Return of the Emblem Chapter Twelve: Divergent Paths

[ReformBlade]

"Well lets not focus on if there'll be a fight or not, okay? If you want, you can bounce ideas or thoughts off of me, I'll try to keep as best a log for you as I can." Mushirah said whilst accepting dat arm. "I know I'm gonna be focusing on what the place is gonna look like, I can't wait to start drawing them when I get back, I just know it'll be gorgeous!" all smiles while talking about her future drawing escapades, she frowned at Shadrak's negative outlook. "Yeah, we'll be without our most used methods for a bit, but so will everyone else assuredly. If something breaks out, I'm sure we're both resourceful enough to make a break for it or to avoid drowning dying." clinging closer to his arm, "And besides, I'm sure you'll be there for me if something does happen."

[Snike]

"Yes," Blake said, as he began to lead Raquel towards the line. "Just do not think about it much just yet, and, in a flash, it should be over."

That might very well not be the case, but he was trying to reassure his employer, not make her even more anxious.

***

Eventually Ethan decided to get out of the carriage, and make his way into the line. He avoided eye contact as much as possible, just wanting to get through the screening process and onto the real fun as soon as possible.

[Phoenix]

The Big Scene

At the front of the line, things were getting interesting for Miguel, what with Weyland putting off the screening, seemingly needlessly, his superior's father showing up at the front of the line as well, along with Raquel coming into view with her date for the evening. He had mixed feelings about her attire. They were breathtaking to him indeed, but seemed to hint at something ... unfortunate. The look on her face, even at that distance, was clearly unhappy, and there wasn't much he could do about it.

"Miguel Taylor," Bernard Langley greeted him, as he reached the front of the line with his wife and mysterious attendant (usually known as Cruz :P).

He greeted me first? And not Weyland? Whaaaa- "Hi there, Lord Langley. Hope you're having a fine evening so far ... and such."

"Oh I am, and I trust you'll learn why in due time," he replied with some semblance of a grin. "Now then, I trust you'll want to have us screened next before we head inside ..."

"We can take care of that, Sir," one of the soldiers spoke up. She was holding a strange little black object in her hand. It looked like a block of pencil lead, but most likely served some actual purpose.

"Right then. Carry on," Bernard said with a nod. Then, he, his wife, and Cruz were signaled to hold still while the soldier waved the strange rectangular object over them. Even the smallest remnants of magical energy around them had been drawn straight into the block. It would be many hours before a mage subjected to this would fully recover. After that, the men were thoroughly, though respectfully searched by a pair of male guards, while Bernard's wife was searched by the woman, and before long, they were cleared to enter, all three of them.

"Looks like you're all good to go, enjoy the party," Miguel said once he got the 'all clear' from his helpers.

Nodding again, Bernard said, "Keep up the good work, Taylor." He then led his wife and Cruz inside the building while Weyland and Chie just stood around doing nothing for the time being. Once inside, they came to a large staircase, similar to Weyland's, but much more vibrant. The floors were smooth marble, similar to many of the areas in Weyland's estate, but were in colorful patterns rather than a plain ivory. There was an army of servants coming and going through the halls at this point, all well dressed and making sure that they stayed out of the guests' way, but still close enough to rapidly respond to any requests or inquiries made.

Bernard, not really being interested in taking in the sights, leaned toward Cruz, quietly saying, "Darrel, Timothy, and Lyle." These were three men from House Reuter that Cruz was to observe during the party. If he found a way to dispose of all three of them after the party was over, and on that same evening, it would be a very good and productive day, at least as far as Bernard was concerned. After quietly giving Cruz his targets for the evening, he led him and his wife to the ballroom proper. This is where they would part ways for most of the evening. Already inside were at least a dozen couples, along with a handful extras who seemed to have come alone. There were tables and chairs set more toward the corners of the room, some buffet tables, and a massive staircase leading to the second story of the ballroom, where there were smaller tables for those wanting to sit down while observing the party. That was where Bernard and his wife would be headed shortly, but there was no sign of any of the royals or the Reuters just yet.

Closer to the tables on the southwestern corner of the ballroom, an older gentleman was posing for a portrait with none other than Remiel and Charis, a priest of the Mercinic Order and the Head of the Mercinic Order respectively. Remiel was wearing an old, but well maintained suit in place of his usual robes, while Charis, an older dark avian with bright blue hair and feathers, wore a modest dress with a cloak over it. About the only skin readily visible was her own face and her hands. She and Remiel stood to either side of the man while they posed for a painter named Alex, who he had paid handsomely for his work. A few other couples quietly stood by and watched.

[Snike]

Up ahead, Bernard Langley and his entourage had just passed through security, which meant that odds were, Desmond was present if only because of familial ties. So this wasn't a complete trap, at least. Anyways, the other thing Blake had noticed was that it was the Red Wolf who was in charge of security. Which meant that Langley's battalion was probably around here as guards. Which included Cain. Oh boy. It was certainly going to be an awkward night, if it hadn't been before.

***

Evelyn came around a corner and exited the mansion, immediately heading for Miguel.

"I trust everything is going well here, Lieutenant Colonel?" she asked, before the Royal Guard noticed Weyland and his date. "Oh, and good evening, Professor."

Edited May 21, 2014 by Snike

[Snowy_One]

A soft smile and a straight cane. As the nobleman stood before Alex the painter tried his best to paint what he saw. Ever since he was young Alex had come to care so much for his paintings. Each one held a tale within it, a tale that told far more than what could be initially seen. Every person had a tale, a story to tell, and Alex was doing his best to find it. It was that search for the story that had lead him to painting, and that painting which had now lead him to the ball.

"Sir. Please, lift your chin up just a bit." said Alex, peeping over the corner of the canvas as he tried to paint. He had had years of experience now at painting and it showed. While his original pieces were poor and often mistaken, over time he had learned more and more about the art and about the stories the world held, coming to recognize them, a mistake he had often made in his youth. And now, he was painting for nobles! NOBLES! He was giddy with enthusiasm, but he couldn't let his work suffer. All his life he had wanted to paint the truth of things, the unfolding epic of the world, and he couldn't let that slide for a single night. If he did, his entire style of painting would collapse. Still, he needed to paint important things, like the mans chin.

Picking his colors carefully he realized he was out of paint. His hand went down to search for some more, brushing against the shaft of his staff as he did so. The guards had let him bring it in after making sure it was only good for healing and, frankly, he didn't feel comfortable without it. Normally he used it to heal any living pieces, ensuring that they could be painted and be better off, and even here, where he was under orders not to use it, he felt it added a bit of extra confidence to his work. A good-luck talisman almost, if you would.

"Raise your arm just a bit, I need to see some more of your side." he said before, a few moments later, finishing. With a smile he turned the painting around. "Paints still wet, so you will need to pick it up after the ball. But what do you think?" he asked. Upon the canvas was the image of a strong and powerful man, clad in thick and well-defined garb, looking confidently out upon a garden from a greenhouse. The garden was trim and orderly and the mans cane planted firmly into the ground, but behind him, the greenhouse was in poor condition with many of its panes missing or gone and, around the very edges, though lovely in their bloom, were 'weeds', as if crawling up the painting. What Alex had drawn was a hard man, convinced of his ways and fortunes and that he was making the world better, but outside of his vision was a place of 'ruin' where things were out of order. A man so convinced of his own victory he could not see his own ineffectiveness. Course, he couldn't say that to his face, and he had been VERY careful in how he disguised it. Just because he had to tell the truth didn't mean he couldn't doll it up a bit.

"I must say, it looks wonderful!" said the nobleman with a smile. Alex returned the smile as he took the painting off the stand and leaned it against the wall to dry as he turned to the next, the priest Remiel. First, Alex took a long moment to simply look over the priest, noting things about him carefully. His stature, his dress, his face, forming the story of the man in his mind before, finally, sitting down.

"Turn around please. I need to see your backside." said Alex as he started to paint. He knew this man. He was a hard worker, one who wanted to become great while helping others, but could not for some reason. He wasn't a leader, but a figurehead. Slowly, he started to paint Remiel inside of a temple, kneeling before a divine light in prayer. Beside him was several people, all happy, all bent over in prayer as well, behind him. Following his example, but not him himself. Several were close, as if wanting to be near him, but none bowed to him, but to the alter and light instead.

Then, lastly, onto Charis, painting the head of the order in a similar manner, trying his best not to capture her image, but her very person. He painted Charis as a younger woman with several children playing about her as she happily played with them, but they were inside, sheltered away from the outside world which he painted with bleak colors and the children were dressed not as well-off kids, but common-folk who would live outside the walls. In the world she rarely saw and with problems greater than a lack of play.

And then all three together for the group painting. Alex wasn't quite sure what to paint here, this was not his specialty. Forced paintings never were, but he had to paint the truth. The truth that they were standing right there, trying their best to look regal for the painting, clearly a bit forced, but happy none the less. And then, after that, he was done with that group.

"Whew!" he said with a sigh before reaching for a glass of water, taking a sip. "Always hard to read nobles like that, hope I get some people with easier tales."

[ArchShark]

And he was in.

The black suit and blue tie Cruz wore in place of his usual attire did not fit well with him. It was missing all the pockets of his armor, and what would a poisonous assassin be without his poisons? To make things worse, there was no possible way to sneak his bow inside, past the security. He had resolved to hide it, along with a quiver, away on a rooftop in advance instead of letting security confiscate it. After bidding farewell to his employer, he let out a long sigh, before pondering his plan of attack.

There were three targets. Cruz would not have it any other way - more targets meant more money. While he expressed displeasure, this was not a novel experience for him. While it would be simple and easy to wait until after the ball was over, the likelihood of success in simply shooting all three of them was slim. Cruz would have to track each target individually and eliminate them shortly after they left. If they varied their time of departure, this would be impossible; Cruz would not be able to re-enter without drawing undue suspicion, on top of losing contact with his other targets.

This left a few options open, as Cruz made sure none of the guards were watching. Kneeling briefly, he moved a pouch from a pocket in his boot into a more accessible pocket. He could take out one target through archery, tops. The other two would need to be dealt with through more subtle means. The poison Cruz had concocted was a favorite of his for contracts as these. Inside his pouch was a powder that dissolved in liquid. Cruz had made sure to test the proportion of poison necessary for the desired effects over several contracts worth of targets. It was a subtle poison, taking its time to infiltrate the body through the bloodstream until it had infected all of the victim's blood. Death would soon follow. Putting the poison together was a pain, but the effectiveness was not to be questioned.

How he would actually get this poison into his targets was the main obstacle. While the powder was undetectable in liquid, it would be very clearly obvious otherwise. An opening would be required. Of course, without his targets around, no analysis of their behavior was possible. The most logical solution, then, would be to position himself in a way to maximize visibility of incoming guests, so as to identify his targets.

The painter seemed to have a good vantage point. Cruz moved himself toward the southwestern corner. The excuse was that he was interested in the painting. He would keep quiet, though; nothing good ever came of him opening his mouth without being addressed. Noting the influx of guests, he tried to split his attention between the painting and the new guests arriving.

[Toogee]

The dark and cramped carriage ride didn't sit too well with Jamilla. She couldn't even see Erion or Alphonse (if he was even riding with the pair). Normally, she'd use a bit of light magic break the darkness, but she left her tome in her room. No need to cause any trouble here tonight. The dancer felt confident that the evening would go on without a hitch.

"Are we there yet?" Jam asked no one in particular, growing impatient in the cramped quarters. She decided to open the door to peek outside. The wagon had indeed slowed to a near stop, but only because of the line of wagons in front of it. crowds of people were walking to the grand estate, one even larger than the one they were staying in. The dancer could no longer wait for the wagon to reach the entrance, especially with others abandoning their rides.

"I'm sick of just sitting here. We're walking," Jam said to Erion and Alphy, not giving either of them enough time to act like a gentleman and help her out of the carriage. She hopped out, relieved to feel the cool evening air. The dancer quickly joined the crowds as they waited to be screened.

Clearly, she wasn't aware that she was supposed to wait for Erion to escort her. At least, that would be the proper way. Excitement seemed to have gotten the best of her.

Edited September 29, 2013 by Toogee

[Phoenix]

Lines

Guests, invited or just plain dragged along for the event, were still showing up, even after Weyland's group arrived, so Miguel knew this screening was far from over. On the bright side, it was at least halfway over at this point. Still, he was hoping Cecelia or Cain would come back soon so he could take a small break from running the entire screening. They weren't the first ones to return from inside, though; one of the royal guard, Evelyn, was. He shrugged at her greeting, feeling a little helpless, and said, "No violators yet, but this is all rather tedious." He then got the all clear signal from his people again and another pair was let through.

"Ah, Evelyn, good to see you," Weyland replied, seeming a little bit less agitated than before. It was a good distraction from Chie's impending shenanigans.

The closest one to being screened among their group was Gytha, but there were still quite a few people in front of her. The line was branching off into three to speed things up, but this had long been the case and was only helping things a little. Not far behind Gytha were Nadya and Haythem, and behind them were Shadrak and Mushirah. Raquel and Blake would have been in this line as well, but Chie had motioned them over in order to prevent the problem their improper line order was about to cause.

"I wonder why we're heading up to the front before everyone else," Raquel said, somewhat to herself, as they drew closer. She glanced sheepishly at the familiar faces they passed along the way.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"Annnnnnnd that looks like just the right amount of people," Gar observed before climbing out of the carriage. He offered his arm out for Angel before they would join in the less thrilling part of this whole night.

[Snike]

"It is a bit tedious, yes but a little prep work goes a long way. In this case, towards making our task easier. Good work so far," Evelyn said, before returning her attention to Weyland. "Apologies for not dropping by. Things have been hectic these past few weeks, I can probably drop by tomorrow to talk about the battlestaff. But enough about that. Do you need to be screened, or are you waiting for some other guests?"

***

"Maybe it is because some of us would not be on the guest list?" Blake suggested, as he and his employer stepped out of the line and moved towards the front of it, where a Royal Guard had just arrived and was speaking to Weyland. "Or perhaps it has something to do with the Royal Guard, there.".

[Mercakete]

Gytha quietly laughed at Nadya's little joke as she waited in line. It was moving pretty slowly. "There are a lot of different kinds of people in the world. If there are so many gathering in one place, they can't all be like each other," she cheerily replied to the Nomad's comment about everyone at the ball probably being a "stuffed shirt."

[Eail]

Alphonse had detested the carriage ride from Weyland's to the actual site of the party. It was dark, he couldn't get a good visual on their surrounds as they rode, somewhat cramped, and he couldn't even talk to Jamilla on the way due to being separated when they were boarding.

Now that they were actually here though, it was show time. Even with how much he didn't want to, Al had to leave his sword behind at the estate, and that was really an uncomfortable thing for him

When they finally arrived it was most certainly welcomed, especially the chance to get out of the ride. Once Jamilla hoped out without waiting for any of them, he decided to follow after the girl.

____

As the estate came into view, Zach glanced at it through the window. It was overwhelming just how large the place was, there were so many people here too, guests, guards, servants, you named it there was a person here that would fit that description. He'd made small talk with Tina during the ride over, but everything was shut down as Zach was taking in the situation that lay before them.

The carriage finally stopped though, Zach climbed out first, offering his hand to help Faatina down as well.

Edited October 1, 2013 by Eail

[Phoenix]

Screening

"And cleared," one of the female guards said, waving the next pair through. Miguel seemed a bit too busy with Weyland and some others to be much help with this, so she let them through herself for the time being. Next up was Gytha, who seemed to be attending the ball solo. "Are you on the guest list?" she asked.

Thankfully, Raquel and Blake had arrived just in time to keep things from stalling unnecessarily. Weyland immediately stepped closer and said, "Some of these people are with Ms. Valcyn, here. They won't actually be on the guest list, if you check it. She's one of them."

The guard nodded indifferently and replied, "Alright. Let's get this check over with, then. Mr. Weyland, you and your date ought to be checked now too."

"It can wait. After all we have to stand around out here regardless until all of our guests make it through,," Weyland replied, hiding his true motives quite well that time.

"Suit yourself, Sir. Alright then, hold still, please," she said to Gytha. A male guard then approached with one of the rectangular blocks and began waving it over Gytha as the female guard put her open palms within an inch of Gytha and began slowly moving downward. She looked to be staring off into nothingness as she did this. Meanwhile, the block absorbed every last trace of magic lingering around Gytha's body. Once the guard had reached Gytha's ankles, she pulled her hands away and stood up. "And cleared."

"You can go ahead and go on inside," Weyland informed the mariner. "The others will catch up with you shortly."

Next up was another couple with no involvement with the party. They were screened in short order and let by, then it was Nadya and Haythem's turn. Shadrak and Mushirah were right behind them and were now just one spot away from getting in. Even Shadrak was a little anxious now. "Hold still please," the woman said before placing her hands very close to Nadya, in exactly the same way she'd done with Gytha and all the previous couples. Needless to say, Haythem was a little confused by the display. Was she going to touch Nadya or wasn't she? She never did, and instead stopped once she reached the nomad's ankles and started doing it to him next, while the man with the dark block waved it over her, draining away her aura.

"Umm ..." There were no words for this, at least none that he could settle on.

Soon, she was done with him as well and repeated herself. "And cleared." Shadrak and Mushirah were up next it seemed. By now, Shadrak had figured out that the male guard was likely draining their auras to prevent them from casting at all during the party, which was pretty effective if they didn't have another source to draw on. He needed another moment to figure out what the woman was doing, and he still wasn't sure until she started on him. That was when he realized what was going on; dark tendrils were penetrating his clothing by the hundreds. This woman was a dark magician far more experienced than him. He hadn't thought of using tendril magic in this way before, but he supposed it was less blatantly intrusive than flipping up everyone's dresses. At the same time, he couldn't help but feel a little violated. If she really wanted to, she could examine him thoroughly without anyone else realizing it. He started to cringe a bit once she made it down to his abdomen. "Hold still, please," she said.

Of course, he felt completely helpless once the block was waved over him, his aura was drained away in seconds. This at least distracted him long enough for the woman to make it down to his legs without him noticing or reacting again. Once she withdrew her hands, the man finished waving him down with the block to make sure all of the aura had been drained. She began on Mushirah next, and the man waited until she was down to Mushirah's legs before beginning to wave the block over her. It took considerably longer to check the women than the men because their outfits took up so much space and were composed of so many layers.

Meanwhile, by the screening teams, Miguel decided to greet Raquel while he still had the chance; he'd likely be out here for most of the evening. "Long time no see, Ms. Raquel."

"Huh?" She came out of her own thoughts with that prompt and replied, "Oh, it's ... good to see you again, too," while forcing a weak smile.

"You don't look very happy to be here," he noted with a slight frown.

... and just like that, Raquel came back strong, shaking her head and saying, "It's nothing that serious. I'm here mainly on business, and it's not one of my favorite kinds of business. I won't be able to really enjoy the party until that's over and done with, you know? I'm really dreading it. I can't help but feel like it's going to drag on and on and I won't be able to do anything else while I'm here."

"I know that feeling, believe me. I'm heading security at this entrance, so I won't be able to even take a short break until everyone's inside ... even then I won't be able to check out the party. Just as well, I'm not dressed for the occasion."

"Snrk," I guess I'm not the only one who's literally scheduled to have a bad evening.

You think he has it bad? When they wave that magic seal over you, there is a chance that the rest of your emblem's energy could be drawn in. You would be helpless, and I would either be at the mercy of the merciless Gate or rapidly relocated. My evening is looking to be quite dreadful unless we figure out a solution, Hypnos noted. I suppose tempting fate is also an option.

Raquel didn't realize what Hypnos was getting at until she thought back to the magic seal that had drawn in power from the emblem and nearly exploded as a result. ... OH CRAP! We're in trouble ...

Edited October 1, 2013 by Phoenix

[Mercakete]

That screening process had been rather awkward and uncomfortable but no more so than when the maids had gotten her ready for the ball. In fact, though it certainly was weirder, it wasn't as uncomfortable, especially since she wasn't strapped into a corset this time. No, she was already wearing that and one was enough. As it turned out, she didn't actually have to answer any questions. They only asked her one and it was answered by Weyland. Well, that was fine. And then she was let into the ball, though she couldn't actually not go inside as there were people waiting behind her to be screened. So, in she went.

However, it was not the ball proper she walked into at first. It was much more like the first room in Weyland's estate. It looked like the ball was further in and so Gytha followed the flow of foot traffic until she did enter the ball room. It certainly was a new sight. There were funny-looking people everywhere! It wasn't a huge crowd yet, but there certainly were some strange fashions in play. For the most part, people seemed to be chatting in little groups or snacking on some of the provided food. There was some music but it was very...sleepy. It looked like there was something interesting going on in a corner of the ballroom, or at least different from standing, sitting, chatting, snacking and listening to the unusually slow music. Curious about it, it became Gytha's first stop. And so the mariner walked over to where there were drying paintings leaning against the wall and a man seeming to be taking a break. All she did was look at the paintings for now, though. They were...strange. They seemed entirely out-of-place, at least. What were these pictures doing here at this ball? If they had seemed to be pictures of the ball its self it would have made sense.

[ReformBlade]

The screening process was certainly a new thing to Mushirah, ultimately having to accept it if she wanted to get through.Though it made her feel a bit exposed, she was all smiles during it, and when it was finally done and she could go in, she was ready for a good time. I wasn't expecting that, but I guess it works. she thought to herself before asking Shadrak in a fairly quiet voice, "Is that.. normal?"

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"Hmmm, that doesn't look good," Gar observed with regards to the weird thing the guards were passing by every single guest. Well not like it would affect him.

[Snike]

Raquel apparently knew Miguel, and so she conversed with him as the others passed security. All of a sudden, the merchant froze, and looked as if she had seen a ghost. Blake didn't know what the issue was, but, he decided to try and distract the Red Wolf from her distress.

"Incidentally, is Cain Fletcher still in your unit, Mr Taylor?" Blake asked, trying to change the subject. "I used to know him, so I was wondering how he was doing."

[scorri]

Erion

Slipping out of the carriage, Erion strolled up the passage, passing Al with a slight grin to the man, before reaching Jamilla. With an extravagant bow, he offered his arm and smiled at her, "Milady, would you do me the honor of allowing me to escort you to the security station? And perhaps, if I am lucky, once they are done searching for weapons and stealing your magic, into the ball for refreshments and dancing?"

Lumi

With a sigh, the dark flier smiled slightly at Eli. "Oh, we met through the group. We sparred some. That was fun. And, well, Star Hunter is quite enamored with her pegasus, so I seem to keep running into her. It's nice to have a friend. Though... it's getting late. Perhaps we should go find some real food?"

Eric

Stepping out of the carriage, he turned around and helped Mirielle out of the carriage. Offering her his arm, he grinned nervously. "So, I suppose we follow the rest of the group then. Shall we?"

[Snowy_One]

"Enjoying my work?" asked Alex. It seemed one of the ball ladies, a swarthy-looking woman who looked unusually strong against the backdrop of pasty nobleladies, had taken interest in the paintings he had set down to dry. "Takes a lot of work and effort to make paintings like these. I have to see a person and paint them in only a scarce few moments so that they can get back to consorting with others. Most just want some picture depicting them standing stock still, but I dislike doing that. I try to make them a bit more interesting and they seem to like it. Course, I need help to get them to dry fast enough without destroying the paint. They hired some water mage to speed up the process. Just met tonight to make it worse. Anyways, that painting you're looking at is the set-up. I had some time before the ball and decided to have some fun. I have more than enough paint and it beat just sitting in a corner. If you're keen you might notice that, those things that seem like smudges of paint, are actually people. I tried to capture the feel of this room being an eternal dance, just taking enough time out to recoup before the next begins. After all you are dancing in the same room as both the greats of past and, hopefully, future. Breathing the same air, your feet treading across the same tiles, you're in touch with both the past and future in a way."

He smiled and offered his hand to Gytha, making sure it was clear of paint smudges. "My name is Alex by the way. Would you like for me to paint you? Least when my assistant gets back?"

[Mercakete]

And so the painter himself began to speak to her. At first she listened with a friendly, normal-looking (which was more subdued than her usual one) smile but eventually that subtle shift between friendly and awkward occurred. He lost her about when he began talking about something involving a set-up. After that she just kept standing there politely and rather confused until he finally stopped blathering on and introduced himself. Then her smile became genuine again as she took his hand in her firm grip and gave it a sturdy shake. She was going to introduce herself but she was distracted by his questions and answering them took priority as she began to suspect a scam.

Frowning skeptically and furrowing her brow, though non-threateningly, she asked, "Does it cost anything to be painted?" In the back of her head, she felt a bit proud of herself to remember to hide her accent, even after that tumultuous rush of words that had flown over her head.

[Snowy_One]

"No, it doesn't cost anything. Least, not for you. I was paid before the ball started specifically to paint the guests, so painting you is just doing my job. Besides, even if it wasn't, I'd still love to paint someone like you. You look very interesting to me. You dress like a dame, but I can see that there is more. You aren't some floaty belle, but a woman who has seen a lot... and is used to having to deal with people trying to take advantage of her it seems. I'd love to paint you if at all possible. Would you desire such a painting?"

[Mercakete]

Well, it was good to know that she wouldn't be asked for some extravagant sum after the painting. Since it was free, that was all the better. Hiring a painter, after all, could normally cost a fair amount. And so her jaunty grin broke though, though she still, for the most part, managed to keep her accent in check. "Sure! You talk funny, but you're not bad at painting. You have an interesting way of seeing things, too, so I'm curious what this will turn out like. Do you have anything to paint on that's around this size?" She held her hands apart from each other about six inches. "Something easy to carry around."

[Snowy_One]

"Yes, but I've never painted anything that... small... before though. Still, I will try my best to do so." he said, trying his best to smile at the woman. "But we'll need to wait for my co-worker to come back, unless you want the paint to run. What is taking so long anyways?"

Edited October 3, 2013 by Snowy_One

[Phoenix]

Impending

"The Lieutenant?" Miguel asked back, somewhat rhetorically. "Yeah, he's with us. Poor kid'll follow the colonel to his grave, I tell you. Stick around for a bit, I'm sure he'll be back here shortly. You too, Ms.Raquel. Your friend Nadine's in our unit now and you two haven't seen each other since before she even graduated, isn't that right?"

"Uh- ... yeah," Raquel nodded. I wonder how she's been. Reign hasn't seen her since he left the army. Wait, forget about that! What am I going to do about the magic seals? Even if I don't have enough energy left to blow them up, Hypnos will still be in danger ...

It makes me very happy that you care, Discovery.

What good is caring if I can't do anything about it? Raquel thought back.

As I said, it makes me very happy.

"Should have brought a drink with me," Weyland quietly muttered to himself. He was getting a little tired of standing around outside, but the moment they got screened, things were going to get extremely uncomfortable, so he was at a loss for how to deal with the situation. He figured one way or another he was going to be heading inside with a lighter wallet.

"We can have something brought out for you while you wait, Mr.Weyland," one of the soldiers offered. That got the man's attention and now it seemed as if this dreadful wait of his wouldn't be quite as bad as he thought it was. Time to get something to take the edge off.

While Weyland ordered himself a drink, the guards screened a few more couples. The next pair up were Gar and Angelica. "Hold still, please," the guard said as she began to run her palms slowly over Gar's body.

First Arrivals

Nadya and Haythem went on ahead, but Shadrak slowed to a stop to try and address Mushirah's question. Having not gone very deep into the building yet, the screening team in the middle was still within sight. Shadrak kept an eye on them while answering. "Well ... maybe. I've never thought to use tendrils in that way before, but I guess the only alternative for checking for weapons would be ... uh ... highly inappropriate."

Meanwhile, Haythem followed the traffic, hoping that would lead them straight to the ballroom, and of course, it did. He then immediately spotted one of the tables lined up with food and snacks for the guests. "Well ... there's the free food, heheh ..." He figured he might as well lead them over in that direction, or Nadya might just break away and leave him alone and a little embarrassed for the time being.

Meanwhile, over by the paintings, Remiel and Charis looked over each other's paintings as the remaining layers dried naturally. The assistant passed them both on his way back and had a wineglass full of water, some snacks on a plate, and a pendent wrapped around his wrist. He put down the snacks on the edge of the table where the paintings were and took a drink from the wineglass. If he hadn't already been paid a lot of coin for what he was doing, he would have been much more irritable about this arrangement, especially after coming back to see that Alex had yet another customer. More customers, more work ...

"These snacks aren't going to help me recuperate much, but the water certainly will," he said as he took another sip from the wineglass. "Couldn't find anything else to pour it in ... ... so are we doing another painting?"

[spoiler=Musings]<"So they almost killed that Shadrak character,"> Malik said, repeating the gist of what Amon had told him about the encounter with the knights of the Truthian Order. The three of them were sitting at the dining table back at Weyland's estate. <"Then they just stopped .... Well then, I think we've got a plan, here.">

<"What about Haythem?"> Amon asked.

<"What about him? He's only really useful in a fight when he's riding Isis, and we obviously can't bring her. If the three of us attack them together, and rely on swift movements, I think we can beat them.">

<"It's disappointing that you see him that way, but more importantly, what's the point of doing this ourselves? We're not the only ones interested in this. Raquel and the others need an emblem piece, too.">

<"That is exactly why we need to do this ourselves, Amon. If it turns out that there is only one emblem piece behind that door, then who is going to get it, us, or them?"> Malik angrily asked.

<"Them of course; they don't give a shit about our goals,"> Fizza answered disinterestedly while leaning back in her chair with her arms behind her head.

<"I understand why you would want to be kind and maybe even 'fair' about all of this, but the fact is, they are not going to let us take an emblem piece back to Lady Aisha if they have any part in acquiring it ... and don't forget that getting an emblem piece for Lady Aisha is the only reason we're out here right now. You pretty much failed to get one last time, but Lady Aisha pardoned you and even gave you a second chance to do it. If you let them take advantage of you again, you're going to fail Lady Aisha, again. Even if she pardoned you, you'd still have proven once and for all that she can't count on you to put her interests ahead of Raquel's.">

<"If there's two in there then this might work out for both sides,"> Fizza noted.

<"We need to assume there's only one piece for the time being.">

Amon looked away from the two of them and grimaced as he thought about what might happen if they somehow succeeded. Would they just leave Raquel and the others and disappear as soon as Haythem returned, or would they explain the situation first and then leave, risking a confrontation? What if they failed? Would anyone trust them again for going behind their backs to try and 'grab and make off with the emblem piece'? This loose alliance was born strictly of the friendly relationship between himself and Raquel. With little else holding it together, they were simply two groups competing with each other. <"This is all wrong ...">

<"No, you're wrong, and time and again you're proving that you care more about Raquel's feelings than your queen or your people, and it's the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen in my life,"> Malik snapped. <"Raquel isn't willing to help us, so forget about her, already.">

Amon stood from the table, raised his voice and said, <"Do you really think Lady Aisha wants us to get an emblem piece at any cost?! We are not that desperate! We don't have to compete with them for whatever's in those archives! We're better than this ... ... Lady Aisha wasn't upset with me for how I handled things the last time. It's completely true, that making it back to Sanctuary was just dumb luck, but she was fine with my actions ... because I didn't do things like what you're suggesting. We're going to need their help with this regardless ... so let's just wait, fight our way into the archives with their help, and then decide what to do about the emblem."> He paused for a moment, and then after a bit of thinking, added, <"I'm in command of this mission ... so it's my decision.">

<"I suppose she didn't put him in command for nothing. She must really get a kick out of his foreign policies,"> said a now more interested Fizza.

<"They'll never let us keep it, Amon. Once again, you'll just be helping Raquel, and no one but her. A real Sancturan would know better, but like I always say, you're not a real Sancturan,"> Malik muttered.

<"Maybe that's why I can make calls like this,"> Amon admitted. <"You're just going to have to sit tight and deal with it.">

[spoiler=Homeward Bound]Reign wasn't surprised that there was nowhere to properly hitch Sandrock once he reached the address he was looking for. He was in the inner city and not the suburbs. The latter would have made his problem easier to deal with, but as it was, he would have to improvise on how to handle Sandrock, and he probably wouldn't be able to stay long for the mare's sake. The building they were in front of was just off a side street and looked like a special flat (apartment) building. Much like Ursentius, the inner city was so densely packed, that people had to either buy a house out in the suburbs, or live in one of these compartmentalized buildings in order to remain closer to businesses and workplaces. Reign figured they had likely chosen to stay here for one of those reasons; the last time he saw them, they weren't staying in this particular building.

After carefully securing Sandrock to the steps leading up to the main entrance to the building, he headed inside and took out the note he was carrying. There was one other relevant piece of information on it, the room number. They seemed to be staying on the second floor of this three story building, and so he went there, went a short way down the hall and knocked on the door that matched the room number.

"Yeah, who is it?"

"... Elrey."

"Really? It doesn't sound like Elrey. It sounds more like Reign. Is that you, Reign?"

What the hell; we have the exact same voice! I don't see how he can always tell the difference. "Just open the door, please," Reign gently demanded. Soon enough, the door opened, and there stood his father, a man somewhat taller, more muscular, and aged than him. He was wearing an unbuttoned white dress shirt and some slacks, and that was about it.

"Yep, it's Reign." He said this with a somewhat annoyed look on his face, but then reached out with a big smile, hugged Reign and hauled him into their home and shut the door behind them. "It's good to see you. I never thought you'd pay us a visit again, hahah. Said you were leaving the country an all this other nonsense. I knew you wouldn't get far before getting homesick."

"Whatever you say, old man, I'm just here to see if there are any leftovers from dinner," Reign immediately spoke up.

"That's more than Elrey ever does," the man mumbled. "Come on, let's go surprise your mother," he suggested. "She's actually still making dinner right now, so we'll have a nice family dinner and talk about how your journey went.

I'm not sure that's a story I want to tell ... also, this place can't be very big and the kitchen's right over there, so how could she not know, already? Reign mused as he was towed over to the kitchen. He wasn't sure if every individual living quarters in the building had a fully functioning kitchen, or if only preparation for cooking and serving could be handled here, but if they were all fully functional, there were likely a lot of chimneys on the roof with over a dozen shared connections.

"Look who decided to pay us a visit!" Reign was moved in front of his father and presented to his mother, who was standing in front of a rather large pot. She wasn't stirring it and instead had some of the concoction in a spoon.

When her husband came over and presented their son to her, she slowly turned around, held out the spoon and said, "Here, Reign, try this."

"... what is it?"

"I know it looks like dog food, but it's actually dry chili. I was trying to get back at your father when I made it the first time, but it actually tastes pretty good," she explained. Once Reign took a bite, she put the spoon down and continued. "I'm trying to improve the recipe into something a bit more refined or at least professional."

"Yeah, when she was after my hide, she just threw in a bunch of hardtacks and biscuits. Ate the whole thing, though," the father explained.

"It's not bad but it's definitely not your usual," Reign admitted.

"I know, you have bad timing. We were having lasagna the other day and I know you would have really enjoyed that."

"Yeah I ... kinda wish you hadn't told me that just now ..."

[Mercakete]

That was a little perplexing. He was an artist but he'd never painted anything that small? Well, it was fairly irrelevant so Gytha didn't think much about it. He'd done a good enough job on the other paintings, she was sure making this one would be no trouble. All the same, she added, "If it's that hard for you, I'll take two paintings. One the size I asked for and another a more standard one." I can't carry a picture that big around all th' time, but maybe I can have it delivered t' me mother. She'd appreciate it, I wager, n' she lives in port, so she'll have a place t' put it.

Who she assumed to be the assistant walked up just then and asked if they were making another painting. She smiled and nodded cheerily at him, but decided to let Alex give the actual word. She really wasn't sure where to stand for the picture, so she figured she'd be instructed when they were ready to start.