Chapter 73: Too Much Information
Nathan: “Hey can we talk?”
Nathan hopped down from the ledge and moved towards the three. Jazz immediately stepped back, alongside Beat.
Nathan: “Wait, I just want to talk. I need some information.”
Jazz: “Like we’d give you anything.”
Nathan: “Don’t be like that, just a little info won’t hurt.”
Jazz: “Stay back!”
Nathan put his hand out, trying to show that he meant no harm; Beat and Jazz were being overly cautious. On the other hand, Viola hadn’t moved since he’d arrived, she just been staring at him intensely.
He didn’t recall doing anything that would make them so afraid. Yes, sure he stole from them, but they had done the same to him.
Nathan: “Sheesh why are you so afraid of me, I just want to talk.”
Beat: “Talk okay, let’s talk about what you did to Boss.”
Nathan: “Pfft, Boss?”
Viola finally came out of her stupor upon hearing Nathan laugh.
Viola: “Don’t call me that.”
Viola reprimanded Beat, before turning back to Nathan. He was still chuckling a bit, he thought that being called Boss, didn’t fit her image. She became irritated, more than that, the feeling was returning. The tightening in her chest had returned and now her heart was close to bursting . So, it was true, it was the Lycanian’s fault, if she could figure out what it is, she could figure out how to stop it.
Viola: “Are you done?”
Nathan hearing the irritation in her voice settled down.
Nathan: “Sorry, sorry.”
Viola: “Whatever, if you want information, what do we get in return?”
Nathan: “Well, how about this?”
Nathan pulled out a small bag and tossed it to Viola.
Nathan: “One hundred Rydt. It’s all I can afford, right now hope its enough.”
Viola and company quickly checked the contents; the sight of money was slowly returning her to her former persona. She smiled down at the coins before tossing them to Beat. It was way more money then they were gonna ask for, but they weren’t going to tell. Even Jazz who was against at first, change her tune after seeing the money.
Viola: “We’re listening.”
Nathan: “What can you tell me about someone named Morty?”
Viola: “Morty? That joke of a slum lord...?”
Nathan: “Joke?”
Viola crossed her arms and nodded her head in confirmation.
Viola: “He’s strictly small time; he gets his jolly harassing Therian’s, mostly because it’s the easiest and securest way to make money and steer clear of the big-time loan sharks. He stays secluded in Loegrey, it has the highest Therian population around these parts. He’s also a well-known Therian hater.”
Nathan: “Any affiliations?”
Viola: “None that we know of; none of the big guys really gives him the time of day. As long as he stays in his little area, he’s pretty much isolated.”
Nathan: “That’s good. (No one will care if he suddenly went out of business)
Nathan smiled; he found out all he needed to know. With this he could move on Morty without any lasting repercussions.
Viola: “Why do you care so much about Morty?”
Nathan: “He’s hassling a friend of mine, so I’m gonna make him stop.”
Viola: “What?...you gonna take him on by yourself…? He may be a small-time crook, but he is in no way a push-over.”
Nathan: “Your worried about me?”
Viola: “O-Of course not, who would worry about you.”
Viola’s faced went flush, as she firmly denied Nathan’s claims. Nathan just shrugged his shoulders.
Nathan: “Thanks for worrying about me, but I’ll be fine. I think that’s all I need, thanks for the info.”
Viola: “Your leaving?”
Nathan: “Yeah, why? Do you want something else?”
Viola: “Well, I,I-”
Viola try to say what she needed, but the feeling from earlier was returning.
Nathan: “What’s wrong?”
Jazz: “Tell us what you did to Viola.”
Beat: “Yeah, what did you do to our boss?”
Nathan: “What are you talking about, she looks fine.”
Jazz: “No ever since she met you she’s been acting strangely, it’s interfering with business.”
Nathan: “I don’t think I did anything to her.”
Nathan turned to Viola, when their eyes met, her face flushed red. Nathan took notice of this and approached Viola, the second he got close; she went red in the face.
Viola: “Wh-wh-wh-what!?”
Nathan: “Calm down.”
Her breath was short, so her words came out broken. Nathan could hear her heart beating rapidly the closer her got, she was sweating an awful lot, not to mention her face being so red. To him it looks like she had a fever, at least what he could tell from her symptoms. However, he didn’t understand why they’d think he’d done something to her, all he could recall was the number of times he’d been sick in his life, none of which were of Leseres; as his memories were of Earth.
Nathan: “Hmm, there does seem to be something wrong with you, does this happen often?”
Viola: “Ah-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-”
Nathan: “What?”
Jazz: “She says it only happens when she thinks of you.”
Nathan: “Huh, it was that bad!?”
Nathan was a little startled by this, was him stealing from her that big of a shock? He heard of professional being bested at their profession tend to go into a similar shock, but he read that most come out of their rut.
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Jazz: “Viola…tell him?”
Jazz pushed Viola forward, forcing her to explain the symptoms to him. Viola began to explain everything that was wrong with her to Nathan. It was broken and some of what she said had to be translated, but Nathan was slowly beginning to understand.
The more he heard, the more he understood and soon he knew exactly what was wrong. It was so obvious he was fighting the urge to blush himself, but saying what it was would make it really awkward. Their faces were full of worry for their, but it was absolutely not something to worry about. He raised a hand to Viola’s chest, causing her to turn beet red.
Viola: “WH-WHAT THE!?”
Nathan: “Tranquil.”
Viola was wrapped in a white aura and slowly her heart beat calmed and the flush in her face disappeared.
Viola: “Ah, the feelings gone.”
Viola thought for a second there that he was going to rub her chest, but it felt like he cured her. Nathan took a few steps back from Viola, quickly creating some distance between them.
Nathan: “For now, I but best leave before the symptoms return.”
Jazz: “So you admit it, you did do something to her.”
Nathan: “Yes and no, it’s really not my place to say, you should try to figure it out on your own.”
Jazz: “If we could, we would have already, just tell us.”
Nathan: “I’m not going to do that; look do you have any older girlfriends?”
Jazz: “What does that have to do with anything?”
Nathan: “Well, she could explain to you what she’s feeling right now; trust me, it’s best if I’m not around when you figure it out. Figure it out on your own or ask a lady-friend, if you find out any other way, you’ll probably regret it. And with that, I’m outta here.”
Jazz: “Dying, wait!?”
With that Nathan quickly jumped down from the building, wanting to get away from the awkward situation only he was aware of. His faced flush a bit, when he thought back to what she told him.
Nathan: “Awkward girl… why am I the only one who realized your confession?”
_
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Iris: “Your back.”
Nathan waved at the girls as he returned from his information gathering. The three girls looked as though they had just returned as well.
Nathan: “I got the information; how did it look around the building?”
Iris: “There’s quite few men in the building, most of them are on the first floor in a room by the entrance and a few patrolling the grounds outside.”
Anais: “It won’t be at all difficult to get inside and we can take out the guys at the entrance, no problem. But we have to be careful about how we go about it. There seems to be a lot of innocent people in there as well.”
Nathan: “Innocent?”
Anais: “Children and the like, there some acting as servants, while the rest are held in a room on the second floor.”
Nathan: “He kidnapped them?”
Anais: “Didn’t look like it, the ones walking around don’t seem like they are in any discomfort, I think they might be people who owe him money.”
Nathan: “Damn, then we can’t use plan A.”
Ena: “Plan A?”
Nathan: “Have Iris, lift the building into the air and launch it into the horizon.”
Anais: “Don’t you think someone would notice a building fly off into oblivion?”
Nathan: “Doesn’t matter if they don’t know who did it. Well I guess we have to use plan C.”
Anais: “You mean plan B.”
Nathan: “No that plan was to have Ena go in and then demolish the building with them in it or have you rain hell-fire down upon them. Since we can’t do anything like that let’s go with this plan, C.”
Anais: “What’s that?”
Nathan closed his hand and then opened it to reveal a small glowing ball, which he then tossed into the air.
Nathan: “Anais, Iris, would the two of you be so kind as to make a little wind, don’t want to knock out the entire area.”
Anais and Iris did as they were asked as the ball of light fell off of Nathan, Anais and Iris would cause a breeze that would send them right towards the targeted building.
Nathan: "Heh, heh, I saw them do this in a movie once."
_
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Morty: “Ah this is delicious. You boy! Go fetch me something to eat.”
Therian Boy: “Yes sir.”
Morty sipped at a glass cup, savoring every bit of the drink in his cup. The Therian boy quickly shuffled out, heading for the kitchen as Morty fanned the air as if the boy left behind a stench. His wine tasted particularly good today, it was the day before his special business opportunity, the one people like him dreamt of.
For the longest time, he had been dealing with low-level debts from the high population of Therians. They weren’t particularly wealthy, but they were safe and easy to target. Who would have thought from such a small-time business that he would catch such a break? It was a god-send that he happened to be collecting from a particular Therian who just so happened to be partnering up with the illusive and infamous Lycanian.
Merchant after merchant approached the Lycanian every day since he’d arrived with the high-level weaponry, but one after another, no matter how good the deal, they would be immediately shut-down. The only chance they had, would be to cozy up next to Ramol, but Ramol refused to partner up with anyone who wanted to meet the Lycanian and since that’s the only reason they would partner with him, he remained exclusive.
However, Ramol had borrowed some money from Morty, and with the interest rate of five percent increase every month, he was just recently able to pay it back. However, Morty being the genius he is, decided he rather go into business with the Lycanian through Ramol. All he had to do was tweak the terms of the contract, a loophole. Sooner or later Ramol will give him what he wanted, if not, he’ll would just have Ramol roughed until he did, violence was always a great negotiation settler.
Morty: “Buhii, soon I’ll be the most prominent loan shark in this town and then I can spread my network beyond the walls of this disgusting mutt ridden town. I can just imagine: Midheim, Hyborne, maybe even Ziltharth, oh the possibilities. Maybe I should look into Sterling, I hear they’re slowly rising to prominence. *Guuuuuurrrrrrr~*
Morty: “Hey, where the hells my food?”
Morty slammed his hand down on the desk, as his stomach growl in protest.
Morty: “You hear me?...get your little ass in here with my food.”
When no answer came, Morty breathed a sigh of contempt.
Morty: “I allowed these mongrels into my home, so they can work off their debts, a little bit faster and yet they spit on my hospitality.”
Morty began to grow angrier by the second, but after a moment he realized, everything had gone quiet.
Morty: “What the hell, hey anyone out there?”
Again, no one answered his call. This wasn’t too un-common, most of his men would spend their time enjoying the locale’s many pleasure facilities. However, they did that only when he’d dismiss them from duty, which he did not. His stomach growled for the last time, before he got up. He walked out into the hallway, to find it void of life.
Morty grew a bit nervous; he quickly journeyed back inside his room and retrieved a book from his desk. With it tucked under his arm he headed through the facility, listening for anyone or anything.
Morty: “I swear, you’d all better be dead, making me leave my room.”
Coming down the steps he caught sight of one of his men sitting in a doorway, asleep on the floor. The moment he saw him, nervousness was replaced with anger.
Morty: “HEY, DIDN’T YOU HEAR ME CALLING YOU, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING? WHAT THE HELL AM I PAYING YOU FOR?”
The guard hadn’t reacted to Morty’s calls, probably dead drunk and passed out, from whatever was in the cup next to him. Morty stomped towards the man, smacking him in the head in his fury.
Morty: “Hey you, what the hell are you doi-”
Morty cut his sentence short; as he watched the guard’s body crumple to the floor. He had been knocked unconscious from what looked like a hard blow to the face.
Morty: “W-What the hell!?”
Around the entry way, several other men were sprawled out in the same way, all unconscious.
*Crash*
Therian Boy: “Master Morty, what on Leseres?”
Morty turned to find the Therian boy he had sent to get him food.
Morty: “You Mongrel, what has happened here?”
Therian Boy: “I-I don’t know…this is the first time I’m seeing this. I just went to the kitchen to retrieve your meal.”
On the floor in front of the boy was a plate of food, meant for Morty.
Therian Boy: “I apologize for the wait, but I was attending to your guests.”
Morty: “Guests…? What guests?”
Therian Boy: “Um three women. They say you wanted to meet with them to talk business. I lead them to the waiting room.”
Morty: “You idiot, they were the ones who did this, and you let them walk right in?”
Therian Boy: “They were already entering the guest room when I arrived. I quickly prepared some tea, then went to fetch your meal.”
Morty: “Is there anyone else in there with them?”
Therian Boy: “Some of the people who work for you are.”
Morty: “Good, good. Clean this up and then get a bucket of water and throw it in each one of their faces. While you’re at it, find everyone outside and send them to me.”
Morty left the boy with that and headed for his guest room. He didn’t know what women that be stupid enough to enter his home and incapacitate his men, but they would regret it. However, he remained cautious, to infiltrate his home, knockout the guards watching the door and do it all without alerting the rest of the house, they must be pretty strong. Having reached his guest room, he found a group of his men and the three women, all turn to him when he walked in.
Right now, his men were being subdued by two of the three women. Some frozen to the wall, others floating in mid-air and the last being man-handled by another woman, as if they were children.
???????: “Ah good you’re here.”
Morty nearly lost feeling in his leg; he rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn’t seeing things. Sitting in a chair casually sipping at a cup of tea, was the infamous Lycanian.
Nathan: “Come, don’t stand there like an idiot, sit down. You wanted to talk to me right…?”