Nehvna made her way up to the large building and wondered why she was following this blind girl. She had quite the regal presence, but that wasn't the reason. Maybe she did some sort of magical whammy on her as well. This magic thing was really helpful. But as Nehvna got closer to the large building, she found herself caring less and less about this. She found herself caring less about a lot of things, like if Jane was getting herself in trouble, or if Beth was treating Avrion nicely. All she could think about was the happier side of things, like how Jane was a lot happier since Sean had turned up. And how Sean had turned up. She even felt confident enough to talk with him, maybe get to know him a bit more. She didn't know where this confidence was coming from, but she liked it, and didn't want to ask the blind girl about it because it might ruin her mood slightly if she knew exactly what was happening, but she loved it all the same.
As they arrived, she let the blind girl open the door, and then rather meekly followed her in - the confidence brewing in her was sill brewing, and there was still a lot of meek to get though. Sean was stood there, with a massive mug of something and a roughish smirk on his face. His standing was so glorious, and Nehvna couldn't help but sigh when she looked at him. However, Sean's eyes were drawn to the girl next to her, which made her feel a bit bad. But then her spirits where bolstered when he spoke.
"Elissa! How's it going hun, what brings you around these parts?" He asked her. A few seconds passed before he turned to Nehvna, and then he grinned. "And you bring the beautiful Nehvna with you. Happy days" He announced, walking over the Nehvna and offering her his giant mug. "Stein of tea? San's a wonder with this kind of thing" He offered. Nehvna wasn't a big tea drinker, but she took the offered stein anyway. It wasn't as heavy as she thought it would be, but anything she didn't quite understand now was instantly classified as magic. Sean smiled at Nehvna for a few more seconds, before turning to Elissa as she began speaking.
"I follow Abaddon. You know how he is with things, so I thought I'd try to keep him out of trouble, so to speak. I saw a fair bit of trouble coming from him, so I stepped in and made sure he had a direct path to you. Then, I saw more trouble coming, and decided to stick around. Speaking of, the trouble is about 5 seconds distant" Elissa said, pointing to the door. A door that Sean turned to with a wide grin, as if a man, waiting for the wolf at the door to break in, the amusement – borderlining madness – of the unknown outcome giving mirth to a situation that should lack such emotion.
The doors to San's place flew open with a bang - not that it disrupted the festivities at all - and a rather small woman - roughly five and a half foot - stormed up to Sean. She was wearing a hood pulled over her head to shadow her eyes and a cloak that reached her calves. There was also a thin coat that fastened around her front with a dozen buttons and her hands where behind her back, hidden from view. Everything, from the hood to the cloak where very ornate, and covered in sigils and runes. She looked at Taurus on the dance floor, and then turned to Sean, with something that was clearly a glare, even if her eyes where hidden.
"You! What are you still doing here?! And how dare you trick Taurus into not carrying out what he was sent here to do!" She shouted at Sean, who simply grinned manically.
"Well, it’s good to see you to Cancer. How have you been?" He replied.
"Wait, Taurus. Cancer. They are the Zodiac" Nehvna mused, but Cancer burst into another rant.
"Don't try to change the subject! You were ordered to the Council, and you instead tricked the messenger into...into dancing!" She yelled, before a large man with a beaming smile strode over.
"Ohh, hey San. Cancer seems a bit stressed" Sean commented nonchalantly - or at least trying nonchalant, in reality he was barely surprising a smile, as if knowing what was coming - before raising his stein for a drink but realized he had given it away, and so he pouted.
"Here" Nehvna said, handing the stein back as San spoke to Cancer.
"Are you having trouble being Jubilant?!" He asked Cancer, grinning at her and adding great emphasis to the last word. Cancer felt the effects from the moment she had gotten to the building, but San was really laying it down thick. The layered effects of his sentence hit her like a truck, and she had trouble getting her sentence out correctly.
"I...no...It’s just...I have work" she said, showing her natural state and trying to fend off San's assault. It didn't work out very well.
"I know why you are having difficulty" he continued, grinning widely. "It's because your coat is buttoned up in such a warm building" he finished, moving to unbutton her coat. However, as he touched the first button, a small blue spark danced from his finger to the button, and the rest unpopped themselves and the coat flew off. Then the cloak that was covering her eyes was knocked off as the coat blew backwards. The woman had beautiful purple hair and eyes - which currently held surprise in an ample amount. Her clothing was ordinary - nothing more than a plain long sleeved t-shirt - but she had a nice face, and so the t-shirt looked good on her. The strangest thing however, was a pair of handcuffs that topped the clothes pile, which must have been used to keep her arms behind her back, for some reason that only Nehvna seemed to be out of the loop on.
"Don't worry about it hun. Enjoy The Ball. I’ll take all three of you up there come morning. And if that lump of vapid flesh sends anyone else down, I’ll bring'm back as well" Sean told Cancer. He seemed to be working something similar to San, but on a different emotional level. Cancer seemed a lot more vibrant since San removed her coat and cloak.
"Ok. That sounds like a good idea" Cancer announced, before drifting off towards the benches where so many other people where sat. Cheers rang out as another person joined the small bench community, and then regular conversation continued, with one more voice in it.
"There is something rather pleasing about overcoming someone like that. A feeling of accomplishment. Of victory" Sean told San, looking at Cancer laugh and join in with the merriment. He had never thought of taking her clothes off, so he only saw the quiet and reserved Cancer - except when it came to shouting at him, then she was scary - but he had never seen her smile, or heard her laugh. It was a new experience for him.
"I would not have thought one of your nature would be able to enjoy victory, with it being so certain!" San replied, before turning to his other guests. “My apologises for that interruption. Foreseen as it was, I still feel the need to apologize!" He told Nehvna and Elissa.
"It is alright San, we have only one method of controlling The Council, and it isn't a very good one" Elissa replied, which brought Sean's scorn - after he had finished taking a drink from his cup.
"Hey, the complete genocide of every party that supports Aries is a very good plan. It's just you lot don't seem to think it" Sean retorted, with a tone that made him appear completely serious in his defence, and at the same time obvious that he was making a joke.
"Hmm, I see a reiteration would be necessary. It is not a very prudent plan, in the long run" Elissa replied.
"Umm, sorry. But, wh...who are 'The Council'?" Nehvna asked in a timid tone. The shouting woman suddenly becoming so meek and then happy had made Nehvna feel rather shy, and it was with great effort she managed to speak at all. Sean turned to her with that devilish half-smile and answered her.
"Ohh, they are some big-wig ruling idiot people for the most part. Nobody likes them as a whole, but they have some nice individual people" he told her. Nehvna loved the way he could give vague answers in such a way that left the asker satisfied.
"Huh. Fair enough" Nehvna said in a much stronger tone, suddenly feeling more confident. But before she could get her next sentence straight in her head, Sean spoke to Elissa.
"So what bring you up here then?" he asked in a curious tone.
"I just wanted to see how you would deal with Cancer. And to tell you that Abaddon has arrived" she informed Sean.
"Right....so, where is the moody bat then?" Sean replied before finishing the dregs in his stein.
"I would assume that he is heading in this direction, and will arrive promptly" Elissa intoned, to which Sean nodded.
"Yea, and by assume you mean 'know for a fact'. Because you don't really assume anything" Sean told Elissa, who nodded in confirmation. "Well, until then, we got some free time" he announced before turning to Nehvna. "Will you accompany me? I need to sort some things out, and the company would be nice" he told her. Nehvna jumped at the chance, and nodded vigorously. "Lovely. See you in a bit Elissa" He told the blind girl before tipping his hat to her - a hat that was not there a few seconds ago, and was not there a few seconds later - and starting to move deeper into the building.
"What do you think the odds are?!" San boomed to Elissa, who looked up at him.
"You ask as if I do not already know. And as if I was going to tell you" she informed him very seriously. San simply laughed at Elissa's statement, and turned to wander off before a man appeared at his door. Sean heard this opening and turned back to look at the man, appearing slightly annoyed at Elissa that she didn’t tell him he didn’t have the time to go do anything.
“Doth every man darken my doorstep this eve?!” San asked as he turned around to the man.
“Err...what?” the man replied in a confused tone. He had a hooded cloak on, but currently the hood was down, showing his long black hair. It looked rather pampered compared to the rest of his clothing that was fraying at the edges, or sporting small holes in certain places. Nehvna thought he looked a lot like Shadow, save for the fact he had two working eyes, and so clung closer to Sean. If Sean could pull a knife from his head and then complain at said act, then he could easily deal with Shadow or anyone who looked at Shadow.
“It’s San’s way of saying hello” Elissa told the man, staring at San - as well as a blind girl with her defunct eyes covered could stare - meaningfully.
“Ahh, sorry about that” he mumbled before picking up his volume twice as much “Welcome Abaddon! What brings you to this house of jubilation!?” He asked, before taking a drink of his stein while waiting. Abaddon recovered from his confusion quickly, and spoke in a voice that displayed great age. And great sadness.
“I am looking for the daughter. Where is she?” Abaddon asked - although he made it sound as much of a demand as a question.
“Not ‘ere. But, with so many people looking for ‘er, I guess we should go out an’ find ‘er ‘fore she gets ‘erself inta trouble” Sean replied.
“Could you have missed out any more letters in that?” Elissa asked in disbelief.
“Yes. That a challenge?” he inquired, finishing his stein and returning it to San and continuing. “That being said, it’s nearly time for The Ball, so we better get down there and find the young chick” Sean finished, taking Nehvna’s hand - much to her attempted protests, she didn't know why she tried protesting while clinging to his arm the way she did, but it happened none the less - and heading out of the door.
“I shall see you soon San” Elissa told San, who began laughing at the perceived pun that Elissa had just made. Abaddon was silent, and simply stalked out after Sean.
“All business as usual, that one” San muttered before turning to his hall and striding around once more.
As soon as Jane stepped out of the dress shop she had so forcefully been dragged in, she knew something was different. It was like getting your first pair of glasses, and the world suddenly had sharpness, rather than all being a simple blur. She could feel Silverfang - and could suddenly relate to Nailah's claims of royalty - behind her as well as Nailah and Eliot. There was something strange about Eliot, but it wasn't as definite as Silver's. It was a strange sensation of knowing they were there, without having to look at them. There where pin-pricks of light in a dark tunnel, and they were comforting.
Then, a few miles away, there was another feeling. This was less like a pin-prick of light, and more like a firework caught at the apex of its explosion, and suspended in animation. It was so large, so overt, and so...calming. Like most things, there was something she couldn't put her finger on that made this gigantic light so friendly. She was so distracted by this new feeling, that she forgot to use her older senses, and did not hear Silverfang coming up behind her. Jane suddenly realized that her new 'feeling power' didn't give an accurate positioning of the person, and only gave a vague estimate. So when Silverfang placed a hand on her shoulder, she yelped rather loudly. The sudden yelp made Silverfang also cry out, with a more mainly tone, but still a yelp.
"Sorry" Silverfang apologized, to tittered laughter behind him. Nailah decided to cut through this tension and take charge of the party. Again.
"Right. Jane has a nice dress, so we need to get Silver a suit" she announced.
"A suit?! Why do I need one of them?" He demanded.
"Why don't I get a suit?" Eliot asked at the same time, in a moping voice.
"Well Silverfang would look better in a suit, but we can get you a suit if you want" Nailah told Eliot, but replying to Silverfang in a round-about way.
"I got to agree with Nailah on this one. Silverfang would definitely look better in a suit" Jane commented, which made Eliot pout. A lot.
"Fine, let's get some suits" he told the group, following Nailah like everyone else.
Nailah led them down a street to a shop with an odd sign. It read 'Order's....Shop' with the middle in a constant state of flux, never quite settling until Nailah walked in through the door, at which point it stopped shifting and became 'Clothes'. Jane simply brushed it off as another strange thing in a mash of strange things and followed her in. Silverfang and Eliot where more sceptical, but entered a few seconds after Jane. Once inside, Jane saw Nailah was alone, and so decided to take advantage of it, for yet another question.
"Where are the cars?" she asked Nailah, who grinned.
"Not here. San doesn't like cars, so you either have to walk, or get a 'porter if you are going long distance" She replied without missing a beat, but before Jane could ask what porters where, a white-haired man appeared. His face did not match the age that his white hair insinuated and his muscles certainly didn't. It was the build that Jane would expect one of the old medieval blacksmiths to have, and certainly not to be found on a person running a clothes store. Jane tried her new feeling power, but it felt dulled in the shop. She could still feel a powerful aura emanating from him though, and she knew he was no ordinary man.
Nailah didn't seem put off by his contrasting appearance or powerful aura - if Nailah could see it, which wouldn't surprise Jane - and grinned at him, before engaging in a conversation.
"Hey Order. I need a few suits for tonight, one's a Lupus and the other's a human. Could you fix me up?" she asked the white haired man, giving Order a gleaming smile, and fluttering her eyelashes at the man.
“Well, since you fluttered so well, I might just do that.” Order replied, disappearing into a door at the back of his shop.
“So, how many clothes shops are there?” Eliot asked, looking around the shop floor.
“Ohh, dozens. They are set for every opportunity, everything you could possibly need, from every gender, and every race” Nailah told Eliot grandly, all but throwing her arms up in the explanation. Eliot simply nodded and went back to gazing across the shop floor. Nailah had been a bit overzealous with that one, which was very strange.
For Jane’s part, she appeared to be staring into space, but was in fact concentrating on something. Much like the sneeze that won’t come, or the sight on the every edge of vision, it was hard to concentrate on. Especially in here, where she felt dulled.
“Nailah, I’m going to go outside for a little while” she said. Nailah was as happy with that as Eliot and Silverfang’s attempted escape.
“This won’t take forever Jane” Nailah replied, clearly wanting everyone to stick together. Jane, however, was determined to get outside for a better look.
“I won’t be long either” She told Nailah, walking out of the door, lamenting how difficult it was to strut in a dress. Not that she usually strutted, but this occasion called for a strut.
Once she had gotten out of the shop, the world brightened again, and the metaphorical sneeze finally came. The odd feeling in Order’s shop was now that much clearer, and it was that much clearer that it was a bad thing, and it was a familiar set of feelings. The first one felt like fear, as if someone was terrified of current events. And the second one, as if someone else other than the fear-person was feeling it, was not something Jane had hoped to encounter again, but it was there and it was staring her in the face like an angry wolf. Without much thought into abstract concepts like ‘rationality’ and ‘consequence’ Jane rushed across the street to a small alleyway between two shops, where the feeling was coming from. But when she got there, there was nothing to see. It was an empty alleyway, but the feeling was still there, snarling at her, ready to pounce at any moment, so she stepped forwards in hope that she was being tricked by something. So, in experimentation, Jane took a step forward, hoping she wouldn't get vaporized or something equally strange.
As soon as she had passed the threshold marking alleyway from street, the situation changed. Instead of being empty there were three brutish men, several strange looking symbols and a girl near Jane’s age. Jane instantly knew what the symbols where - sigils, rather advanced ones as well - and she knew that with them, you could hide an orgy from a Succubus. Clearly, this was not just some spontanious attack. The girl had tears running down her face ruining the makeup around her eyes, and her beautiful face was contorted in fear. The three men looked as surprised as Jane, but the biggest of them - obviously the leader - was the first to snap out of his daze and approach her.
“Well, don’t you look like a little lost lamb” he said, his accent sounded as bad as his breath smelt, and so Jane decided to end this whole thing with a punch. But, her punch was not the super-powered skull shatterer she had hoped it to be, and the man easily caught it. He then twisted her arm and slammed Jane against the wall, before caressing her side with his free hand.
“Never had a delivery before, how fortunate of us” he announced - causing the other two to laugh like generic thugs. The way they fit into the thuggish stereotype would be amusing, if it wasn’t so immediately dangerous. When the man’s questing hand got to her ass, he gave it a good squeeze, so Jane threw her head back and collided with the man’s nose. Several expletives rang out from the head thug, but Jane wasted no time listening. She ripped her arm out of the man’s grip, turned around and sunk her balled fist into his gut. Then with unnerving professionalism, she slammed her second fist into the man’s sternum, before finishing her salvo with a fist in the man’s throat.
Jane stood there staring at the man’s writhing body for a few seconds and wondered where the hell she had learnt to do that. It had just come so naturally to her, and her brain didn’t argue with what her body wanted to do. Thug A and Thug B - as Jane had mentally named them - didn’t seem as intimidated by the display and rushed at Jane, who lashed out with her fist to catch the jaw of the guy at the front - she thought he might be Thug A, but they had a quick scuffle, and could have changed places. Then in perfect ‘better late than never’ form, the man’s jaw was violently ripped off by the force of the punch, and splattered loudly against the alley wall. This was enough to give Thug A - he was Thug A now, even if he wasn’t - a great deal of pause, as his budging eyes stared at the severed jaw. While he was staring at this, a man dropped down from the roof of one of the buildings, and began speaking as if he hadn’t just causally stepped off a twenty foot drop.
“The only reason you’re still alive is because I don’t think this lovely lady would want her dress decorated in a new shade of brain. So I’ll give you ten seconds to get out of here before I become a decorator” He told Thug A, who didn’t even turn around to see who was giving him this order, he simply ran as fast as he could out of the alleyway, ignoring the groans of his unconscious leader, and the gargled choke of his jawless co-worker.
"Well, that rescue could have gone better, on the, me doing something part" the man exclaimed, walking over to the other woman in the alleyway. Jane saw that he didn't have a gun in his hand, or anything that could be used to kill the Thug. Circumstational threatening was brilliant at times. Jane simply stood staring at the jaw she had just broken off with her fist. She knew that she was prone to spurts of strength, but this was the first time that had come into such light. She needed to control, or restrain, this surge before it happened when she didn’t want it to.
“Well, what do you think of getting out?” The man asked, now minus a jacket as he had draped it over the other girl in the alleyway, she was clearly not handling this as well as Jane was. The knee-hugging and the jabbering kind of gave it away.
“What do you mean, get out?” Jane asked, confused as to what he meant. She had just walked in, and so logically she should be able to just walk out.
“Well, I was referring to myself and this lady instead of you. Why’d ya think I jumped off the roof? There’s a shield sigil, so most people wouldn’t be able to just walk in here. They obviously don't know how to draw on what isn't there, so the air was free, but the ground was blocked off. But you seem to be ignoring the majority of the Magical Language, and so just, walked in like it wasn't there. Amazing, really” he explained, picking the girl up and getting her to stand on her own feet.
“Right…Well, this would usually be my first question, but this isn’t a usual situation. So, who are you?” She asked. Men didn’t just drop out of the sky and threaten thugs with guns they don’t have.
“Ahh, apologies. It seems I was too focused on this young lady” he said, turning to her again to make sure she was alright before returning to Jane. “I am Captain Zann. Khani military. My unit was ambushed by Sickles, and I got sold to an auction until your man Sean rescued me. My honour and the honour of the Khan demands that I return in kind to him, or any person associated with him. You where the one in the biggest trouble, but the sigil delayed me” He told Jane, who nodded as if she understood. It was a skill she had gotten good at over today. Then the fact that it had only been one day hit her. It was getting late, but it was still the same day as when she had arrived at Eliot’s. "Of course, I didn't actually do anything so the honor remains" he finished, before frowning at Jane.
“Are you ok Ma’am?” Zann asked, and Jane snapped back to reality. At first she thought he was talking to the victim of the thugs, but the she realized he was looking at her.
“Ohh, yea. I’m fine. Just surprised how much has happened in one day. Yesterday I was laying on my bed despairing about how my life was, and today I am some sort of special super chick and everyone wants to worship me or kill me.” She intoned, not feeling as odd as she thought she would.
“You have come into something going on for a long time Ma’am. Most will treat you well, but you must prove that you are more than they see.” He informed Jane.
“So, what does that mean? I know it's saying everyone will be nice and all, but what does it mean?” She asked Zann, who was moving to the entrance of the alleyway, now he was confident that the other girl could stand on her own two feet.
“It basically means that while you will be respected by most for what you are, they will ultimately view you as a child. A youth in the universe. But I have not seen many children punch peoples jaws off and charge so selflessly-“he began, but was interrupted by Jane.
“Mindlessly. Beth is probably going to kill me if she finds out what I just did” she put in, which made Zann laugh.
“Selflessness is usually mindless. Only the truly heroic or the truly dense can run into a situation where they are aware of how crap it is. Ninety percent of bravery begins with stupidity.” Zann replied, before drawing the gun he didn’t use earlier.
“What are you planning to do with that?!” Jane demanded, their previous conversation lost in the wake of the gun.
“Well, gotta deal with the sigils. Most people would draw a counter-sigil, or drain the sigil of its power and leave it a simple carving on the wall. I can’t do that, so I’m going to do it Khani style” he said, stepping back and pointing the gun at the wall. “Cover her ears, I’m confident yours will deal with it on their own” he continued, pointing his large semi-automatic pistol at the wall. Jane quickly leapt on the girl, and covered her ears tightly as the man started shooting at the wall. Shards of brick and mortar flew out in ample amount, and Jane covered the young girl with her back to protect her from the projectiles. Just as Zann had thought, the gunshots were not as loud as Jane was expecting, but they still caused her ears to ring for a few seconds afterwards.
“Well, I am convinced of your status” Zann muttered loudly as he had finished destroying the sigil. Jane frowned, and turned to ask why, but as she turned she saw Zann fending off a sword-wielding wolf girl with his gun. He had caught the swing between his trigger guard and his barrel, and was currently doing his best to avoid getting stabbed.
“Do you know this girl Jane?” Zann asked, twisting his gun to keep the sharp side of the sword at a safe distance. It took Jane a few seconds to recognize the girl, but she eventually realized who it was.
“Nailah?! Why are you trying to kill him?” Jane demanded, confident that Zann would not mind being ignored while Jane worked to prevent Nailah inserting her deadly tool into the Captain’s head. Nailah herself did not relent her assault as she replied, which was shocking to Zann, but he continued to use his improvised weapon – the actually gun part of it worked properly, but it was not designed to be used to fend off swords – to protect himself.
“Was this man not trying to kill you?” Nailah asked, in a voice that made it seem more like a statement than a question.
“No…he was trying to help me, but got here a little too late” Jane explained, and it was only then that Nailah stopped trying to drive her sword through the man’s gun. She simply made a slight movement that seemed like a shrug, and then put her sword away.
“Well then, I am sorry for this misconception” Nailah told Zann, who put his own gun away and shrugged.
Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
“It’s alright. Now I know how strong my gun really is” he replied, nonchalantly. The way they were so uncaring about Nailah’s attempted murder a few seconds ago was highly confusing, but Jane decided not to ask, there was far too many things that were highly confusing in this place. Jane avidly searched for a topic to change the conversation to, but it seemed only she thought the situation was awkward. Lacking a topic, Jane returned to the care of the girl who was still cowering on the floor.
“Hey. What’s your name?” Jane asked in a soothing tone, smiling at the girl. The girl looked up like a terrified deer caught in a car’s headlights, but eventually managed to squeak out an answer.
“I-Imiri” the girl stuttered. She had since realized that the people here where not going to hurt her – apart from that wolf girl, she might do something bad – but it was still a horrific situation. She was, after all, sat less than five feet from some guy’s jaw.
“Imiri. What a nice name.” Jane replied, and by the tone of voice it was obvious Jane wasn’t just saying that to keep the girl calm. Imiri stared at Jane for a while longer, before reaching up and brushing her cheek.
“Thank you. So much.” She told Jane, who blushed softly.
“Ohh, well you know. Always ready to help girls in dis-“Jane’s sentence was then cut off by Imiri’s lips pressing against her own, kissing Jane passionately. Jane flayed for a second to keep her balance and then knelt still as the girl finished her face-sucking. Captain Zann and Nailah seemed to think it was highly amusing, and where giggling to some in joke, probably the culture of Imiri’s race that Jane didn’t know.
“I owe you my life, letisaps” Imiri told Jane after she had finished kissing her, and Jane was to distracted trying to translate the alien word that she failed to fend off the girl’s second kiss, which bowled Jane over onto the ground, and had Imiri straddling her.
“I...well, I’m glad you’re ok but…could...I mean, please would...-” Jane stumbled, not being able to form sentences properly due to the girl currently on top of her. She hadn’t ever been kissed by a girl, and the feeling behind it was so...loving. Like the one Silverfang had given her. Imiri then cut her words off again by placing a finger in Jane’s lips.
“Your words trip themselves to be first out, letisaps. Do not speak; just allow me to thank you” Imiri ordered, in a silky smooth voice. However, as she bent down for a third time, Zaan placed his hand on her shoulder.
“Come on Imiri. That’s enough, don’t you think?” He asked, which caused Imiri to look up and speak in a much more casual tone.
“But Captain, I haven’t even unwrapped her yet.” She replied, grinning mischievously, in a tone vastly different to the one used before. It was a lot more carefree.
“Yea and this is how you got into all your trouble in the first place. You are meant to finish Eg å Ia before you start casting or you’ll wind up with a dozen and ten different problems. One of them being instantaneous displacement, and the other, if you’re not careful, death” He stated, and after looking down at Jane one final time, Imiri got off the green-clad girl and stood up.
“I just needed a break. I had it all set out you know. Hannah told me that I am one of the best she has seen in a while. And hey! Implying being here was an accident” Imiri complained, looking back at Jane, who was just getting off the floor.
“Well, then Look at her.” Zaan said, with strange emphasis on the word ‘look’, so Imiri looked over her shoulder, and her usual blue eyes had turned silver. Imiri stared for a short while, and then her jaw dropped.
“Ohh. Ohh.” Imiri put more strength into the second ‘ohh’ and then blushed, her eyes snapping back to blue as she turned around fully. “I am so sorry; I didn’t realize who you were.” Imiri told Jane, who stood up and brushed her hand on Imiri’s cheek and looked to be debating something with herself. Then she moved forward and kissed Imiri, a muffled yelp of surprise was quickly followed by an equally muffled moan of pleasure.
“It’s ok. Just, don’t do it again.” Jane told Imiri, rather sternly, and then snapped her fingers. “Saviour, or rescuer. That’s what it means” she announced, to which Imiri gave a mock cheer. Jane glared at her – which was met with a look that made Jane think her problems with the girl where far from over - before turning to Nailah.
“Where are the boys?” She asked, referring to Eliot and Silverfang.
“Right this way” Nailah replied, leading Jane back to the shop, with Zann and Imiri in tow.
Beth had led Avrion by the hand into a shop that she was now currently fascinating about. Hundreds of different bows made from a dozen different woods adorned the walls, and even bows made out of a 'special kind of silver' that she was assured worked just as practically as some of the wooden bows. The owner of the shop - a person she could have sworn flashed a pair of pure white wings for a second when they walked in - even had a backroom where Avrion could test the bows before buying them. Currently, she was testing the silver bow, to see if it actually did work as they said it did. She nocked an arrow, and pulled the string back, not quite liking the draw strength, but Avrion was a strong woman, when it came to bows, and liked her strings to be stronger than this one was. But, she was sure she would be able to change it if she wanted to. Avrion drew the string back to her cheek, and then let go, watching the arrow sail through the air, and collide with the 'Near' butt, to her surprise - and Beth's chagrin at her surprise. Avrion did not expect a bow made from silver to actually work, but here it was, all working and stuff.
"Pretty impressive" she muttered, looking at the bow, before turning to the owner. "Could...I get a stronger draw?" she asked timidly, failing her attempt to muster up her courage and talk properly. Beth scoffed playfully as Avrion asked.
"Not exactly the Wave Motion Cannon I had in mind, but if this is what you like" Beth announced generally, before the shop keeper took the bow off Avrion.
"Certainly dear. And if you are in my market for them, I think I have something" The owner told Beth, before going into the shop. Once the woman had gone, Beth turned to Avrion.
"Avvy" Beth said comfortingly, approaching the girl and giving her a hug. "You shouldn't be so tense around people, they aren't going to bite your head off you know" Beth told her, to which Avrion nodded softly.
"Yes, I do know. But, I can't help myself feeling so nervous around everyone new" Avrion mumbled, not quite stumbling her words but still failing to project properly.
"I understand, but you are going to be meeting a lot of strangers from now on, so you need to be able to handle them a bit better, ok?" Beth asked, to which Avrion nodded.
"Yes. I can do that" She stated. The door then opened, and the owner came back with two bows, Avrion's silver one, and a strange, deep red one.
"I got this a few weeks back, not sure the capacity though, so give it a try. I know it is meant to be stronger than normal bows, but that's it" the owner explained to Beth, handing her the deep red bow. Beth's eyes lit up, and she took the bow with much gusto.
"Thank you looks like...Flamewood, with some sort of Sigils on it, probably pertaining to the Firewood itself" she muttered to herself, going off to draw an arrow from a different quiver as the owner handed Avrion the bow back.
"Here you go, I added a bit of weight to the string, so it should be stronger now" She explained, prompting Avrion to draw the bow without any arrow on it, and nod with satisfaction.
"That is-" she started, but the rest of her sentence was cut off by a massive explosion blowing away the 'Far' Butt and a good portion of the wall behind it.
"I...think they were air sigils" Beth explained, sheepishly putting the bow down and beginning to try and ease the tension by going deeper into her explanation. "The Flamewood naturally ignites any arrowhead launched from it on impact, and the air sigils would oxidize the tip, making it a lot sharper than usual. Once the arrow impacts with something, the oxidization would combust sharply with the ignition and create a large explosion" She finished, rather hastily. The shop owner simply stayed silent and nodded for a few seconds, before coughing.
"Well" the owner stated, as if she needed to say something. "I guess I can see its potency now. Ill mark it as dangerous" The owner continued, still staring at the hole in her wall.
Sean strolled down the road, flanked by his daughter Nena, his friends Taurus, Cancer, and the succubus twins, while having whatever relation Abaddon was next to him. Elissa was walking down the road a little bit behind him, and Nehvna followed as if she was on some sort of invisible leash,. It would not surprise to if she was, to be honest. Takanuva seemed to have vanished somewhere after they met Lilly, as Sean hadn't seen him in a while. He would have preferred for, well, pretty much all of them –save Nehvna- to have stayed behind at San's place, but each one insisted on coming with him, so he now led this small entourage down the street. They were not interrupted by anything, until a massive gout of fire and rock blew out from the back of one of the shops. Smoke rose into the sky, and debris scattered across the ground, peppering Sean's shoes and leaving scuff marks.
"Well, looks like someone is having a strong curry" he stated, causing the twins beside him to giggle and the rest to groan and shake their heads. Sean then took the lead and walked through the hole in the wall. The inside of the building looked to be a basic archery range, so this was probably the back room of one of them bow shops. Sean trudged up the lane, and caught someone say something about dangerous, which made him smile.
"What's dangerous?" He asked, spotting his darling sister and....whatever Avrion was. Nehvna didn’t seem to mind what she was however, as she simply walked across everyone and embraced the girl in a hug. Elissa moved forward slightly, to Sean’s side for no reason he could see, reinforcing his leash theory.
"That bow" The shop owner - who, to Sean's eyes looked like an Angel, which was nearly confirmed when Abaddon came behind him and started glaring daggers at the woman - repeated, and so Sean grinned even wider.
"Wonderful. I’ll have a dozen" he stated, showing his white teeth that gleamed in the light that was behind him, so how they gleamed was beyond the owner.
"I only have one, and I don't know if it’s fortunate, or unfortunate" The angelic owner replied, stroking her chin.
"Shame" Sean said with a slightly deflated grin. "I’ll just have the one then" but as he said that, Beth came over to probably whinge, or moan, or do something like that.
"Why do you want a bow? You don't even carry any arrows" she stated, to which Sean waved his hand dismissively.
"Please, my mind can Make arrows" he replied, spinning a long shafted arrow that has suddenly appeared in his hand to prove a point. "Ha-ha. Long shafted" he laughed, which earnt him a kick in the shins.
"Ow. That hurt. Don't do that again. Please" he stated, before looking behind him, the entire group had entered the building now, and Cancer seemed to be gesticulating at the hole in the wall, which was repairing itself slowly. "Anyway, we are off to find Jane and drag her to The Ball. Wanna come?" He asked Beth, withdrawing a wallet from his pocket and looking into it. "How much for the bow?" he asked the owner, who pondered, she could sell it for a lot considering its dangerous nature and what it was made from, but at the same time she didn't want someone else getting their hands on it. Sean was unpredictable, and a nightmare in most senses, but he wasn't that bad when it came to dangerous weaponry.
"Ahh, make it four. I can't see it being used in a controlled environment, so that'd balance the mats" she stated, so Sean drew four small, heavy squares of metal and handed them to the shop keeper, replacing his wallet and picking up the bow.
"Yes" Beth told Sean, in reference to his question about the ball "just let me pay for Avrion's new toy and I’ll come" Beth she finished, pointing to the silver bow, but the shop keeper shoot her head.
"No, take the bow, payment for my wall repair. Getting a repairman may not have been that expensive, but I'd have to sit with a hole in my wall for an hour or two" she stated, smiling. Sometimes losing a little bit of profit was worth gaining a lot of good will from customers.
"Well, certainly a lovely woman aint'cha?" Sean asked rhetorically, grinning at her before turning to Beth. "Well then, let’s sally forth" He said, heading for the door, obviously in a leading mood right now.
Nailah arrived back at Order's shop and saw him ably keeping both Eliot and Silverfang still despite their complaints. Nailah had obviously not explained anything before leaving, and so Eliot and Silverfang were getting agitated.
“Jane, finally, what have you been doing?” Silverfang asked, running up to Jane now that Order had stopped trying to keep him in one spot and hugging her.
“Ohh, I’m fine” Jane replied, hugging Silverfang back, he really did worry about nothing sometimes. although, in this situation, it wasn’t really nothing. She wondered if she should tell them about Captain Zann, and the alleyway debacle, but decided against it after a few seconds. They'd just freak out. And then there was Imiri, she was just glad that Silverfang had kissed her back on Earth - that was a very confusing sentence to say 'Back on Earth' but it was reality and she would have to get used to it. Not that she hadn't been kissed a lot before then, but it was the principle of the matter. It seemed they hadn't heard the gunshots, which was very handy. Gunshots always caused trouble when it came to explaining them.
“You just walked off without telling anyone where you were going, then Nailah went out afterwards, and Order wouldn’t let us go see and…it was worrying.” Silverfang blathered, until he saw Jane’s face, and quickly shut up. Jane nodded with a grin, before looking at Silverfang’s attire.
“Well, snappy suit” Jane told Silverfang trying to change the topic, who shrugged as if it wasn’t really anything to worry about.
“Aye, I made it that way, if I do say so myself. One of my better works” Order announced, puffing up his chest, before looking rather intently at Jane’s dress. Jane blushed under the probing, and made a move to cover her already covered parts, when Order stormed over and stroked the dress, but he seemed more interested in the dress than the person in it.
“Amazing. I haven’t seen this in a long time. although, it’s like it doesn’t quite know how to work yet” Order spoke generally, and confusingly. it was as if he was speaking to the dress, rather than to the wearer.
“It doesn’t know how to be a dress?” Jane asked, sceptically.
“No, it knows how to be a dress, but it doesn’t know how to be what it is” Order replied, which made Jane roll her eyes and groan.
“Great, another person who speaks like Sean” she muttered, but Order quickly brought her up on that point.
“Wrong, Sean speaks like me. He got the habit from hanging around me all the time” Order told Jane, before continuing to look at the dress. “This could be whatever you want it to be, but you will have to teach it first. Right now, it only knows how to be a dress” Order was getting a bit worked up – In Jane’s opinion – about a simple piece of clothing.
“On you, this is no simple piece of clothing. Only you or a person like you would be able to wear it so well, but it is magnificent when you do. Whatever you require it to be, it can be. Just believe in it, and it will be. Of course, Ley-Lines might help a bit, but this baby won't take much, so you could probably supply it yourself” Order continued, and Jane was beginning to feel a little uneasy, so Nailah stepped in.
“Come on Order. It’s magnificent, yes. But you got other people coming” Nailah said politely. A few seconds later some muffled chatter was heard from the back room, followed by a less muffled explosion. The door to Order’s backroom opened, and Sean stepped out, followed closely by his stalkers.
“I have come accustomed to walking through holes in walls, I will never change to how the philistines enter” Sean announced grandly, which caused no end of irritating from Beth.
“It was one hole. How could you accustom that quickly?” Beth demanded, but Sean simply waved his hand dismissively.
“Because I am me, and anyway, we were behind the shop so it was easier than walking around to the front” He feebly explained, trying to justify blowing a hole in Order’s wall. “And now he can get his walls replaced” he continued, before seeing Cancer repair this wall as well “…or not. Cancer’s apparently the official wall repairer of this place” Sean deflated, kicking a bit of debris off his foot.
“When you are around, you need people to clear up the mess left in your wake, or the entire multiverse would be in tatters” Cancer replied.
“So you say, I have never noticed it that much myself” Sean replied, before grinning at people in the shop. Each and every one of them – even the squishies – where giving him ‘that’ look. As if exasperated by his actions. The squishes didn’t live long enough to get exasperated by him. It was completely illegal.
“Hey Order. How’s the shop?” Sean asked, not-so-subtly changing the subject.
“Broken jackass. Broken” Order replied, in an oddly squeaky voice that did not fit with his girth at all.
“Pfft, na. Cancer & Cancer Masonry (Established some time, somewhere) fixed you up really nice.” Sean exclaimed.
“Did you just say ‘Parenthesis’ and then ‘close Parenthesis’?” Jane asked in disbelief, to which Sean nodded.
“Yes I did” he announced, rather triumphantly, which caused Jane to flee in his direction, pass Sean and go onto Nailah.
“Nailah, save me from the crazy man” She cried, hugging the girl in mock terror.
“Can’t help you there hun. Man’s crazy is everywhere. It’s like a gas” Nailah intoned, hugging Jane. Behind them, Imiri appeared from nowhere grinned like a hungry predator and began to stalk up to Jane, with most lewd thoughts on her mind. Jane was still not happy about how she tricked her in the alleyway, but Sean saved her.
“Imiri! Nice to see you again” Sean shouted, dragging the girl into a hug and foiling her plans. Imiri couldn’t decide if it was spontaneous Sean or if he was actually working against her on this. The shout made Jane turn around, and when she saw Imiri, she started to glare daggers at her.
“I can glare actual daggers” Sean put in, but was ignored. Nailah looked at Sean's entourage, and then frowned in confusion.
"Where is my dad? He usually follows you" she stated, to which Sean shrugged.
"He said he was going off to find someone and vanished. I'm sure he will turn up when it starts to rain" he joked, and - very much like her father - Nailah growled at Sean.
"Your mockery means little" she stated, before turning away from him.
“We delay to long here. Much needs to be done” Abaddon announced with a serious tone, but was met with Sean’s much less serious tone.
“Abaddon, Time not straight and sharp like an arrow, but wobbles all over the place like a drunk dude. We can delay as much as we want here, and there, and everywhere.” Sean said with a grin. Abaddon stared but stayed silent. He then let Imiri go from his hug, since she was beginning to punch him in various places, either from anger or a lack of oxygen.
Imiri looked at Sean, as if she was about to blow him up, or do something equally rash, but Order quickly intervened with a statement directed at Sean.
"I had something for you in the backroom, but you have probably blown it up" he commented, causing Sean to wave his hand dismissively.
"Pah, if anything could have been broken by that, then it would not be worth having in the first place" He replied, to which Order nodded in acceptance of the comment, and walked into the backroom to rummage. Jane decided to take the advantage of Sean's silent anticipation to do what had become her favourite past time; ask questions.
"So, is it just me, or can Sean strike people silent with just his presence?" she asked, pointing at him.
"Ahh, that's a trait you will get used to in time. Not sure how he does it, but yes some people can find words dying on their tongue when Sean is around. Something about his hair, and the way it just...poofs" Beth told Jane, gestating the hair-poofing.
"Ehh? Who's hair is awesome and worth killing for?" Sean questioned, looking around in mock confusion.
"Ohh, just mine" Beth replied, giggling softly at Sean's glare of contempt.
"Well then, fine. I'll just give this dress to Nehvna" Sean then grinned and drew a long skirted silk dress from his sleeves, ignoring the fact that he was wearing a t-shirt and didn't have any sleeves to hide a dress up. He then offered it to Nehvna, who was staring in fascination at his latest trick.
"Heh, show off" Jane exclaimed, to which Sean stalked up to her and grinned.
"Well, let's see what's up your sleeves shall we?" He asked, fingers wiggling mischievously.
"I don't have sleeves" Jane told him rather calmly, before bashing her knuckles into his head.
"Ow, watch it, you could really hurt someone doing that" Sean cried, rubbing his head.
"Well don't try sticking your hands into the sleeves I don't have then" Jane replied, pulling one of her dress straps further up her shoulder.
"I...wasn't, I was just going to give you a lolly" He told Jane, a pout on his face, which simply led to him getting punched. Again.
"I'm not five, I don't need a lolly" She growled. Any reply Sean would have given was cut off by Order returning from the back room with a sheath in his hand.
"Here you go, frigging thing took a while, but it is finally done" He announced, handing the sword to Sean who promptly drew it and grinned. Everyone in the shop took a few steps back aside from Order, but Sean was ignoring them.
"Dam, you can't even see the individual pieces. This is one hell of a sword" he muttered, smiling at it.
"Well, I am glad you like it" Order replied. Silverfang, who's curiosity overcame his fear of a Sword-Wielding Sean. Silverfang opened his mouth, and then Sean spoke, as if pre-empting his question.
"it's made out of a lot of shards of metal. Each gathered from shattered swords, most of them really good quality as well. Thus, it is the Eponymously named Sword of Shards" He announced grandly, before one of the squishies ruined his fun.
"Eponymous doesn't mean what you think it means" Jane told him, which made Sean deflate and put the sword back in the sheath.
"Fine, ruin my fun. But this sword is an young sword, more suited to a man young, and ambitious" He declared, before handing the sword to Silver, who looked confused and slightly scared. "You shall require this, some time. Probably. So learn to use it" He stated. After a few seconds Silver sheepishly reached out and took it, grinning with a frown.
"Er..thanks" He muttered, getting some approving nods from Nailah.
"Anyway, time to get clothed" Sean told the group, who -aside from Abaddon - sprang into action.
The next ten minutes where focused around the finding of clothes and then putting them on, and the subtle application of makeup. Once done, every woman -including Nailah and Nena, much to their grumbling protests - was dressed in a different style of clothing, with Nena having vanished into the back room, and dragging Avrion away for some reason, Nailah took a much more humble, single coloured dress.
"See, you look amazing" Sean - who had changed his t-shirt for a shirt, and his jeans for a slightly darker pair of jeans - generally exclaimed, but no one really said much to the compliment beyond a few muttered words about flattery.
"Nena might be a while, her dress is...well, her dress" Order explained, ducking back into the back room.
"Sucks" Sean muttered, before spinning on his heel and gleefully looking at the remaining group.
"You lovely people - sans Abaddon, you just look morbid - look lovely. Let’s head out" He all-but-ordered them, pointing at the door, to which everyone moved towards. Jane wondered, as she was heading there, how he managed to get everyone moving like this. But then she wondered how he did a lot of things and questioning it wouldn't help particularly. So she simply followed the procession out of the door, and onto the streets. They then followed Sean up to San's large hall, like a silent marching band. They met others on the way there, and the two groups decided to mesh, and then they met a third, and a fourth. By the time Sean threw open San's doors there was a good hundred people following him.
"I have returned!" He boomed, in a volume to match San.
"So I see" San replied, in a quiet tone, as if the roles had been reversed.
"I brought people" Sean told San, in his normal voice.
"Then let The Ball commence!" San announced, also in his normal voice. The people following Sean milled out into the hall, which had changed in layout. The long tables filled with food and drink where gone to clear a large space in the middle, with a stage facing the space. There were a few, smaller tables dotted around the outside with the food and drink on, but they were mainly out of the way, or at least gave off that impression.
A few people already resided in the hall before they arrived, and one of them - suited as usual but with two girls and a large red hat - was approached by Sean with a large grin. Shockingly, the man also smiled, and even gave him a hug when Sean threw his arms wide.
"Hey Chaoz! thought you'd be too busy acting busy without being busy to come here" Sean said, to which the man - clearly the Chaoz he had mentioned earlier - laughed.
"Well, I decided to stop acting busy for a while and come down" He replied, before holding up a finger, ignoring the small crowd of Sean's People that had gathered around to watch the exchange. Chaoz then pulled out and unfolded a Scythe, knocking the bottom of the staff on the floor triumphantly and beaming proudly.
"New Scythe" he exclaimed. Sean looked on with a look of a child seeing a new toy, and then returned his gaze to Chaoz.
"Nice Scythe" Sean replied, and then smiled wider. "It's mine" he continued, to which Chaoz shook his head.
"No it's not", A statement which made Sean shake his own head.
"Yes it is" Sean exclaimed, as Chaoz adjusted his hat slightly.
"No it's not" Chaoz reiterated, before both Chaoz and Sean's shoulders where clapped.
"Good day! Nice Scythe" San told Chaoz, who quickly folded it back into a portable size and put it away. "Your People look ernst to be introduced" San prompted, and then slowly walked off when Sean looked around.
"Ohh, sorry. This is Chaoz, he is cool. His two girlfriends are Rachel and Elsa. They are also cool. And not exactly girlfriends. " He introduced, as well as he could. He then saw the look on the people's faces, and added to his statement. "No, not like that. More, He is cool and they are cool and their coolness sticks together" He told them. Jane was, as ever, the first person to break off and approach the three.
"It's lovely to meet you, my name is Jane Evergreen" she said, and then saw the look on Rachel and Elsa. It was very much like Imiri's 'hungry predator' look, so she quickly retreated to her wolves.
"Protect me" She muttered, which prompted Silverfang to place a hand on the hilt of his sword, looking all menacing at...Chaoz. The two girls had suddenly vanished.
Silverfang made an 'err' sound for a second, until fingers stroked his chin.
"Ohh, I like this one. Can I have it?" Elsa asked as Silverfang jumped back. "He is nice" She said, moving to stalk Silver as the wolf-man retreated, but found her path blocked by a softly hissing Jane. The girl moved to stroke Jane's face and probably drag her in for a kiss, but Jane reacted first.
"Stop" She ordered, her voice layered with power that caused Elsa to pause in mid-step. Jane's glare was then broken by hands reaching around and groping her breasts firmly.
"Nice breasts. Very nice" Rachel told Jane, who yelped and looked back at Rachel, and Sean, who had just appeared. Just Appearing seemed like the stable skill of everyone who wasn't her.
"Be nice Chelly" Sean told Rachel, picking her up and taking her back to Chaoz, before putting her down like some sort of naughty cat. "They are very energetic Chaoz, do no you not exhaust them?" He asked, picking up Elsa and putting her next to Chaoz as well.
"Ohh, you know the girls Sean. Always have a fresh source of oomph hidden away. Especially when they come here" Chaoz explained, before putting his arms very securely around both Rachel and Elsa. Jane saw that the dynamic between Chaoz and Sean was one grown over a long time.
"So, here is....?" Jane asked, looking around. "I mean, It's San's house and all, but what is this event thing he is planning?" Jane asked, to which Sean grinned widely.
"Well, just look below" He replied, to which Jane looked at her feet. However, she didn't see anything to explain...anything really.