The group had pulled a wooden chair from the tavern area and had propped it up in the hallway, on the wall of where the T intersection connected the hallway with the main area. They had informed the innkeeper’s daughter, who had been the girl they’d seen performing all the chores, that it was because they always did whenever they were somewhere foreign. It would be strange to tell the truth, that they’d all just met that day. She seemed to accept this, informing her sister coming into the next shift as to the happenings, and not to be surprised if she saw an unusual fellow or lass sitting in a chair in the hallway, looking like a weirdo.
The first shifts went without a hitch. Lockheed and Daniel both had no unusual activities to report to the next in line. Lockheed sat motionless in a chair he had pulled up, trying to keep his arm in place to look normal, while Daniel’s shift consisted of him trying to beat his record on a video game, using his account on Lockheed’s holo-disc, which the Cowboy let him borrow through a few pleads. He came close and cursed the small machine out as his character died.
Cymia’s shift was spent reading a book, Regime, a book about the Bogan puppet governments in surrounding nations that Cyber and his grandfather had set up in both Bogan wars, and the effects on the citizens that they ruled. It disturbed her, so much information and injustice that she hadn’t been aware of, and it had happened at the hands of her people.
Knox did a variety of things: shadow puppets, humming to himself and inspecting his weapon, the weapon bit earning him concerned eyes as a couple of the guests left their room to leave amidst the night. Hellebore’s shift consisted mostly of his holo-disc, although a little was spent gawking at the sheep plush he now owned.
Hellebore creaked the door open to Gregor’s room. He was awake, as sleeping’s hard for him when he knows danger’s about. He sighed before sliding out of bed, rubbing his head as he walked towards the door. “I gotta ask, what’s with you and that sheep thingy?” He asked as Hellebore opened the door wider. He fumbled a bit as he put the sheep away. “You look like a little kid with a stuffed animal like that.”
Hellebore was not hesitant to respond. “It’s… complicated” he said as Gregor passed through the doorway. Gregor internally sighed, everyone had complicated shit in their lives. “The Thirty Houses of Morry are nobles, raised to be better than their opponents in the other houses. We were robbed of our childhoods for the sake of vanity, schooled and prepared to lead and to look good in public…” he seemed angered at his response, not towards Gregor, but towards those who raised him. “I had no friends, only siblings and the other House’s children who had never seen a ball or a toy in their lives.”
Gregor seemed a little drowsy, but he still listened as Hellebore gazed into the black room he had walked out of. “Things like that… like this.” he gripped the small sheep. “I was never able to have this as a child. My parents wanted what was best for me, and that meant no distractions…”
Hellebore sighed before adjusting his shirt, changing his tone as he was done venting. “My apologies for looking unprofessional. You shall have no more of such child’s play from me in public again.” Gregor, the newcomer Hellebore had disliked, had earned his respect by his selfless action earlier. “Now, I believe your hour is upon you.”
Before Gregor could say anything, the Noctin was gone. Gregor sighed before stomping down the hall, tired and already bored before his hour had even started. He sat down on the chair, crossing his legs as he slowly reached underneath the chair. “Private Isle…” he said under his breath. A blue glow from under him signaled Private Isle, his soul spell, activating. A soul spell always works better when you say the name you gave it out loud. Whether it be increasing damage or speed, for Gregor all it did was open the portal to his little ‘realm’ faster.
He pulled out a glass bottle. Herrybomb cola, his favorite beverage. People could tell him to drink water or something else healthier as much as they want, but they’d have to rip a bottle of Herrybomb from his withering, dead fingers.
He popped the bottle cap as silently as possible, the soft hiss escaping from it as he kicked back slightly, taking a sip as he took his holo-disc out of his pocket and flicking it on. He pressed one of the small diamonds on his disc, the app opening to reveal a card game. Lords, almost as popular as poker, but more fun in his opinion, because the deck was more interesting. He found a game in progress and began. He was fairly good at Lords and he knew it, so he bet fairly high out of his in-game currency, which he had bought with real money.
Six minutes. Easy win, cash out. He made out like a bandit as usual, and transferred the funds back into actual money into his bank account. He smiled to himself as he took another sip. The day he found a table of people better at Lords than he was, the day he’d quit drinking Herrybomb, he thought to himself. He took another sip. The silent hiss was inter strewn with something else. Another sound within the dark emptiness of the halls...
Gregor sat up, powering his disc down as he looked around the darkened hallway. A few candles remained lit to help any who may leave during the night. It was probably just the inn worker, scuttling about. He sighed before rubbing his eyes. His drowsiness has him paranoid again. Maybe it was another one of the patrons leaving their room?
Then he heard it again. Not only that, but a draft wafted through the air, and he didn’t remember there being windows around him. His friend’s signal. Another disturbance in the floorboard piqued his interest. He turned to his left, nothing there. He scratched his head before turning to his right, a figure loomed in the center of it, standing silently.
Gregor jumped up, the chair rattling as he gasped and almost fell over the chair. As he reached for his pocket, Alice’s face emerged from the shadowed figure, followed by her hands making a ‘no’ motion with wide eyes and her teeth grit in a worried wince. He gripped his chest as he realized, visibly taken aback and almost having a heart attack at the girl creeping around.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you!” She said in a loud whisper. Gregor sighed. “You can talk normally, these doors are pretty sound resistant. I could barely hear Daniel rage over whatever game he was playing… wait, why are you up? Your shift isn’t until later.”
“Couldn’t sleep. It’s hard to, when you know someone’s after you specifically.” she motioned to herself. Gregor grunted slightly, feeling stupid for asking the question.
As she stood there in awkward silence, a thought came to her mind. “I… want to apologize, for uh… kicking you in… you know.” Her hands made a rolling motion, not wanting to say the exact words. Gregor waved it off. “Don’t worry about it, it wouldn't be the first time.” He said the second part quieter as Alice chuckled, relieved there weren’t any hard feelings. Were it her it had happened to she probably would’ve held a grudge until the end of time.
Gregor glanced towards the empty tavern area, and it seemed the lady working the night shift was in a different part of the inn. He offered Alice the seat, leaning against the wall instead. “So, that ‘friend’ of yours told you I was there?” Alice declined the seat, leaning against the wall as well. Standing was better for Gregor, he didn’t want to fall asleep on the job.
“Yea, she did, but I also heard you creeping around.” He shrugged, taking a long swig from his soda bottle he had picked up. Alice seemed suspicious. Her hobby of butting into people’s personal lives made few friends where she was from, but hey, she had every right to ask questions about the strangers she was letting travel with her. Not only that, but she needed to pass the time anyways. “So, how do you know this friend of yours?”
“I saved her life a while back, and she kind of stuck with me for a bit. I’ll admit, I wasn’t the best role model, but hey, we made out pretty well from those rebel Sindelvans.”
Alice had a hunch, she just needed the evidence to prove it. “What does she do now?” Gregor seemed unenthused at exploring his personal life, but gave in because from what he’s seen of Alice, she wouldn’t be one to back down from a question. “She serves in Anweon’s military, one of the specialty units. Just got the job a few weeks ago, actually. Kind of the opposite of what she did with me.” he tapped the wall behind him, supposing this wasn’t the worst way to waste time. “She wasn’t from Anweon. From Sindelva, actually, but when the war broke out she decided it was the best place for her. She was torn by it, since she has family on both sides, and wanted to stay as neutral as possible, thus going to the most neutral kingdom possible, at least after our string of robbing was cut short…”
Alice listened, slowly piecing together what she was being told. Anweon was neutral, but even her cousin the Queen and her friends were beginning to form opinions on the war, especially with both sides constantly pestering them about leaving neutrality. The Liberation and the Maxim both had fair points, but after Anweon lost so much in the first war there was little that would sway Queen Beatrice other than an unprovoked attack. Maybe her cousin being kidnapped by Liberation forces would have some sway on any decision she made?
“I’ll be sure to tell her what you’re doing for me… uh, whoever she is.” she said, generally grateful a man like him would testify to something so big. “Lydia.” Gregor said, smiling softly to himself as he mentioned the name. This little action confirmed all she needed to know. “Well, I ship it.”
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Gregor had gone to take a sip, but instead almost choked on his drink. He’d seen enough of hardcore fans of media online to know what that term meant. Alice laughed as quietly as he could as Gregor put the bottle down. “Ah, what the f-”
Another creak alerted both of them, this time it wasn’t Alice. They both froze, Alice quietly padding her back for her satchel.She had left it in the room, she didn’t want to wake Cymia up by grabbing it. She had seemed troubled when she reentered their room, and thought she needed the sleep.
Gregor took a step forward, eyeing his surroundings with an unnerved expression. He took a few steps, pausing between them, before peeking his head out into the inn’s main area. He motioned for Alice to follow as the two made their way into the darkness. Gregor scanned what he could see out of the room, Alice behind him glaring through the parts he missed.
They heard it again, this time coming from a room on the opposite half of the building then their sleeping quarters. They tiptoed over, Alice wondering what would happen if it was the innkeeper’s daughter. She didn’t want to think about the repercussions for almost scaring some poor lady to death by creeping around in the shadows. However, with someone after her and planning to take her to Cyber himself, she’ll take that chance.
The noise echoed through again as Gregor stopped. This time it sounded almost metallic. Gregor stood his ground, but Alice pushed past him, determined to put an end to this. She was tired of having to watch her back constantly, and figured that if the enemy spellcaster WAS there, they’d be cornered. Even if she got hit with whatever spell had affected Lockheed’s arm, Gregor could swoop in and deal any damage left to deal after Alice gave it her all in beating the ever living shit out of them.
“Wait a second!” Gregor hissed, Alice ignoring him as she peeked her head into the room. A few metal tubs and a pit seemed to indicate it was a washroom. The washer and dryer were located to its left, and the pit contained a bunch of white sheets and pillow cases, likely a makeshift dirty laundry basket. A silhouette stood facing away from them, knelt in front of the pit and rummaging through it. It seemed that the innkeeper’s daughter was the source of the noise, as occasionally she’d bump into one of the metal bins, the floorboards beneath her also creaking occasionally.
Alice sighed, slightly disappointed but also fairly relieved. She turned to make her way back, but something stopped her. “Hey, Gregor, got a light?” She asked quietly. “Yea, why?” He whispered, shoving a hand into his cloak. A faint blue glow emitted before he pulled out a match box. Alice leaned to her right, picking up one of the candles on the table next to them before she quietly took a match. She turned back around, igniting the matchstick with the side of the box as she put it up to the candle’s extinguished flame.
“Do you need a light, miss? It’s probably pretty tough to wash clothes without one…” She asked the figure as she brought the candle into the room, taking a few steps as she strained her eyes slightly to get a better view. She saw the dark silhouette of a light hanging above them, and calmly re extinguished the flame of the candle. Of course this place would have electricity.
She fumbled a bit, realizing she didn’t look for the switch before letting the candlelight die, and so she felt up the walls on both sides before finding the small knob. “Cmon, she must be alright without light if she’s working without it.” Gregor said, finding the situation rather suspicious. “Nonsense.” Alice responded, “it’d be bad for your eyes to work in the dark like… this…” her words trailed off and she turned the knob to the light above them.
The magic within the lantern activated with the switch, igniting the large lantern hanging above the room with a spark. Magic was used for a lot these days, and even without a soul shard some forms of magic could be synthetically made, like being able to bind objects into doing stunts such as lighting up with a switch. ‘Electricity’ is what they called it, but everyone knew that it was magic that had now lit up the world. The Bogans may be warmongers in many people’s eyes, but they had some of the smartest brains in the world within their borders.
Alice stuttered the last part of her words as the light flashed on. The innkeeper’s daughter was next to the wall, but she was hovering over the pit by about a foot. Her right knee was higher on the wall than her other leg, as if she had been affected while knelt down. The bottoms of her left foot were hitting against one of the metal bins below her, causing the noise. She seemed unable to speak, as her face was pressed against the wall. It looked like she was trying to get someone’s attention with the noise that had drawn them.
Alice instinctively took a few steps forward, bent on trying to pull her down before Gregor’s hand grabbed her wrist. “Wait!” He called out, no longer a whisper.
It was too late, the bin to the left of the one the lady’s feet were kicking against had already seen its target. The bin seemed slightly duller in shade than the rest, something Gregor had seen before Alice stepped in.
The bin exploded, metal bits scattering about as a sudden force of energy whipped towards Alice. This time there was no time-meddling to stop it from hitting its target. The light purple streak seemed to have a yellow center, the source of whatever force now made an impact with Alice’s body. Alice got the wind knocked out of her by the force hitting her square in the diaphragm, Gregor losing his grip as he fell, pulled by Alice’s body rocketing backwards.
She hit the wall to the left of the doorway, but found herself not falling to the ground. Instead, she found herself stuck to the wall like velcro as Gregor grabbed a wall to help himself up. The Innkeeper’s daughter’s thrashing got more frantic, hearing many noises behind her that she couldn’t see.
Gregor’s eyes met hers as he saw the situation Alice now found herself in. “Oh… shit.” Gregor said, regaining his balance. He scanned the room like a hawk, ensuring there weren’t any more booby-trapped objects before rushing over. Alice strained as she tried to lift herself from the wall, with little success.
As Gregor sought to grab one of her arms, pulling it like a rope, Alice’s grunt of pain caused him to drop it. His head seemed like it was spinning like a top, frantically searching the room for any clues as to what to do.
His silent questions were answered by a howl of laughter, a female’s voice coming from his right, towards the doorway. The laughing was intercut with several snorts, the individual seeming to get a kick out of watching this show she had crafted.
Gregor spun to the door, seeming both panicked and pissed as he took a defensive fighting stance. The candle that Alice had used earlier was now lit, with several others scattered around the table closest to the laundry room. There sat a girl, her slightly tattered dress resembling that which a princess would wear, the purple and white patterns of it resembling a large cake. The female donning the dress had light pink hair, pampered to puff out like she came from a disco show. Her eyes were narrowed as a sly look plastered on her face. She was holding a teacup, and had seemingly set up an entire tea set on the table in front of her. How she managed to do this without being heard or seen was beyond Gregor, but she was obviously deranged in some way if that’s how you spend your time watching people panic.
“I see you found my presents.” She said in an upbeat, high society speech that meshed with her Shombeli accent to form a strange speech pattern all her own. “I was wondering when you’d crawl out of your hidey hole to see what was going on… although he was the target for the lure, I guess luck is on my side today, seeing as I don’t need to go through all your friends anymore.” She giggled to herself as she took a sip from her tea, Gregor’s knuckles turning white from his fists clenching.
The girl slowly stood up, setting the teacup onto the table before she skipped towards the doorway. Gregor didn’t wait for her arrival, a blue glow coming from his sleeve before the glint of a blade could be seen coming up through it. It popped out like a spring, Gregor catching the weapon in his hand. It resembled a machete, the glaring difference being that it was about a foot longer in length, and seemed to be toning like silver would. The machete was now aimed towards the stranger as Gregor’s stance planted itself further.
“Now, now, there’s no need for that!” The girl put her hands up, mocking a surrender. “You should at least know what it is you’re fighting before you attack, right? I mean, your friend there seems pretty tied up.” Gregor sneered, but didn’t move as she drew a few steps closer. He’d attack if she got within 3 paces of him.
The girl grabbed for her chest, a green stone sat as what fastened the front of her dress together, just below her neck. It was glowing, signifying that it was active. Alice had noticed her ally’s stones doing the same during the battle in the trail, thinking nothing of it. This green stone illuminated around her much stronger, however, as her psychotic smile grew wider. “I’ll admit, you figured out more than I would have liked.” She shrugged.
“So what? You make things move or something. What a cheap parlor trick.” Gregor said, his stance remaining. The girl chuckled. “No, silly. I would tell you, but it’d be better to show it off.” Gregor eyed the room around him, not seeing any more dulled objects.
“I’m sure you’ve guessed by now that I’m a Void type spellcaster, just like yourself.” she said. Her head perked up, eyeing Alice as she struggled. “I’m also guessing she isn’t a spellcaster at all… makes things easier for me. I just need to figure out the weakness in yours and I’ll be cashing out. I’m sorry to say that the bounty said nothing of whether companions of hers would or should survive, so I’ll just make an inference…” Her voice grew more and more chaotic with each word as he took another step forward, her arms clasped behind her back.
She took another step, Gregor took a step back. One step forward, one step back. This cycle continued until the girl reached where Alice was. Gregor knew he looked like a coward, but he also knew the girl wouldn’t harm Alice. From what he read about the bounty before HE went after her, she was to be delivered unharmed.
The girl pulled back some of Alice’s hair, Alice glaring daggers into her eyes. “My my, you have some fight left in you...I’m glad that you’re too weak to have a sp-” She was interrupted by Alice headbutting her eye socket. The girl stumbled back a bit as Alice spat out a small curse. The girl’s face seemed to be fighting to keep her composure. “Now that wasn’t very nice…” she said, rubbing her head. A slight trickle of red dripped down from Alice’s forehead.
“I suppose I deserve it for toying with you… very well. No more games, just action. I suppose I should introduce myself to you, Mr, considering I’m the last person you’ll meet.” The girl took another step forward, this time her arms were clasped in front of her. “My name is Caroline. And you are?”
“...Gregor.” He was slow to respond, but recognized that conduct was one of the few things that united all in battle. Caroline bowed rather dramatically before perking up, her plotting grin resuming as her stone began glowing even brighter. “A real shame, you seemed like such a fine gentleman. Too bad I have to end you now.” Her voice deepened, sounding slightly seductive as she raised her hand.
The chair she had sat in earlier began rattling slightly. The dark exterior of the room had concealed anything she had touched in darkness. There’s no telling how many things she has at her disposal now. “Now then, Mr. Gregor, Shall I have this dance?”