Re: Vengeance or Reconciliation? (Termite)
Termite
The mage was starting to lose his composure, enough that Alex was starting to work herself up to actually answering the ass with a fist to the neck. But even so she could still understand where he was coming from, and though he was completely mistaken about everything that happened a man such as him in a city this large just couldn't take the chance.
But gods was he an ass.
That was her thought when he finally left, her tongue being held from throwing some of his own logic back in his face. Besides, there was more to worry about, and it was currently clinging to her as if she would be lost as well. Alex could do little more then return the affection, but when Sir Gregor offered his home as a place to stay it made the woman pause. Angelle may not be ready for what was coming, but simply abandoning her in a time of crisis was no better. That was why she simply stared into her daughter's eyes, and after a bit she finally acted. "Do you know what may happen?"
Tassadar
Her daughter, despite her relative immaturity compared to the rest of the room, was not a fool. Nor was she blind. The question was loaded, and Angelle obviously knew it judging by the look in her eyes, one that Alex would be able to recognize with the same ease with which she read the girl's father. After a moment's pause in which the rest of the room remained as silent as a tomb, Angelle whispered back; "No..... But.... But I don't want you to go away!"
Termite
That answer was truthful, and Alex knew she couldn't spare the girl anything less. Not after what she had seen. "We need to find this thing to save your father, and we'll probably have to fight. I may end up doing the same thing to someone else. Someone else may do the same thing to me. But I need to go." And there she waited for Angelle's reaction.
Tassadar
Tension ran like lightning through Angelle's body as she listened to Alex's reply, and she all but jumped visibly when she mentioned that she herself might be killed in the process. It was clear that nothing might have terrified her more than the possibility that Alex pointed out so bluntly. But Angelle had inherited a few things from Alex, and one of them was most definitely courage. "I... I want to go with you...." she said, her voice soft and quiet but filled with a spark of determination. "I don't want you to get hurt.... Maybe I can stop it from happening?"
Termite
A hand came up to rest on top of the hybrid's head, and though it looked like nothing more than affection there was something else to it. Alex concentrated a tiny bit of herself and used it to look within her daughter, and no doubt Angelle would notice it the moment it happened. But Alex wanted to get a feel for her daughter's strength. Her potential. And after a bit the spiritual gaze ended as both arms moved to grip the girl's shoulders. "If you come this is going to be your first true battle. I want you to promise to take care of yourself before everyone else."
Tassadar
Angelle held perfectly still as she examined her, seeing into the depths of her daughter's powerful spirit. She definitely had the strength to overcome, but whether or not she had the tempermant to properly control her powers was another story. After another brief pause, Angelle nodded and said; "I promise... I won't be any trouble!"
Termite
"Then that's that." Alex rose and looked toward the Therion knight. "My apologies, Sir Gregor, but Angelle shall be accompanying us. So... Let's see if we can find some privacy downstairs. If not we'll bring a few drinks up so we can talk without scaring anyone else."
Tassadar
Sir Gregor nodded, offering no argument to Alex's firm declaration. Lady Albatross pursed her lips, but offered no complaint, and so the matter was decided. When Alex rose, so did Angelle, and again her allies merely nodded at her suggestion and then followed her downstairs. The bar proved to be practically empty following the guards tromping through, and an isolated little booth in the back wasn't hard to pick out. They still looked like the oddest bunch one ever could see, but at least they had a degree of privacy, and a waitress came by to see to their drinks. "Ale," Dingroria stated bluntly, "A tankard if you please." Lady Albatross cooed, "Elven wine for me child. With a strawberry in it if you have any fresh." Sir Andrast gave a thoughtful hum before making his order; "Lannistrian 407, on the rocks." That left Alex to order for herself, and possibly for Angelle.
Termite
"The mead was good, I'd like some more. And..." A thoughtful look was given to Angelle. "...if you have anything with just a hint of a kick bring it out."
Tassadar
"Daquiri then," the barmaid replied simply, and then left to acquire their drinks. She was back within moments, placing a mug of mead in front of Alex, a thick crystalline glass filled with ice and a brown liquid in front of sir Andrast, a frothing tankard for Ria, a wine glass with a strawberry in it for Albatross, and a similar glass with a brighter liquid for Angelle. "That'll be.... Twenty denarii all together."
Termite
Her father and all his brethren would probably balk at Alex for what came next, but she simply pulled out the coins and handed them to the barmaid without even the slightest bit of hesitation. She also gave everyone a chance to simply enjoy the drinks, but soon enough she asked Albatross a question and what followed was a direction she never would have guessed. Or even really understood. "So Queen or Outsider. I doubt a Queen would risk something like that herself when she can be exposed and caught red-handed. That leaves Outsider." Alex took another good drink before it finally came. "So what's an Outsider?"
Tassadar
Every time Alex said the word "outsider" Lady Albatross gave a little shiver, her expression souring to the point that the sidhe almost looked ill. When Alex had asked the ever-present question, the faerie gave a deep sigh before draining her glass, fruit and all, in one gulp. Swallowing it all down, she explained; "Outsiders are... Creatures from beyond our world, but not like the invaders or demons. The aliens are strange, yes, but clearly made of flesh and blood. They follow most of the same basic rules that life here does. Outsiders..... Don't. They are things beyond comprehension to mortal and immortal alike. Even looking at them is a horror onto itself, and can drive a lesser mind to utter madness even if it's one of the lesser specimens. The greater ones.... Well, be thankful that they cannot cross into our world without a great deal of help. If they could, we'd all be dead. If we were extremely lucky. I know this description isn't particularly useful, but in truth they cannot adequately be described by mortal language. We can't even perceive them in their entirety as we are. But I digress - they are beings of absolute evil and undefinable horror, and the more dangerous ones send their servants out to try and carve a path into our world on a regular basis. The angels are the predominant force preventing them from doing that, which is why the invasion stretched them so thin and was so poorly answered. If one is here, and did this... Then they've both eliminated a dangerous adversary in killing Arclan, and fermented chaos among its enemies."
Termite
Alex was having a bit of trouble seeing just how surreal these creatures could be. She simply couldn't wrap her mind around something that defied explanation. But something else was vying for her attention, something that seemed related to the events of the day, and after a bit it finally hit her. A moment later Alex excused herself to rummage through her things, and once she returned she held the mysterious box she bought. She didn't say a word, but she showed the reliefs to Lady Albatross to see what she thought of them.
Tassadar
Taking the box, Lady Albatross examined it with a deep scowl while the rest of the people at the table stared at it in confusion. "Where did you get this?" she asked quietly, her voice barely above a whisper.
Termite
"I bought it earlier today at the Trading Hall. The man who sold it to me said it could alter fate."
Tassadar
Staring at it for a long moment, she pointed to one of the alien figures and said; "These are examples of the lesser variants of outsiders. Their spawn and their minions. They are dangerous, but not insurmountable. That said, a being capable of doing what was done today would be above and beyond them." She handed the box back to Alex, "I cannot take this from you, much as I would like to. Don't open it."
Termite
There was something about this box that had Albatross nearly as spooked as she looked when Alex had mentioned the outsiders so casually earlier, but at that moment Alex wasn't going to pursue that line. "I don't plan on it." But it also didn't leave her side. It was pocketed and kept hidden, but with the Lady's reaction Alex couldn't help but feel that maybe that strange peddler was being honest. It wouldn't hurt to keep it handy just in case there was nothing that could be done to protect Angelle. It was what she paid for... "So, now we have a possible enemy and a possible motive. Do you think Therion authorities would accept that?" Somehow Alex doubted it.
Tassadar
"Unfortunately, no. Humans - and mortals in general - know nothing of outsiders for a reason. Even immortals are not immune to their manipulations, and the fewer that know of them the less of a connection they have to this world. Therion knows nothing of them, and to change that would expose thousands, millions to their influence. We might blame it on an individual outsider, if we find it, but we'd have to label it a demon or some such."
Termite
So, they needed to defeat a monster with the strength of a Queen, and they needed to do so without rousing too much attention. And somehow prove Aes's innocence without revealing the Outsider's existence. Simple... "Oh good lords..." A breath of frustration left the dragoness. "I accidentally kill a Winter Knight, I find Roko, I find my brother, and my Mate is arrested all in the same day. And now we have to deal with more abominations..."
Tassadar
"Who's Roko?" the faerie asked, her attention far more focused than she would be were such an idle question. "Is it like this for you every time you go on vacation?" Ria piped in suddenly, a note of levity in her voice that had been noticeably absent from the table up until that point.
Termite
"My first lover who I thought had been killed." That was about as much information as Alex was willing to volunteer at the moment, so when Ria asked her question the dragon gladly answered it. "This is my first vacation, so technically yes."
Tassadar
"Welp.... I, uhhh, don't have anything prepared for that answer. Gimme a minute!" Ria said, making a game attempt at keeping her tone light even though she drew an annoyed look from both Albatross and Gregor. "He isn't important to our present concerns then," the faerie said firmly, "Nor, do I think, is your brother. I know it makes me sound like a berating parent, but you ought to push your other concerns aside for now, Alexandra. This is too touchy a situation to risk distractions. For now, we should concentrate on our next step. Planning for what we'll do when we catch whatever did this can wait until we have more information. Do we have any leads other than the arena to go on?"
Termite
Another sigh followed. "I know, just wondering why my life suddenly became so busy." But Lady Albatross was right, and Alex took a moment to clear her thoughts a bit and focus on the task at hand. "Nothing tangible, but Aes did tell me to follow the white light. I'm going to assume its related to her Insight, so that's something to look for."
Tassadar
Lady Albatross nodded, "We'll have to keep an eye out for that then, though even I haven't the slightest idea of what it might mean. Shall we finish our drinks and be off then? The longer we wait, the colder the trail will become."
Termite
"Of course." At that Alex relaxed a bit simply to enjoy her drink, and as she finished it she started wondering who Therion would leave as a representative to follow Alex's investigation.
Tassadar
The mead was as good as ever, and if the mannerisms from the others were to be read accurately the same could be said for the other drinks. The only one who didn't seem quite pleased with their beverage was Angelle, who after taking a sip of the alcohol glared at it as if the drink had somehow betrayed her, and sipped it more cautiously afterwards. Alex's daughter was the last to finish her drink, and in that time Alex got a good idea of the drinking habits of her tablemates. Lady Albatross seemed to find alcohol distasteful in general, but had grown sufficiently used to it that she could savor the stuff if found in the right accompaniment. Dingroria, perhaps unsurprisingly, seemed to enjoy the booze simply because it was booze, draining her tankard the quickest of them despite that it held the greatest volume among their assorted drinks. Sir Andrast, in contrast, drank his quickly, but with the eagerness of one who'd drunk before and drunk much harder than they were now, the tiny edges of a haunted look appearing on his face as he briefly stared off into space.
Once all of them had finished, they rose with Alex in the lead and departed, and outside they found a lone man clad in a somewhat shabby example of the uniform of a Therion guard, a hand-rolled cigarette clenched between his teeth with an ember burning at the tip. The man's age was indeterminate, his face weathered and scarred but still mildly at least mildly handsome, perhaps made more so by the combination of ruggedness and experience evident in it. His hair was kept cut short and hadn't start to recede, but was starting to grey in places in a manner similar to Sir Gregor's. He glanced at aside as the door into the tavern opened and Alex and her entourage came pouring out, barely batting an eyelash at the strange ensemble. "Alexandra Alistar, I take it?" the man asked sardonically without removing the cigarette from his mouth, a grin cracking across his otherwise serious features. "I'm Lieutenant Calkis. I'll be your official escort for the purpose of this investigation," he stated simply, and held out a hand in offering.
Termite
Alex...wasn't quite sure what to make of this man... He seemed rather scruffy, but appearances and all that. It was pretty obvious he had done this for quite some time, the light speckling of gray in his hair a sign of age and the general age of the uniform itself only strengthened that image. "Indeed." Alex took his hand and shook it firmly. "Thank you for your presence. We're prepared to start, and we believe we have a lead worth pursuing. We'll be returning to the Arena. Are you familiar with it?" And if he was... "Are there any tunnels or catacombs beneath it that don't see much use?"
Tassadar
The Lieutenant's handshake was just as firm as Alex's, and he answered her questions quickly and promptly; "Yeah, I know of it." Followed by; "Yes. There's a lot of old structure underneath the arena from back when we used to pit slaves against wild animals, plus the sewers beneath all of that. Neither see much visitation except for the bit that serves as the fighter's pit for the arena. They said they'd send your shield over, do you want to wait for that or try to meet it on the way?"
Termite
"If we know which way it's being brought then let's catch it. Otherwise I'd rather wait."
Tassadar
"There's only one road to the arena from here unless they decided to take back alleys. Not likely. Come on then," he said, and then glanced at the assorted group following Alex and grinned such that his teeth were bare, sporting some unusually long canines. "Try to keep up you lot! Don't get lost now!" None of her companions took very well to that, not even Ria, but they fell in line anyway, Angelle clinging to Alex's side and the rest following along at varying distances. After only a short while their guard escort held up his hand and said; "Hold on, that's them!" He pointed to a group of four guards surrounding a woman whom Alex would recognize as the mage that she'd spoken to at the arena, and approached them with that same broad grin a moment later. "You looking for that one?" he said, gesturing with his thumb toward Alex, and the woman bearing her wrapped shield looked visibly relieved. "Yes," she said, and broke from her escort to offer Alex a wrapped parcel of a familiar shape and size, and when she grabbed it, weight.
Termite
Well, she could add irreverent to the list of flaws this man showed, but though it bothered most everyone else Alex wasn't going to let it get to her. It was probably why she merely raised an eyebrow at being referred to as 'that one', but the sight of the mage was far more important in her eyes. "We meet again." Seeing only the shield had her annoyed once more, but as much as it looked like it was aimed at the woman it truly wasn't, and she accepted the package and immediately opened it.