzy. Roaring with laughter, Jack picked up both of them and slung them over his shoulder once more, whistling as he carried them to the barn. With a sigh, Gorman followed, and his three passengers decided to enter the barn as well.

 

Inside the barn was a shiny commercial jet, and underneath it was a beautiful red-haired woman drinking out of a bottle while resting in a bed of hay. She raised her bottle in greeting while continuing to drink lazily, and her three Quaesitor guests also took sips of the nectar, enjoying themselves.

 

Two more figures arrived, with instruction letters in hand, not a moment later. Kradence and Anatoli had absolutely no relations to each other, and were incredibly confused to have received the same letter, which was signed:

 

From the goddess of your dreams,

 

Meera Taylor <3~~~

 

The letter also included a bikini picture of the red-haired babe, and being men, neither of them could refuse the offer to meet such a beautiful woman – but apparently, it was an invitation to be in some…circle?

 

With a cough, Gorman caught everyone’s attention. Standing in the center of the circle that was formed of the magi, Gorman observed every single one of them. He noticed two people he had intended to be meeting here tonight.

 

“Where’s Simon?”

 

When there was no answer from anyone in the circle, Gorman sighed. Simon Hedegaard always took his sweet time with these assignments, but his methods have often been successful, at the cost of Gorman’s expectations for punctuality.

 

A little imp-like creature, orange in color, walked out from the plane and hobbled to Gorman, carrying a glass of nectar. Gorman took the glass from the kobold’s hand, and downed the entire drink before giving the empty glass back to the kobold, who simply bowed and hobbled back into the plane.

 

“Most of us have convened together as the newly-formed Thoth Covenant. I apologize for rudely plucking each and every initiate out of his or her daily life, but a world crisis calls for the building of such groups, and trust me, you’re going to want to stay.”

 

Gorman was silent once more, staring at everyone present with a steely look in his eyes.

 

“You are all aware of Aleph – some time ago, he has declared war upon the entire world, and is on the winning side. We have several persons of interest that the Order of Hermes has found fit to assign us to investigate, and if possible, take down. I bring up their faces right now.”

 

With a snap from Gorman’s finger, light spilled out of the ground and became holograms, the profile pictures of the Thoth Covenant’s targets.

 

“We do not have a picture on the figure called Krampus, for he or she has proven to be incredibly elusive thus far. However, the targets that this Covenant has been assigned specifically are these two.”

 

Odette Lyon’s picture showed up once more alongside a face that every member of House Verditius would recognize.

 

“Odette Rachel Lyons and William Oliver Verditius. Both of these mages have been reported to have aligned themselves with Aleph, and whatever goal the terrorist has, it’s definitely not looking like the perfect solution to fix all of this world’s problems. So we’re going to take these two down, and figure out Aleph’s end game.”

 

The two pictures disappeared once more, and the face of Won-chul Cho appeared once more, only recognizable by those who had seen his picture and profile before.

 

“We are working together with the Marduk Covenant of the East to track down this person of interest. He has proven to be just as dangerous of a target as Aleph has – with his phantasmagoria magic to completely manipulate anyone for his own agenda. His name is Won-chul Cho, and should you encounter him, don’t fight him. Make sure he doesn’t recognize you for who you are, and then contact the offiers of this covenant immediately.”

 

The light disappeared completely, with Gorman silent once more. The barn made no sounds, nor did the people and creatures inside.

 

“I understand this might be going too quickly for you. A lot of you are too young for this, others more experienced for this sort of work. However, you are all now soldiers in the most influential world conflict in human history – and we need all the potential manpower we can get. We will train you. We will mold you. All we ask is that you don’t run away.”

 

____________________

 

Café Milton

Paris, France

Time: 16:57

 

Both women were interrupted with their skirts flying up in the air, and both of them shrieked in surprise while pushing down on the cloth. Both of them looked at Michael with something of a menacing look in their eyes, and the poor boy ended up getting two fists to the top of his head, leaving the back of his head incredibly sore.

 

With a sigh, Sienna looked at Alaina and Michael, who continued to nurse the bump on his head. Reaching inside one of the sleeves of her outfit, Sienna removed a cellphone and dialed a number, bringing it up to her ear as she did so. After a few seconds, Sienna began to converse in Japanese, leaving both Alaina and Michael somewhat confused as to what she was talking about, or more importantly, who she was talking to.

 

After a few minutes, Sienna closed the phone and smiled at the pair, before addressing them in English.

 

“My nephew will be here shortly to take you where you two must go. I shall follow soon enough, but taking care of all the paperwork and such is going to take some time. Do not worry about your parents, young man, they will be informed. Also, I have received word that the cousin you’re looking for is now in the same place where you will be going: Tokyo.”

 

Without answering the incoming questions as to how Sienna could possibly know all of this, the mysterious patroness turned around and entered the café, flipping the sign so that it read “Closed!”, and her soft humming trailed off into nothing.

 

____________________

 

Temple of the Marduk Covenant

Tokyo, Japan

Time: 19:06

 

As the train neared the end of its route, Banri looked at Laura, who asking to contact her parents. Taking the earphones off his ear, Banri gave his permanent dark look at Laura, quiet.

 

“I’m sorry, Laura, but in most cases, that won’t be possible. Where we’re about to go…you can’t think about that sort of stuff, otherwise the things you value is going to be put into jeopardy.”

 

Banri remained quiet for a moment, before removing his cellphone out of his pocket. Bending down slightly so that he was level with Laura’s ear, he whispered.

 

“But since we’re not there yet, give them a quick call. I won’t tell anyone.”

 

As the train came to a stop, Banri retrieved his phone from Laura after she finished her call, and then he lead both her and Iam through the woods ahead. The hike was fairly tough – after all, where they were heading was pretty deep into the wilderness just outside and above Tokyo. The path eventually lead up to a gigantic temple, with bright lights coming out from the numerous windows that lined its walls. Banri looked at the lights with pride in his eyes.

 

“Pretty neat, isn’t it?”

 

A car drove up right next to them, and Banri turned to look as the window rolled down, revealing Koshima’s amused face. She tiled her head back, indicating Banri to step into the limo with his initiates, and all three of them stepped inside to see a man dressed like a butler and a tired-looking man in a coat. A wild-looking man with sunglasses sat next to Koshima in the front, and Banri figured that these were the initiates from China that were supposed to arrive today.

 

As they drove up to the front, two figures stood right in front of the large doors of the temple. Michael and Alaina had been put into a pretty speedy jet, chaperoned by a tall and silent man who was supposedly Sienna’s nephew. He simply drove them here, and then took off, without opening the door – they had been waiting for about an hour, Koshima stepped out of the car, with everyone else stepping out. The two cousins who had not seen each other were reunited in another country, and with that, the doors opened to let the guests inside.

 

What was shocking was to see Koshima seemingly explode on the man that was seemingly the boss of the organization. A girl was lying on the floor, a young man was drenched in what appeared to be soup, another man dressed in strange party clothes was halfway to the door, and the last was simply drinking coffee.

 

This was the place where they had to be sent to? The chaos was pretty exemplary of the management here, to say the least.

 

As Koshima carried the unconscious Takeda out of the room, leaving the other four initiates that had yet to be introduced, Koshima gave out a command in Japanese, and a green-colored goblin hurried out, giving everyone an envelope.

 

“You all will be trained just the way I need you guys to be trained. Banri, you’re taking care of Laura and Iam here, got that?”

 

Banri simply nodded as Koshima walked down the hallway towards the infirmary, and out of sight. The rest of the initiates in the dining room stepped out, and there was an awkward silence shared between the two groups, before everyone went their separate ways.

 

Alaina Favre and Michael Santos: Floor 3, Room 303 – Mistress Sienna Milton

 

Iam Nobel and Laura Duciel: Floor 1, Room 108 – Mister Banri Miyamoto

 

Maximilian Black: Floor 3, Room 315 – Mister Eric Abramson

 

Jonathan Johnson and Rudy: Floor 5, Room 509 – Mistress Rebecca Yang

Spoiler

 

As Alaina and Michael stepped into the room, wondering if Sienna Milton was the same person as the patroness, they found the every-beautiful woman, wearing a different but no less lovely kimono waiting for them inside – a simple dressing room, with a large bed that had three pillows. Clapping her hands together, Sienna smiled at her two new students, simply overjoyed of the idea of teaching the initiates to train their abilities as a mentor from House Tytalus.

 

Banri’s room was fairly simple – a bed with a blue comforter, a wooden desk, and shelves of manga. A television outfitted with game consoles was on the right side of the room upon walking in, and Banri tossed his book bag onto his bed before sitting down, quiet once more. He hadn’t expected to be teaching initiates, and he told both of them that, but that he would also do his best to be an exemplary mentor for them, as a proud member of the Marduk Covenant and House Bjornaer.

 

Max, finally separated from Jonathan, walked into the room to find it empty. He had taken a little longer than everyone else to silently celebrate his freedom in the restroom in the first floor, but it seemed his master had gone and left recently – but a minute later, Abramson returned with some take-out and the young man that had been covered in soup, now clean, in tow. Abramson had earlier explained his previous job as a chemist prior to learning how to mix magical potions through his short training at House Mercere to Frederico, and he reiterated his relatively simple life story to Max this time, while giving the butler the delicious take-out, as Frederico found his luggage had been delivered by the goblins, much to his delight.

 

Rebecca Yang’s room was almost impossible to find: there was seemingly no Room 509, but it was, surprisingly enough, Jonathan that realized that their was simple an “empty space” that was used to hide the room. The two men stepped inside to see a young woman, white-haired and beautiful, sitting on her own barrier bench, apparently waiting for the two men to enter. She winked at them, told them they passed her test. She introduced herself as Rebecca Yang, and gave them both a handshake with a promise to make them the strongest mages their House has ever seen.

 

Unfortunately for Omer, Alicia only groaned in her sleep, and turned over, her dress revealing that she actually did not sleep with underwear – it was too pointless to wear it, and she kept her clothes somewhat loose for when she did transform, because transforming into a dragon was much different than transforming into an animal – the clothes do not change with you. All of this was unknown to Omer, who could only accept the view and the fact that Alicia probably won’t wake up unless he tried to shove her awake or something else.

 

Yukina continued to ignore the young man whose pants were wet due to a pitcher of ice water landing on his crotch for a few more minutes, before stopping the treadmill and looking to see Christian Dior standing there. She apologized for making him wait, and upon noticing the wet pants, giggled and went over, removing his pants for him on the spot despite his protests. With surprising strength, Yukina wrestled Christian’s clothes off of him, leaving him in front of his mentor, and told him that he looked incredibly stressed. She massaged his shoulders, and it felt great, but it was the “Swedish” to the real treatment – a terrifying apparatus of gears, made to stretch Christian’s limbs in different directions. The poor young man was forced into there, and as Yukina began to crank the gears, the leather bindings on Christian’s wrists and ankles began to tug at him, and he felt all the bones in his body pop, and the muscles began to stretch. It was incredibly painful and super embarrassing.

 

Brynja released Jamie from her embrace, smiling all the while until her smile suddenly disappeared. Taking a close look at Jamie’s face, Brynja punched the young girl’s nose, and Jamie felt everything in her nose snap back into position. The oxygen flowed through her head better, and it was an amazing experience. Brynja informed Jamie that she would’ve suffered from sleep apnea if she left the problem alone, and that she was going to raise Jamie into a powerful and respected mage of House Flambeau.

[Misty]

When no one had answered Ecaterina, apparently due to enjoying their nectar too much, she’d grown understandably frustrated and eventually returned to her seat in a horrible, horrible mood.  It was impressive the darkness she could project with simply the tilt of her lips and the ebony pools of her eyes.  It was a look that both embodied oblivion and projected it outwards to others. 

 

While the others drank and made merry, Ecaterina stayed away from them. At first glance it seemed unusual for a gypsy to turn down frivolity or joyous celebration, but Ecaterina was no dupe or Persephone as some of the boys in her city had called the girls that drank or ate of their food.   She sat down in her chair, dug in her pack until she produced a set of Tarot cards, and began the process of telling her fortune.   She liked superstition, but now superstition looked an awful lot like it might be closer to the truth than anything else.  As she turned the cards over, she grew more anxious and irritated, the fortune was cloudy, but it didn’t point anywhere good.  And after several turnings and movements she had to pull out her inhaler and lean forward. 

 

She’d decided then and there to stay awake all night if she must.  And in service to that she decided the best thing to do would be to study for the inevitable moment when this insanity comes to an end.   For hours she poured over notes and studies of diplomacy, until finally dinner was being set before her.  She looked up at the man holding the tray and spoke in slow deliberate English, “I will not be mesmerized or taken from my right mind but your wicked tricks.  Turn around with that food, and give it to one of the fools over there.”  The person looked both surprised and bewildered and when he moved to set it down on top of the tarot reading she’d left there, she stood up her eyes looking fierce and very frightened, “I said I didn’t want it and to give to those fools, now take it away.” 

He left her then shaking his head and she turned pulling the clothing she’d made for herself in service to the old ways and felt it might be time to prepare to return to them.  She went into the bathroom and changed into the long skirt and the loose shirt that revealed shoulders while covering her slender stomach.

 

She returned then sitting in her seat, no longer interested in studying and feeling not for the first time in her life alienated and alone.   She watched the others fall asleep and briefly entertained going through their things, but in the end she didn’t, and it wasn’t long before she was being woken and informed that they were landing. 

 

As they approached the barn, Ecaterina kept looking left and right her terror so abject that even the strange looks she received for her garb didn’t catch her.   She glanced about at the gathered her eyes searching for Attano.  The red-headed woman had mentioned him, and Ecaterina had been awake long enough into the night to figure out that he knew something about this. 

When they’d finally sat down in the hay and been told to make themselves comfortable, Ecaterina deliberately did not.   She looked at the others, and immediately stalked off away from them walking as far as possible to stay barely in view while turning herself into a blob.  The moment she was that far out, she dropped her pack and set about re-covering the tattoo which had begun to become visible as the make-up wore away.  

 

When she finished that, she did what she usually did when she didn’t want to study – danced.  It was a simple dance, but it’d been so long since she’d danced on dirt and grass that it was calming to her.   She could see in the distance other people arriving and slowly she stalked back feeling imprisoned by whoever the hell these people were. 

 

Ecaterina listened silently to what was being said.   And the only thought in her head was that either these people were crazy, or they were telling the truth, but no matter what, WTF was all that ran through her head.   And that was answered when the pictures sprung from the ground. 

 

Ecaterina looked at the others around her, she felt no kinship to any of them, even though several surely shared her position.   She’d told herself not call attention to herself and to leave the moment eyes stopped being on her, but curiosity and impulsiveness took over her nature as usual.

 

She moved forward in slow graceful steps her temper mounting with each movement until she was standing in the picture. “Who the fuck are you to tell us what we are?  What in the hell is the Order of Hermes?  What is this shit about magic and the illusions you create?  I’m a conscript in no one’s fucking war and I’m certainly no soldier.  And you can take your molding and training and shove it up your ass, I’m no one’s pawn or sculpture.”

 

She moved to stand her arms folded, with her tattoo hand purposefully tucked into her armpit as if to hide it even more.   She was glaring at him, it would have been absurd and funny if it wasn’t so clear she meant it.  She turned looking at the others gathered. 

“I can’t believe you people buy this shit.  Do they not have lunatics and snatchers in your countries?  Christ.”   She turned back to the man her arms still folded as she leered at him, “You better do several things right now.  Number one, what in the hell is going on with this magic stuff?  I’m done with your red-headed cow’s mysterious shit.  You took me from my life. Yes, ok, it was a small and pathetic little existence compared to this world changing shit you are trying to sell these inbred morons, but I liked that life decently. And don’t try to hand me your fairy nectar and make me calm down either.  I want answers and I want them before your little cult thinks it is appropriate to answer them.” She was shouting, and from the way she was beginning to wheeze, it seemed unlikely she would keep it up. 

 

“Two, what in the hell does joining your little gang involve and want are the benefits to us. And don’t say changing the course of human history, I’m a fucking gypsy, you assholes haven’t let us be part of humanity for fucking centuries.  Now that you’ve got a war on suddenly we don’t have the plague anymore is that it?   I don’t want a part of your bloody world if all you are offering is glory and honor.  Glory and honor are the tools smart people use to take advantage of stupid sheep.  I’m a human being god dammit and I demand that you start acknowledging my rights more often than when it suits your little agenda.”  She said this in such a loud breathe and was beginning to cough towards the end of it in between her words, but she didn’t look ready to acknowledge the barrier. 

 

“And third, where in the hell is Attano. I’m going to kill Attano, you bring me Attano and I am going to strangle him with these two hands and choke him with his own necklace.”  She barely got all of this out when a coughing fit took her that reduced her to leaning over scrambling for the inhaler she’d stuck in her bra and breathing in as much as was possible.   It was slightly comedic, except for the fact that she was attempting to remain standing, even while she looked awfully close to toppling right on over.

[Officer Judy Hopps]

Minerva Fairchild

 

The Covenant of Thoth.

 

With the lack of an answer to her inquiry, Minerva did not utter a single word for the remainder of the drive that consumed many hours. The trip from Atlanta to Nebraska was an arduous one indeed, and she opted to sleep the majority of it. Casually reaching inside her purse and extracting a small book, she began to take notes. Notes and thoughts upon the magic she had just used, her father's magic. How effectively it had been used, and more importantly than anything else, how it can be used to amplify anything else she might come across.

 

This process continued many hours until the moment that the vehicle pulled into a Barn, revealing not only a private plane hidden within it, but also some other Magi. Stepping from the vehicle, Minerva looked upon the scene with disdain. First checking that her sword was still properly sheathed where it belonged, she then strode along the side of the aircraft. Curiosity over the sleek flying machine got the best of her as she busied herself with running her fingertips upon the smoothness of the cold metal, examining it meticulously while the others talked. In fact, she avoided socializing for the purpose that there was already a very sour taste in her mouth from her Uncle. His passive aggressiveness and continually mocking tone always struck a nerve with her, but this time in particular it was unsettling.

 

It was the first time he had brought up her father. That in itself did not bode well. Above all else, she desperately needed to prove that she was not going to walk the same path, but it seemed that day after miserable day, he wanted her to. Maybe he wanted her dead? Or did he want the wealth she legally inherited? It was not as if he needed the money...but was there something else?

 

Shaking her head and brushing a stray strand of strawberry blonde hair aside from her eyes as she removed these apprehensive thoughts from her mind, Minerva finally joined the group at long last the moment that Gorman cleared his throat. Standing towards the back of the group, Minerva watched on as they spoke of Aleph, his plans, and then the people he had recruited.

 

Life itself stood gravely still once her father's face appeared on the screen. Her jaw tightened, and her eyes narrowed, if he was in on this travesty against others...it was only a matter of time before she crossed paths, and swords with him. She had to stop him from committing further atrocities! Could she kill him? Would it even be possible? Closing her eyes and clenching her fists tightly, she let the wavering tension in her heart settle before she opened them again. Yet every single word was not missed, every detail was carefully noted and took into thought.

 

Yet she did not speak until after one of the newer members spoke up in indignation over being conscripted into this war. A wavering silence lingered for a few moments before Minerva stepped forward towards the front of the crowd. With her eyes affixed upon one of the newcomers.

 

"You indignant child." Her voice was clear, concise, and critical of the Gypsy who spoke. She did not take very kindly to being called an inbred moron.

 

"Magic is precisely this." Slowly, her one hand lofted to the hilt of her sword, and the moment she touched the handle, her eyes filled with white light while crackling electricity arced across her cheeks. Slowly, she drew the accursed sword Durendal, whose hum resounded through the silence that lingered between her words. "It is power. Raw, unadulterated, unhindered power. Just like we mere, fragile humans, it takes many sizes, shapes, and purposes. But above all, it is power. In the improper hands, it is the power to enslave, power to kill, power to dominate, it matters not, all that you know about the world is fractional compared to how truly monstrous it is. The Order of Hermes insures that order itself remains, that bastardly tyrants like those two upon the screen do not take the world into their ownership."

 

Runes flickered upon the flat of the blade as she smoothly swept it so that in her grasp it remained at her side, while her eyes remained affixed upon the voice of dissent. "The conflict that is now upon the rise is far beyond your trivialities such as race and past transgressions. You are not here for honor or glory, you are here for survival. Your people, as you so potently are defensive of are in just as much risk as every other human being on this earth. You are here, gypsy, for the sake that with your help, just maybe, maybe, your cherished family might live thanks to your efforts. You are here to help us either capture or kill these people, and as the pawns of the Order, it is a simple choice."

 

In a flash of movement which was faster than some people could even attempt to visualize, Minerva had stepped within slashing range of the Gypsy. The point of Durendal's long, curved blade was just millimeters from the space between her eyes. All the while, the arcing energies within her gaze did not falter, they did not weaken. "Even with my understanding of my father's basic sorcery, this will be a massively difficult conflict. It is time not for you to immerse yourself in the conflicts and tribunals that your people have suffered. I do not discriminate against the Roma, nor do any of the people here, nor do the majority of people in today's modern societies. Get over yourself, stand on your own two feet and find the path, whether it is with us, or against us is your choice. However, I would deeply recommend you step forward with us, if you wish to see your family live long lives in freedom, rather than cruelty and slavery. Brothers and sisters you have, no doubt? I wonder how many lashes it would take before they faint from the pain and blood loss."

 

Sheathing her sword smoothly, the resounding hum of magic ceased to be as her purely white and energized eyes faded to their normal crystalline blue. Even so, the cold, concise gaze did not fade from the gypsy. "War is not pretty, it is not glorious or honorable, it is bloody, frantic and tragic. The weak innocent will die if we do not triumph in their stead. Is the holocaust of Facism too distant in your peoples' memory? That is what happens when good men and women stand by and do nothing. If you are too frail of constitution for this task I suggest you fly home to your nomadic life, and enjoy what little freedom you have left, weakling. Even better yet, if you are taken and turned by those two before you return home...I will enjoy seeing you on the field and cutting you to ribbons."

 

Nothing more was said then of such a topic as she turned back to Gorman.

 

"Let it begin then, Monsieur. If things are as grave as you speak, we have not much time to train. Especially for those who are entirely new to magic." Whatever tension she held was gone as she looked to the others who had not been in the car as they had traveled, and she held a pleasant, but hollow smile. Her tidings were grim, after all. "Minerva Fairchild," she spoke apathetically, with her British accented english. "Who are all of you?"

Edited by The Hawk's Eye, 11 February 2015 - 04:39 AM.

[I-Am-X]

Thoth Covenant

 

Evangeline Strauss

"Hex"

 

As she was moving closer to the barn, it was the other mans turn to catch up with her, who immediately introduced himself and offered out his hand. Remaining silent, she glanced at his left hand and the bracelet on it, causing her to raise her eyebrows. That looks like.... Just was going to say something when it was interrupted when the white haired man came back and phased them somewhere and slung them over his shoulders again as he carried them to the barn. Again?! "I have my own set of legs, you know." She sighed, having accepted the fact that they pretty much have no say in the matter.

 

When they were lead into the room, they found a bunch of people gathered together. So it wasn't just us, huh? When things went silent one of the men began speaking, Eva couldn't help but let out a muffled laugh. World Crisis? "What are we, The Justice League?"  Getting looks, the man continued. "So we've been 'Invited' to fight against Aleph, huh?" Now isn't that something. Talk about a suicide mission, but honestly the more insane all this sounded, the more interested Eva got. For awhile now, she have been quite unsatisfied with the way things have been recently. Things have gotten quite dull back home. Maybe this fresh dose of insanity was what she needed to keep herself entertained?

 

Regardless, why exactly were we the ones 'chosen'? It's not like we ourselves wield any magic. And they surely don't seem like the type who'd take 'no' for an answer. I wonder what kind of answer they'd give... As the man continued his speech, Eva only paid half-attention as they glanced around the barn at the many people who gathered here. Train and Mold us, hmm? Well, I surely wouldn't mind getting stronger. She smiled. As things wrapped up, a woman near them spoke and introduced herself to them in a British accent. Not bothering to look the womans way, "Evangeline Strauss" She replied in her German accent, sounding disinterested.

[Misty]

Ecaterina had been coughing for the last several moments and reached to cover her mouth and wipe away the blood that she'd brought up there, now was not time for such an obvious sign of weakness. Her eyes flashed at the girl holding her at sword point, and perhaps surprisingly for each person there, she maintained some pretense of control, although the intensity of her expression and voice was unwavering, and somehow....unimpressed by the display of the other girl.

 

When the girl turned her back on her Ecaterina held herself for a moment, finding the calm center she'd always kept when things got truly and totally awful. Her fists clenched and she looked down straightening up as the coughing fit passed her.

 

“I have no family left, actually. My father died in war, and his parents and daughter were forgotten by the very people he had given freedom to. There is no one on this world I care for.” It wasn't a totally truth-filled statement, if she were being totally honest with herself and the world, half the reason she was so angry was that she felt betrayed by Attano, but that was such esoteric information it didn't even make it into her tone.

 

“You hold a sword to me, tell me that I will serve as a pawn for my very survival. I was wrong to say pawn...I should have said slave. Because somebody with more power who holds a sword up to another that is beneath them isn't a hero, they aren't the good guy, they are a tyrant...at best they are a well-intentioned tyrant.”

 

Her voice didn't hold any venom in it, only simple pity and dismissal, “you held a sword up to me, you showed me your power, and then lectured me about fear and tyrants. Does your own irony crush you as much as it amuses me?” Her tone almost had a dancing quality to it, but anyone watching could see she was only warming up. "Did you feel brave and strong?  Did threatening me take away the terror you feel deep in your heart?"  She paused as if waiting for a answer, but it was calculated.  

 

“the Roma people, are stronger, braver, and better equipped to deal with tyrants than any of the people in this room save for him,” she pointed at Marut, “We are a survivor people, you speak of lashes, I've seen and felt things your pampered arrogant little world probably invented. Not one of my people would lose their freedom to anyone, because we do not define it by the pleasures society grants to others. We aren't so brave and righteous to threaten the weak and helpless, unlike yourself.  No wonder they chose you, you are ruthless, intolerant, quick to act, terrified, and without a heart.  I am certain you will make a fine pawn for them.”

 

Ecaterina continued to stare at the back of her head, “I am not so weak that I would hold a blade to a girl coughing blood simply because she demanded to be treated as if she has some say in her life. To hell with you and your mission, if this is what the good guys look like, I would like to see the bad guys, at least they might not lecture me that what they are doing is for any purpose other than that which is self-serving.” Ecaterina turned to leave and the halted in her steps turning again.

 

“And if your Order is so good at keeping peace, how did these people get so powerful in the first place? And if your Order's hold on this world can be so easily toppled to the point you must rely on children, then perhaps your order deserves to fall.  It seems to me that if you win your little power struggle, you might wish to look into that. Not that I care, so long as there are roads for me to walk on, I shall always have a place in this world. If one of you sees Attano, tell him he is the only one to ever have disappointed me in my life.”

 

With that, Ecaterina dug into her pocket shuffling through the cards she'd brought with her and then with the practiced ease of someone who'd spent many long nights practicing, flicked the justice card at the back of Fairchild's head. It landed on the ground and Ecaterina spoke again, “It is reversed.” With that she turned moving past the others, lifting the backpack she'd dropped up, and moving to leave.

Edited by Misty, 11 February 2015 - 05:07 AM.

[KDPtheKing]

Thoth Covenant
The Gathering
DeShaun Campbell

There is nothing better than being slung all over the place by Dante from Devil May Cry. But this guy introduced himself as Jack Allen. From the way things have been going, he was either the type to do as he pleases all the time or...no that's exactly who he was. Very Dante-esq in my opinion.

Right before introductions could be completed, the two were whisked away on the shoulders by Dan..I mean Jack. Of course it was annoying to DeShaun, he was going there anyway. Too late to complain now cause they had warped over to the barn. That was such a pain to get past for some reason...........

Inside a man name William Gorman and another woman of beauty who was sitting down confidently drinking wine. With her three more people who came with William's Three guests. Also, two more were also there as well. With everyone gathered, the information was given. The world was coming under attack by a man known as Aleph. At least DeShaun figured it was a man. All of this talk about magic and whatnot was skeptical at the least. It was like being told fairies existed and but not having proof. Though, in that cave, he could feel the presence of something...otherworldly as the four of them escaped. Either way, DeShaun remained skeptical until a girl decided to say exactly what what he was thinking. She really laid into the guy, too. Everything she said was fair and had great points. Why was it that the group of them were selected and what on earth makes us qualified to do any of this. Her own personal story was quite something to hear as well. Infact watching was kind of hard as she was collapsing due to apparent asthma.

All things were answered soon enough. As a girl, later introduced as Minerva Fairchild, stepped forward to inform the, girl of the truth. In a rather direct and shameful display of power. It was shameful due to the fact that she flexed her muscles at a girl who was not only barely standing but also spoke down to her in a way that said, "Know your place peasant." DeShaun was not one to judge of first appearances but it was clear the "stick" was strong in this one. Well, either way, it was clear that there was one person here who knew magic. And it was apparent her sword was not just a light show either.

Just as the display of power was over, the girl he arrived with finally spoke up. Evangeline was her name. A nice name at that. He took was glad she finally spoke up. Now, he would speak up.

DeShaun then raised his left hand to greet everyone, revealing his bracelet once more. "My name is DeShaun Campbell and I am someone knows nothing about this world outside of the commonality of what most people know. So if what you say is true then, Ms, Fairchild, so what exactly qualifies the rest of us here. You know magic, but I know for a fact that I have not as much a sniffed at its existence once."

He paused and walked toward the brunette blue eyed girl. She was a fairly good looking girl with eyes that could entrance any man who was caught in them. Even with the seriousness in her eyes, you could see the beauty in them, then continued. "Now, that was some display of power. I couldn't help but marvel at the beauty of that sword." He then removed his glasses and looked her dead in her eye. "Since you are so knowledgeable about the subject, would you be the one we turn to to learn about magic?"

Edited by KDPtheKing, 11 February 2015 - 06:06 AM.

[Führer Itulhu]

William Castor Von Leviathos

 

Ialian Academy of Wisdoms

Dallas, Texas

Sitting in front of the fireplace William silently ate his lunch while next to his dear brother. With the warmth of the fire Will enjoyed the near silence which was rare with all those who tried gathering around the brothers, but their peace was disturbed by the Sheffield sisters, both of which were good looking in their own right..

It took a bit to understand what the younger sister was trying to get across but the elder sister gave a clear explanation, but Will stayed silent and listened carefully. From what they were saying Hunter Gray was planning to pull something on him and his brother, but William could not figure out why its not like they have ever even made contact with each other. Some possibilities ran through his head though.

the girls could be lying to cook up a storm for some reason, Cecilia didn’t seem like the type for that… but Lilah…

or it could be because we are both sort of runts of the litter with high standing while he is exceptional at his magic… maybe some childish wish to prove he is better? or he has some secret grudge against the weak…

William was clutching at straws, he honestly saw no reason for this Hunter Grey to go against them… but it wouldn’t help to be cautious.

After the kind words of warning the sisters left as Will thanked them,

“Thank you both for bringing this to our attention”

With that they headed to class, which they shared with the supposed plotter. Will tried concentrating on the professor but his mind kept wandering to Hunter, slowly… ever so slowly the time passed and the lesson finally ended.

As they prepared to leave Hunter moved in advance and flashed a smile at them while leaving.

Something was definitely up. William lent over and whispered to his brother.

“Gill, I am planning on following Hunter, I have a bad feeling… you should go to next class like normal, maybe try and find info or something.”

With that Will left to follow Hunter from the shadows, hopefully him and his brother would split up for William only wanted to scout, engaging would be a bad idea.

 

 

[SliceAndDice]

Gideon Sorias

Thoth

 

The car ride across half of the United States was nothing short of an absolute bore. William Goreman was either a mute or had nothing to say to any of them, and most of their time in the multiple day trip was spent either sleeping, thinking, or in Gideon's case, keeping the two ladies to either side of him from getting into trouble with one another. He didn't like the smell of any of this. What in God's name was this Thoth Covenant? And why had they been drafted into it without any say in the matter? That brat Geoffrey was playing his stupid games again. Just like he'd been playing them when Gideon contacted him and was suddenly put into service as Minerva's attendant. And he had sincere doubts that this venture would turn like that one had.

 

The fact that their destination lay at the end of a dirt road off the beaten path did not improve his notions of foul play. Nor, for that matter, did the man who seemed to be Goreman's ally appearing with two others, neither of whom looked to be there by free will. Gideon threw a look at his two companions, but found no room for discussion. Annabel was already waltzing in, likely considering mischief as usual, and Minerva was so lost in her own thoughts that he doubted she even noticed. Seeing little choice, he followed them inside the barn. And what he heard and saw therein made him less and less happy by the minute.

 

One of the girls who had been standing with the... rather attractive woman raised her voice first, speaking out against the whole notion. That much wasn't surprising. After all, this much this sudden was shocking to him, who'd been exposed to magic all his life, to say nothing of how it must sound to her. What took Gideon by storm was the reaction. Specifically, when Minerva took to arms to try and convince her. He let out an exasperated sigh as she got into a verbal duel with the other girl; this always happened to her when THAT was brought into the equation. And now it was driving the sickly girl to rash actions as she stormed out. And the rest of them just... let it happen. Two of them turned to introduce themselves as if the whole affair was something out of an ordinary Tuesday afternoon.

 

Gideon Sorias was not the type of man to speak in anger. Typically, if he wasn't smiling in some fashion, his face and tone were as dutiful and vigilant as stone itself. In fact, in the six months they had known him, Minerva and Annabel had never once seen him incensed, not even in the wake of the chef's most troublesome pranks. So, when he opened his mouth and his words came laced with ire, it would surprise them most of all.

 

"Enough!"

 

His voice echoed about the barn, sizable though it was, in what he hoped was enough to both halt the conversations and also grab the attention of the girl on her way out.

 

"Before we go kicking anything off," he began with the falsely tranquil voice of a man trying to keep a level head, "The young lady back there has raised some good points. I've got some questions about this whole thing myself."

 

"And since you've finally found your voice," he said as he rounded on Goreman, "Perhaps you'd be so kind as to answer them. Without throwing around particular names to make some of us forget our reason." The last sentence had been partially directed at the driver, but it had mostly been aimed at Minerva. Whenever her father's name was mentioned in a conversation, the storm of emotions that he was fully aware churned beneath her guise of noble poise often prompted her to make foolish choices and assumptions. It was his hope that being called on it would get her to reign it in before she went threatening more people at swordpoint.

 

"You want our help in dealing with this... Aleph. Fair enough, I suppose. But we know nothing about this Covenant of yours. We don't know who any of you are, we don't know what your angle is, and we don't know why you've decided that all of us- a pack of novices at best and uninitiated at the least- are the help you need. That needs to change."

 

He paused for a moment, both to arrange his thoughts and to let what he said sink in, if it was going to.

 

"Your only request was that we don't run away." Gideon planted his feet at shoulder width as he spoke, "I'm standing right here. But if you want me to fight in this conflict, I have every right to know who I'll be fighting with... and what I'll be fighting for. So start talking, while my duty still holds me."

Edited by Hero of Ishval, 11 February 2015 - 10:33 AM.

[Officer Judy Hopps]

Minerva Fairchild

 

Disgust

 

"No I won't be your teacher or instructor, DeShaun, was it? I am a mere novice, nothing more. If anything, I may end up being someone's sparring partner." Was all that the Fairchild stated first, barely granting him the time of day. Her irritation at the current state of things had only grown, and it was getting worse every moment that her father's image was plastered across the wall. It was only made worse by a Tarot card tapping the back of her head, bringing her attention back to the who had thrown it.

 

"Terror in my own heart? You've no idea. Terror is a horrible choice of words when you're being sent on a mission to apprehend or kill your own father." Minerva's seething tone reached out to the girl as she walked away. "My privileged life? Don't make me laugh, you haven't a clue. Don't you dare make a single remark about me or how I was brought into the world, as you have absolutely zero cognition of how I came to be." With little more than an absolutely loathsome glare, the Fairchild let the girl walk away as her attention was diverted first towards another woman announcing her name with an amused expression beside it before turning back to the gypsy.

 

"You speak of your people's strength, bravery and conviction; but all I see is a frightened and bewildered animal fleeing from that which she doesn't understand. Flee if you must, for if you do, you are useless to our cause to begin with. So much for bravery, all I see is cowardice. I suppose all the superstition surrounding the Roma people was tru-"

 

From seemingly nowhere, Gideon interrupted with a shout that even made her venomous tongue fall silent.

 

He went on from there to point out that the Gypsy girl had valid points and queries about her currently unwanting venture, and after that there was a subtle comment that was partially for the host, but laced in a way that she knew all too well that it was mostly meant for her. Even the mention of her father's name brought distaste, hostility, and cruelty to her tongue. Honestly though, should she have to tolerate such impudence? Childish insults and accusations, fiendish defiance in the name for fighting for what was right? For all she cared now, the Gypsy was useless, and would forever remain to be such.

 

Yet so struck was she by Gideon, that she remained voiceless after his request.

Edited by The Hawk's Eye, 11 February 2015 - 12:08 PM.

[Diabolical Rhapsody]

Marut Zvijer

 

The flight was long and uneventful and judging by the fierce, annoyance that Ecaterina's features held Marut didn't muster the courage to talk to her. Ever once in a while he would watch her silently, sitting by herself in a lovely flowing traditional Slavic gown picking out cards. They seem to be Tarot cards. For a while now, he had wanted his fortune told by someone who was knowledgeable in that field and even though luck had presented her to him, it was his own courage that lacked.

 

The dinner was served soon as well but the gypsy didn't eat and he felt a bit terrible as her words stung for being called a gullible pig. But it was hardly his intention, the food was really good and he hadn't have had a good meal for almost four months now. So he gobbled it all up, swallowing his pride along as he found himself unable to face her. As if she was a goddess and he a mere filthy sinner, it endeared her a lot more in his heart.

 

They arrived to their destination soon but unlike the vacant wasteland in Mother Russia, it was a beaten down farm shed that was to be their working quarters. By the looks of it, this Thoth Covenant didn't look all that deep with money even if he had just ridden upon a $70 million chartered jet. As the bikni-babe made herself comfortable in the hay and the Princess was about doing whatever the kidnapped royals do, Marut just couldn't help himself but watch the Gypsy belle from afar.

 

He was lucky to catch her dance, steps and body gyrating to an unknown rhythm which for that moment really made him warm and fuzzy. He caught movement and entry of others first and went close to the bikini bimbo as she got up to greet a rather stuck-up looking older gentleman, like one of those men you see in imperial era paintings.

 

He spoke gibberish about someone called Aleph, then Hermes. Marut wondered why they were gathered here talking about high fashion. It was rather perplexing, from his point of view, neither he nor Ecaterina would be suitable for being the faces of the brand so what was their purpose here. He could see potential in the others gathered there, the brunette and the guy next to her could make it big in the Isles. Then they had the Afro-american and the tanned beauty to attack Americas and finally the resident princess and the wild looking beauty for the Euro markets, but he couldn't figure out his role in it all.

 

But then Ecaterina erupted. Like, really, he could guess how Pompeii would have felt. All that bottled up anger that marred her beautiful features for more than fourteen hours spilled forth in a cocktail of verbal vitriol and rage. As she took the stuckup gentleman to task. Marut, least to say, was really impressed. It was really heartening to see her clear diction and control over the language he had struggled. He was tempted to add in his two cents like before in the car but the brunette exploded next.

 

What was this? Pacific ring of fire? Sheesh. So much fiery women. Marut couldn't help but feel the blood rushing to his head as the sapphire eyed beauty took Ecaterina to a sword point, trying to stamp in her point with force. But Marut expected what the girl hadn't. Ecky was one mean Mamba, from what he had seen so far, she won't give in to her threats and while the wild looking gal introduced herself as Evangeline and da brutha as Deshaun, Ecky just let the woman know what she thought of her display.

 

He felt a smile creep its way on to his mug as she gestured at her. Maybe all was not lost. Maybe he could at least get a dance out of her just yet. AS she turned and went to pick her bag,Marut excused himself from the circle and tried to intercept her. Meanwhile, the brunette wasn't staying down either before being cut cold by the man next to her.

 

His voice was calm but layered with ire, though Marut was no expert in the language but he could judge that he supported Ecky's stand. As the silence managed to creep in again, Marut let some of his iconic thoughts known.

 

"Can't stay...... No English....Girl goes. I go." he said as he pointed at Ecky.

 

Catching up to her he said to her in broken Romanian. "When you say disappointed, does that mean my dance got cancelled?" being as polite and soft as he could.