Another Horizon IC

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"Oh uh." Verek stammered a little at being so quickly and directly addressed. "No uh ..." He scratched his head and wondered how much he should say as the pair began walking, the young man following the knight errant almost unconsciously. Elthrad hadn't discussed the captain much before. But surely ... if he knew the circumstances he'd tell him the truth. He looked back to the knight and took a deep breath. Don't lose your composure, you will solve this. "Ashe is ... one of the one's who disappeared." His voice trailed off as he struggled with the vocal admission. It was a bit more than a few seconds before he spoke again. "I need to find Ellenil. I think she can help. But I don't know where to start looking." He left the plea silent giving the other man more discretion if he wished it.
 
'Ah...' Araki tried to fix his expression when Charlotte's own told him that his feelings had not escaped notice. He didn't feel all that successful, especially when he dried barely formed tears on his sleeve.

"Don't have place to call home anymore," he mumbled, understanding that there was no way he would be able to return to Astopol either. Once their Inquisitors arrived and information spread, he was fairly sure that his parents would come under heavy scrutiny. Their reputation would probably weather the brunt of it, but if he were to show up… He sniffed a few times, wondering if he would ever see Ma and Pa again, but nodded to Charlotte's suggestion. Something warm would help with the chill he felt inside.

Ultimately, he didn't manage to take a single step before Shizuka landed beside him. Unable to muster much motivation, Araki turned slowly and as a result nearly fell, stumbling backwards, as he tried to catch the tossed objects. "Souya…" he muttered sadly, holding the parting gifts his brother and family had conveyed through Shizuka. Nonetheless, he didn't forget his manners and bowed deeply towards her, clutching the objects to his chest as he said, "Thanks a lot Kisaragi." Though there weren't many people around the trio in the streets, Araki didn't feel comfortable discussing such matters in the first place, much less in public. "Inside?" He suggested, waiting for Charlotte to take the lead.
 
Mother. Fucker. Of course they had to run into one of their captors. Alexa stiffened as the vampire spoke, dropping into a defensive stance. Unarmed and without any talentium, she was screwed in open combat. But that didn't mean she wouldn't make a go at it. If she was going down, she was putting up a fight.

As Ashe started trying to provoke the vampire, Alexa hung back. It was bloody ironic that now Ashe was the one that was better in a fight. As much as she wanted to rip apart this bastard that kidnapped them, she needed a sword first. Even a simple steel blade would suffice at the moment. Still, as Ashe taunted the vampire, Alexa couldn't resist the urge to get a few words in herself.

"By the way, question." She piped up, raising an eyebrow. "Not that this isn't a fantastic voyage and all, but what did we do to piss you off? You could've had your pick of drunk girls last night, and yet you picked us? Any particular reason?"

___

"Paperwork?" Fion scoffed, waving a hand carelessly. "I have patsies-I mean, students, for that." He said before raising an eyebrow at Aresia's next words.

"Your employer? Don't you work for Courtright's star student? The Granville girl?" He asked, folding his arms. "She's missing, then?" Fion looked away for a moment, nodding to himself as he came to a decision. "Tell you what, I'll help out. Got nothing better to do at the moment, and it'll be hilarious to tell Courtright that I saved his little apprentice."
 
Ashe? His sister? Elthrad didn't have any siblings, so he could scarcely imagine what Verek was going through. The thought of someone close to him having been snatched from under his very nose was enough to make the knight shudder. Then Verek mentioned Ellenil, and Elthrad nodded. Although he didn't know what had inspired him to seek out Ellenil of all people, he could see how she might be able to help considering her knowledge and skill. "I don't know where she is either, I searched for earlier and heard nothing. I'm hoping to find out from whoever has summoned me to the guardhouse… the message made it seem like a solitary invitation, but you're welcome to accompany me."

Elthrad retraced his steps through the city, guiding the pair back to the guardhouse he had been released from during the early hours of the morning. As he approached, the guards became alert, stepping forward to intercept him.

"Sir Elthrad Raske?" After a nod of affirmation, the first guard stepped aside to let Elthrad enter but held out his hand to stop Verek. "We only have orders to let Sir Raske pass."

"Verek is with me, we both have questions that need answering," the Knight rebutted. The guards glanced at each other, then the second one disappeared within. After a few minutes he returned.

"Follow me," he said, indicating Elthrad and Verek, then he turned to escort them within. They were guided to a normal room, not one of the interrogation cells, where the guard left them to return to his post. Elthrad knocked, and then stepped within before answering. Inside, he was startled to see Ellenil seated within. Performing a knight's salute, more as a formality considering her status, he took a position across from her, waiting.
 
He actually made himself useful? That was...unexpected, but still welcoming. Nodding in appreciation Aresia continued. "I am also looking for a woman called 'Wynn Rocco', though if I find my employer I should also find that woman." The maid butler highly doubted that the two of them got kidnapped from different villains, considering half the female population was gone. "Well then, as much as I hate to admit it I am out of ideas myself. Got any clues?" Surely someone in his position was fated to know more than her.

"I beg of you." In fact, Aresia was actually bowing down, if he was a solid lead towards Alexa she would do anything after all.
 
Well damn. Charlotte guessed as much, but Araki confirming it still hit her a bit. The disaster brewing in the city probably did very little to help any of them.

Before they could make any progress in moving back inside to the inn, whatever was following Araki caught up to them. Surprisingly, it was not a vampire death squad, the Astopolian inquisition, nor a stalker, but a little ninja girl who began to pelt him with personal affects. Thankfully, he was skilled enough to catch them, or she'd have a heavy coinpurse planted into her face. Raising her eyebrows at Kisaragi's nonchalant introduction, Charlotte reciprocated a brief greeting before waving the two inside.

Returning to the room that housed the Illiserevian trio, she lead them in after a momentary exchange with the innkeeper, who brought up some tea for the group a few minutes later. Sitting down at a worn-looking wooden desk, she gestured at her pair of guests.

"So… what's the deal with that chase back there?"
 
Oh, how feisty. Eiros was quite amused by their little provocations, really. He liked food that wanted to play, and had to wonder whether or not their blood would be spicy. Last night was too much of a binge for him, ultimately, and he had to confess that perhaps some quality control was needed for here. Calling off the ghostly apparitions that were floating closer and close to the duo, the gentlemanly vampire waited until their ghostly wails ceased before smiling.

"My my, I heard that youngsters were self-centered, but who would have thought that you'd be THAT vain," he exclaimed in mock astonishment, "You happened to be one of the drunk girls, and if I remember correctly, the door was wide open. Quite the invitation, really. Were you expecting a night time visitor of a different sort?"

"And my last meal was last night. Sitting quite well in my veins, thank you very much. Would you like to continue your warmup in the opposite direction now? You humans like cake, right? I'll bring it over to your room after you wrap your run up."
~
The room was plain, more of an enclosed office than anything else. With wooden floors and shelves of books that appeared to have been hastily moved here, it felt like Ellenil had set herself an office in the guard house just this morning. There were still stacks of documents and boxes pressed up against the corners of the room, and a desk full of letters, magical contraptions, and whatever else. It was, essentially, a mess. Sitting on a wooden chair with no arms, the former knight of Astopol, Ellenil Esprit, was toying around with a collar, the center inset with a milky red pearl.

She nodded towards the two young men as they entered, motioning towards the single seat that was undoubtedly meant for Elthrad.

"You'll have to excuse the seating arrangements," she began, placing the collar to the side, "But I wasn't expecting Verek to catch wind of this. Was it Escellar? Well, regardless, it should make things simple then."

"I'm forming a small rescue group to track down the whereabouts of the…kidnapped students. You two are interested in participating in this."

It was a statement, for Ellenil was already aware of the unique circumstances of the two. Unlike Raela, they should have no reason to turn away from this offer.
 
Shizuka politely took a seat near the door, formally sitting with her feet folded under her. "Oh, that? I was just following him," she answered. "At first, I thought he was someone shady." The sharp look in Araki's direction suggested that, while Shizuka was keeping composed, she didn't think he was much better. "I don't know why he's using the roofs for travel today, but I was asked to deliver those things to him." She spoke as if the entire affair was a perfectly natural occurrence. As if it was something as matter-of-fact as meeting a friend on the way back from the store.

"I only know the general news, so I'm sure you could both fill in some details. It matters to me quite a bit, being his fiancée, and all." She picked up her up of tea and primly sipped it. Again, as if nothing was unusual at all.
 
Ashe smirked with Eiros's response, yet offered no true response; a feint at composure, this was. Right now, she knew that she was incredibly outmatched against a vampire, especially with a defenseless Alexa standing right behind her. She was sweating, profusely; something their opponent likely had caught on to if his smell was any good.

For the briefest moment, a flashback occurred; the flame that spoke. Its question. Ashe shook her head; she needed it clear, not full of past delusions from being half-dead. She needed this monster to make the first move if she had any sliver of a chance of winning, and for that, she would need bait.

"Alexa," she said, her voice a feigned whisper so that all parties could hear. "Run, I'd die happy knowing you at least got out of here, so I'll cover you." To fool your enemies, you first had to fool your friends; it was a saying she could have sworn to have heard once. She needed this vampire to think she was in a stance of defensive avoidance, not one of a counter-attack.

"Go, and no buts from you. I need you to trust me with your back." Emphasis through gritted teeth; this was hopefully enough to get through to the bull-headed Alexa; a mouse she needed to be chased.
 
Araki took a seat by the table and nursed his cup of tea as Shizuka elected to give her explanation first. He refused to meet her gaze, glancing and sipping from his tea only to nearly spit take at the mention of fiancée. A few coughs later and the urge to yell had been squashed.

Instead he thought on this new piece of information; she certainly hadn't given him any notice. Given her personality he sincerely doubt she could or even would crack a joke. With some thought Araki actually wasn't too surprised that she decided that since he had seen her almost naked, now he had to take responsibility. Or something along those lines, it was a pretty damn big surprise.

"Ignoring my newly engaged status"—he pinched at his forehead in an effort to do just that—"one of our companions for the Rift Beast subjugation was severely injured, so she went berserk when her blood reserves disappeared. We showed up with a few others, managed to subdue her, tried to feed her so she would be lucid, but then the Guard Captain showed up." On the bright side, the surprise Shizuka sprung on him seemed to jolt Araki enough for him to cover the broad details of last night's events.
 
Alexa grit her teeth as the vampire taunted them, desperately wishing for some kind of weapon in her hand right now. Alas, she had nothing but her fists, and hand-to-hand wasn't exactly a specialty of hers. As Ashe whispered to her, Alexa grit her teeth, knowing the girl had some kind of plan. Ashe always was clever enough to figure a way out of a bad situation. It grated on her to simply turn and run, but there was no other choice at the moment. Nodding to Ashe, Alexa turned her back to the vampire and began to run.

___

"Alright, that's enough groveling." Fion groused at Aresia. "Wynn Rocco, eh? Never heard of her. Still, the case of the missing girls around Cykes has been a problem for a while." He said, looking around to see if there were any onlookers before leaning in. "Look, don't tell anyone I said this, but the guard has literally no clue what the hell is going on with that case." Fion said, stepping away. "But if you want to find that Rocco woman, we should hit the city archives. If her name's not fake, it'll be in there."
 
Verek gratefully took up Elthrad's offer to to accompany him to the guard station. It was a good place to start asking around for Ellenil's position. He followed the knight through the streets in silence, contemplating his next moves. If the guardhouse was a bust he could go to the university and try there. If he was extremely lucky he might stumble upon Fion or Lucius and somehow convince them to help.

Arriving at the guardhouse there was a brief standstill until whomever had summoned Elthrad gave the ok for Verek to accompany him. Obviously someone with a fair bit of authority, that was good. Upon being guided into one of the other rooms the first thing Verek noticed was the milky red pearl in the woman's collar, his eyes drawn by both its appearance and her hands flitting about it. Her face quickly drew his attention away from the gem and his mouth dropped slightly at his luck. He closed it just as fast hoping she didn't notice. Ellenil herself right in front of him.

"Yes, yes I am." he replied to her statement. The lack of questioning inflection on the end of it said something about her investigations success so far, at least on his end. He said nothing in response to Escellar's name coming up. She may have guessed it but he wouldn't confirming it and risk losing a potential line of communication in the future.
 
The city archives? That...actually made sense, and Aresia was a bit ashamed of herself that she didn`t think of that herself. On the other hand though, what good would it do them if they found random information about her? The maid butler highly doubted that they would find anything worthwile there.

"And what good would that do? A...child told me his mother's name. I highly doubt she is a fake." Profiling all the missing people also made sense, but yet again, Aresia doubted it would help her locate Alexa. "But since I have no lead anyways..." With that, she led Fion take command.
 
Charlotte was a bit taken aback by the girl's new statement. She would have commented "it would been nice if you lead with that," but thought better of it, given her odd demeanor about it and how taken aback Araki had been by Shizuka's rather nonchalant declaration. Maybe she was a bit crazy and she shouldn't be taken seriously, but she somehow found the words to congratulate the two, although it sounded a bit out of place.

Moving on, she nodded at Araki's explanation of things. Perhaps this would be a good segway to explain her own predicament in regards to Alexa. "That's pretty much the gist of things. That and the kidnappings seem to be why everybody hates Araki now," she added helpfully. She did have to wonder, though, if the night's series of kidnappings had any relation to the people that had been following her. Maybe finding Alexa would shed some light on that?

"Apologies if I'm interrupting things between you two, but could I ask a favor? Araki, you already know, but my friend Alexa's gone and gotten herself kidnapped while we spent the night in the city jail. I was going to search for her as soon as I could. It would be nice if an extra person could assist."
 
Alexa managed to run four steps, before the ghostly hands converged onto her once more, at a speed much greater than when the two first dashed through the phantom-infested hallways. In an instant, she was subdued, dozens of ghostly hands clamping onto her body and dragging onto the ground. She laid there, scarcely able to breathe from the magical pressure, her legs and arms spread apart.

"That worked out well, didn't it?" the vampire smiled, clapping his hands together, "Of course, it'd be a shame if I had to damage the goods, so why not just give up on life and become a doll? Isn't that the human dream? Live without working?"
~❆~
After a short walk, and a small chat with one of the pages working in the city archives, Fion and Aresia were directed to latest of Dansila's census records. Within the multi-story room were tons of ladders and obscenely tall shelves, a relic of an age where the Sidosa Board was full of foggy old ego-strokers who probably compensated for their physical ineptitudes with giant displays of academic wealth. Light came from the innumerable candles placed against the walls, their flames kept away from delicate documents by glass balls. Though it looked archaic, the occasional flash of fire runes made it clear that the archives too have been 'updated' with rune technology.

Possibly due to the state of the city, few were present in the records of Dansila, and the unlikely couple were not interrupted with their work as they milled about, searching via family name. Despite their combined efforts though, the archives were vast, and more than just a few minutes were burnt on their quest to find the records of this 'Wynn Rocco'.

In the end, however, it was Aresia that stumbled upon it. Upon first pulling the file out, what she would notice is just how small and detail-less it was. The reason became clear soon after. Unlike the students or the adults within Cykes, Wynn Rocco had just arrived four days ago, hailing from Astopol. All that was present was a copy of her travel documents…which provided yet another set of interesting information.

Wynn was only 20 years old.
~❆~
"And I am not."

An uncharacteristic response found itself out of Elthrad's mouth, and before he could take back his words, the errant knight left. Though he appeared to have resolved his issues with the nymph-esque Ellenil, he wasn't ready to serve under an expedition led by her, in the end, and with that, the blond knight left, leaving Verek alone with the Astopolian.

Ellenil didn't speak for a moment there, caught off-guard by the sudden rejection as well, before refocusing herself. Nodding at Verek, she slid a document over, before summarizing its contents to him, "While the original plan was to gather a small group for this expedition, the amount of usable candidates is rather shallow. Verek, you will be taking the airship 'Remembrance' to one of the port cities of Illiserev, alongside another. From there on, you will begin your investigation."

"As you should already know, money speaks better than words in Illiserev. When you arrive to your sleeping quarters, you will receive the funds allocated to your investigative inquiries within that nation. Board by midnight, and pack lightly."

As if noticing only now how quickly she was speaking, Ellenil took a deep breath and bowed, "I apologize for my brevity, but haste is of essence here. The window, so to speak, is closing."
 
Ashe didn't have to see Alexa to know that she had been caught after following the witch's plan. A click of the the tongue showed her irritation at the duo's cosmically shitty luck. Her mind began racing; racing at a pace she couldn't comprehend. One idea would begin to take shape only to be discarded a second later for an even vaguer, haphazard plan for how to deal with this asshole in front of her. In truth, her mind was not racing at all; she was panicking.

Her facade was breaking, she knew as much. The smirk of feigned confidence was dropping. Her posture became weak, shaking. She wasn't a fighter, it was obvious, and her opponent could tell. However, something he said had made such thoughts drop from her mind.

"Oh, you'll make such a lovely doll, my dear."

A memory, long repressed. The shaking had stopped. The fear on her face had changed; something feral. Her eyes were wider, yet the pupils were so dilated they may have been pins. Something guttural emerged from her throat as she moved; an enhanced speed from a normal human from a powerful burst of wind magic. Her artificial hand poised above her, angled for an attack to the man's heart. The fingers retracted to form a sharp claw.

"I. Am not. Your doll!"
 
Alexa hated her fucking life. Or at least, her life as it was since she woke up today. Waking up to find herself captured, being completely helpless against an opponent she probably could have taken if she actually had a weapon, and now captured again. By molesting ghost hands that were practically crushing her to death. Given that she could barely breathe as it was, she could do naught but desperately try to suck in air and hope that Ashe managed to punch the vampire out.

___

Fion frowned as he read Wynn Rocco's file. All in all, it wasn't that helpful. Nothing but travel documents. An Astopolian that had only been in town for four days beforehand? Wonderful. That was literally nothing to go off of. Still, that last tidbit was interesting. Raising an eyebrow, he turned to Aresia.

"So...how old was her boy, exactly?" He asked, clicking his tongue in disappointment at the lack of information. "Any older than five and I'd wager the woman was of high breeding. Not many besides those who can afford to sit around and do nothing tend to have children at that young an age."
 
Le Collab feat. Araki, Charlotte, and Shizuka​

Araki couldn't count himself amongst Charlotte's friends, but he still balked at the sudden betrayal. "Please don't encourage her," he pleaded softly, sipping at the warm tea in an effort to soothe his nerves. He might have frowned when Charlotte extended a request to Shizuka; it was hard to heal with the teacup in the way. Otherwise he remained silent, perhaps trying to associate such a request as Charlotte and her's alone; he was just another helper like Shizuka could choose to be.

"Do you mean me," Shizuka asked Charlotte. "I don't have any other plans for the day." She seemed satisfied enough with the narrative so far, and turned to Araki to express as much. "it's good to know you weren't actually involved in things, though I take it you're still a suspect, or wanted as a witness, then?"

Giving a sideways glance at Araki, Charlotte shrugged. "At this point I'm not sure how involved I am with anything with how little I know." Silently sipping her tea, she continued, "Either a suspect or witness, I guess. I've given a deposition."

It seemed like he was the only one hung up on the sudden engagement, so he sighed under his breath and nodded towards Shizuka. "Same with Charlotte. I was just questioned and let go, so I'd say witness?" His tone amplified the uncertainty behind his words and he bobbed his head side as if considering things.

"Why dress like a ninja and hop around on the roofs, then," Shizuka asked. She quickly changed the subject, back toward more important matters. "What was this about a kidnapped friend?"

"It works better at night..." Araki murmured under his breath as he looked to the ground.

Charlotte nodded. "You're familiar with the 'heroes' of the city, right? My friend was one of them, but she still somehow managed to get herself snatched up like every other girl in this city," she said with a sigh. Honestly, she didn't know how that happened. Even blackout drunk Alexa still had some backbone. "From this very room, apparently. I don't see anything abnormal though, playing the part of an investigator."

"Wouldn't that mean we don't have any clues to follow?" Shizuka asked.

"Maybe? There was something on the roof, or at least outside last night. Maybe something is there. If not, there's got to be some clues from the homes of the dozens of missing people," offered Charlotte.

"That sounds like the place to start, then. And if it's not a coincidence that you heroes are targeted, it would be good to have someone who isn't so notable to help." She had to find some way to make that a good point in her favor.

"Outside?" Araki murmured mostly for himself before he jolted up with a realization and moved to look outside the room's window. He hadn't realized it earlier thanks to everything on his mind, but from this vantage point he was certain he ran by this inn occasionally on his nightly excursions. As he stared at the rooftop opposite of the window he could even see the tiles he had broken yesterday. His posture slumped as he tried to make himself smaller and he muttered sheepishly, "That was probably just me… I go out sometimes…"
 
Well, this turned out to be more interesting than initially anticipated. At least, there was a possibility for that. "I'd reckon he was around 10 years old." And yeah, that doesn't add up...though, he did seem very serious."[/b] Did he actually...fool her? Well, whatever. "Maybe she adopted him or something?" Surely there had to be some sort of address or his name together with a picture? Some clue to find him again? For now all Aresia could do was to keep looking.
 
With a violent, vicious force, Ashe's artificial arm smashed through the vampire's chest, tearing through undead flesh as if it was paper. Blood flowed, dripping off the hand that she had impaled Eiros with, as the raven-haired vampire stood there, surprise marked on his face. Surprise, and then, amusement, as he promptly began to push his body up her arm, until he was standing inches away from her. With Ashe's arm still stuck into his slender body, he said, each word accompanied by bloody flecks, "My my, I didn't think you'd have it in you to do something like that."

"Unfortunately, you got the wrong side."

With those cheerful, juxtapositional words, blood suddenly began to flow freely from the small bitemarks on Ashe's neck. Like wool being spun into a ball of yarn, it twisted and twirled and solidified, before it became a wonderful ball of blood. Honestly, it was rather pretty, so smooth that Ashe could see her own pale face reflected in it, before the vampire swallowed it.

And, like that, the regeneration of a vampire popped in, the muscles of Eiros's body contorting and clenching, until it snapped Ashe's runetech arm into two pieces.

Another horde of ghostly appendages extended from the floor, grappling Ashe, before the two of them were dragged back into their holding pen.

"Do visit again, you two! I always strive to do my best, so if you wish to volunteer for quality control, just come out and pay me a visit, yeah?"
~❆~
Some more searching brought up that boy's profile as well, one by the name of Vadain Rocco. Under the guardianship of Wynn Rocco and also hailing from Astopol. Unlike Wynn, he had been in Dansila for four years now, attending a private military school while living in the dormitories of a man by the name of Gael Ericsson. There was no indication of a father, nor any that he had been adopted.

All that could be seen was that Wynn had given birth to Vadain at an abnormally early age, and that neither had an extended family, in this case.
 
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