Behind Those Golden Eyes

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Tal turned to her and grinned. "Oh, no one to be worried about like that." Probably, he added to himself. "You will probably have quite a few things to say to him though. He was the man who took me in after I left and introduced me to my 'master'." He said master in a tone that was not quite an insult. The man had taught Tal a few things and had more importantly given him the connections he needed to get started, but the man had not taken his students strength well and turned into even more of a drunk sop than he had been when he had met Tal. Tal supposed he had been a bit of a...intimidating pupil. "You could say in fact that he was the man who set me upon this path." He mused.
 
This started to become hard. What reaction did he expect her to have? Did he mean that she would be grateful towards the man and tell him what a good job he had done, or did he mean that she would think badly of him and want to correct his ways? It wasn't like she could get every single piece of information out of Aisha's aura and mind. "Is that so." The doll simply mumbled, relaxing a little bit as if knowing that it was someone Tal seemed to know well had made her feel slightly more comfortable. She let the food silence her as she started to much on the sandwich again.

Archer was now pretty interested though. "Oho, so I'll be able to meet the man whom helped create a legend. How is he? Does he handle a sword well?" The assassin definitely hoped for another sword master. Considering he seemed to have been somewhat close to Taliesin for some period of time, it wasn't too far fetched to think that. Shiela was rather happy over Archer's presence. Thanks to him she might get more information.
 
Tal tilted his head, giving Aisha a most curious look this time. That was far from the reaction he expected. Luckily for her he let it be for the moment and turned his attention on Archer. "Liaal is a fair hand at a blade." He said as he sat down on the foot of the bed, leaving Aisha plenty of room. "Though he is more about throwing knives or poisoning you well before you have a chance to get near him. That's what he's known for, he acquires all sorts of exotic poisons and sells them. You've probably interacted with some of his people at some point." He tilted his head. "He was probably involved in the trade as well but he won't speak of it. I have a feeling he changed his name and I've had more important things to do than chase down the exploits of a man when I could be making money." Honestly he just hadn't cared. The important part was that the man had the necessary connections to facilitate Tal's rise to infamy.
 
"Hmm... A knife thrower. I like him already." Archer grinned. "Though I might have to ask him not to poison me if he agrees to a battle." He did add. There was a lot he would battle, but poison was not one of them. "Personally I don't use poison, so I probably haven't dealt with them. But I have a nagging feeling that I've heard about him." He shrugged it off, not liking that he couldn't remember exactly what he had heard. It was important for someone in his profession to remember details in case they would be of use in the future, so this setback was a bit of a disappointed even though the man wasn't a target.

Shiela might have gotten a bit impatient, or maybe just very paranoid. She just needed Tal close and trust her enough to put down his defenses. She just had to give him a situation in which he would feel it necessary to take care of her and not be able to react when she stabbed him with a poisoned knife which was hidden inside of the dolls arm where the bones of a human should have been. It would come out fast once she decided on it, and then it would just be to stab towards the heart. Even if the knife didn't kill him, the poison would.

The doll suddenly yelled out in agony, and she held her arms around her stomach. Tears poured out from her eyes as she struggled to breath. She coughed and blood came out. If this didn't make that demon worry, then nothing would. He just had to come close.
 
Tal shrugged. "He would probably-" He cut off abruptly as Aisha suddenly started coughing up blood. Part of him wanted very much to run over to her and see what was wrong but the sense of 'not quite right' that had been plaguing him this whole time along with the recent warning from his father made him hold back. His hesitation was barely a second before he moved swiftly over to the doll, looking quite concerned. It was partially an act however as he could not shake the odd feeling he had. Even this very scene seemed wrong to him, for her to suddenly start having problems like this. Mentally his brain ticked of reasons for these sort of symptoms and he ignored the explanations.

It was thankful he was ready for anything when he approached her because as soon as he leaned forward and reached out a hand 'Aisha's' was suddenly coming up towards him and he had to make some hasty defensive maneuvers. He saw the slight gleam on the dagger and had a feeling that a witch's poison might just be something that he would not want to test his resilience against. What had happened was quickly becoming clear to him and in an instant not just his eyes were glowing as he stalked back towards the doll. "You think me so stupid witch?!"
 
Shiela waited until the very last second, and once the demon was close enough, she swiftly moved the doll's hand towards Tal's chest and shoot out the knife from its hiding place. It should have gotten buried in his chest, but instead she had to catch it before it flew out of her hand. Jumping out of the bed into a standing position, the doll observed her target while backing slowly.

"I have certainly underestimated you, demon." Shiela said through the doll with a disappointed sigh. "I had hoped your feelings would blind you as it does most foolish young men." She admitted. The doll was not made for battle. She could never win now. But there was other ways.

"She'll be happy to hear that you didn't fall for our tricks. She got quite worried last time I spoke to her. She couldn't speak of course, but I felt it in her aura."A quite evil smirk formed on the doll's lips, one no one would have expected to see on Aisha in a lifetime. "Do you really think you can save her? I know how to protect myself and those around me from your kind. You can't step close to me even if you find me."

The witch did hope Tal would have some brains to try and negotiate with her. That he actually believed that there was nothing he could do. But it didn't matter much. He could kill the doll if he wished. But then he would just be able to guess what she had done with Aisha. She had already hinted towards something. What could possibly have been done to the poor girl to prevent her from talking? Maybe her tongue was cut off? Who knew what his imagination could come up with. But some people didn't care about information. He might be far too furious to bother at the moment.
 
Anyone who knew Tal knew that he did in fact have two weaknesses. One was the fact that he couldn't entirely cut the ties with the odd people he trusted. The second was his anger, and he was exceptionally angry at the moment. The witch spoke through the doll but Tal could barely hear her through the roaring in his ears. He desired nothing but to destroy the doll utterly, followed by the witch. "Hear this, witch." He growled in a rumble that seemed to shake the air. "No matter your defenses, you will feel the volcano of my fury and you will regret having ever been born." He took one slow step forward, followed by a demonic sprint that him next to it in a second. He ripped the arm with the dagger off the doll in one swift motion and threw it across the room. He then picked the doll up by the neck before he poured his aura into it through his hand. consuming with something like fire from the inside out. Within seconds, aside from the arm he ripped off, it was a small pile of ash.

Still glowing entirely he looked towards the arm and strode swiftly towards it, stomping on the elbow while he pulled the dagger from it's hand, and then incinerated the arm too. Still feeling unfulfilled, he looked around the room with blazing eyes. He stopped his gaze on Archer, who was just enough to remind him that destroying the building might not be the best idea. Instead he threw the dagger so it landed somewhere near Archer, but was obviously not going to hit the man, and started pacing. His still visible aura was pulsing, but finally seemed to be fading away.
 
Shiela fast released the doll as Tal poured his aura into it. While she was fairly certain it wouldn't have hurt her, she'd rather not take any chances. There wasn't anything more she could do with it either way.

"It seems like all we did was poking on the sleeping lion." The witch sighed, disappointed at the failed attempt. It would have been good if they could have poisoned him. Poison with one stab, kill with a second. Neither could she get him to negotiate with her. She had underestimated his rage. But even if they had been able to negotiate, she was certain he wouldn't have agreed to giving himself up for Aisha. Even so she did not regret the plan. It was always good to test different methods. Something was deemed to work. As long as they didn't take unnecessary risks and kept in a safe place, then any plan was good. It could also show their enemies weakness. In Tal's case, it was his rage. Now it was just to come up with a plan for how to use it against him.

Archer had jumped forward when seeing the doll attacking Tal, but he had stopped in the same moment Tal jumped out of the way for the knife. After having observed the event unfolding in front of him, he waited patiently for Tal to become somewhat calm. Or at least he waited until he was pacing back and forth.

"I guess we have to come up with a new plan, huh." He stated, wondering slightly if his companion needed a time out, or a killing spree. "But so do they." He shrugged, kind of enjoying that their enemy had failed as well in their plan. "Do you need to hit something? It's never good to come up with plans while in an outrage." He asked while picking up the knife Tal had thrown towards him. Planning while angry usually ended with plans like, kill everyone, and not much more than that. Some aggression might need to be taken care of, and Archer doubted hitting a pillow would help a demon's rage.
 
"It was worth a try." Jeremy said looking equally disappointed. "No useful information at all hmm?"

Tal paused at his question and looked speculatively at Archer. His first thought was a proper battle between the two of them but he was so angry he didn't trust his ability to hold back and would probably do some serious damage. Or possibly the other way around with rage clouding his thoughts. His next thought wasn't entirely appropriate for being so close to a city, they tended to be a bit more disturbed by the forest being decimated around them. "If I hit something right now I probably won't stop for quite a while." He said in a dangerously level tone. "Perhaps you should go take cover somewhere."
 
"There was something. He did mention a man named Liaal whom he knew from his past. I don't know if he's still thinking about contacting him, but it could be something." Shiela told Jeremy. She might have heard of him under a different name, there weren't many collectors of exotic poisons around after all.

Archer chuckled and backed towards the window. "Try not to destroy the whole district." He said teasingly. He couldn't care less about how many innocent people Tal might kill in his rage. It wasn't his problem. "Come find me when you're done." He said just before he jumped out of the window. Sometimes it was good with a bit of alone raging time, even demons needed it. He went to a bar quite a few blocks away, as he didn't want to be too close if Taliesin went overboard. Then he sat down and ordered a drink. Tal could probably easily find him, both with and without demonic abilities.
 
"Liaal?" Jeremy tilted his head musingly. He had heard of the man as well, in fact he was fairly sure that there was something about him and Taliesin that he should remember. His inability to do so frustrated him greatly and his musing expression transformed into one of agitation. Had the man been the one to recommend the demon to his family? Could it be that simple?

Luckily for the city, Tal's rage burned cold this day. Rather than destroying a few city blocks he went into the sewers and underground. For years afterwards there were rumors of a vengeful ghost or a monster that had been caged down there that would periodically wipe out large amounts of the underworld population. It had only been a one time thing of course but the results would live on in mans memory for a long long time to come.
Of course, when Tal finally sought out Archer he was freshly showered and looked every bit the noble he was. His wild grin was quite refreshed as he sat down next to the other man. "Have fun without me?"
 
"Apparently he's known for finding exotic poisons and selling them. I might have bought things from his people from time to time without even knowing it." The last sentence was only a mumbling. It was surely annoying that she hadn't cared to check the people she was buying her poisons from. As long as she got what she wanted for a good price, she didn't care much from whom it came. "I might be able to bring the traders I work with here and see if they know anything about the man. If it interests you of course." She suggested. You never knew what leads would take them forward.

Archer grinned as Tal sat down beside him. "Probably not as fun as you've had. Four flirts, only girls. What a disappointment." He sighed and drank up his third glass. Sure, he enjoyed when people gave him attention for his body, or his hair, but he had his preferences as usual. "So, what is our next move?" The moon thing was obviously a fraud to get them to come get the doll, thus the witch wasn't drained on powers as they had thought. "Do you think we should try to contact your dad again?" He suggested, though he guessed it wouldn't do much. Xerxes was probably already on his way after their last message, if he was too far away it would still take a while.
 
Jeremy eased his way into a soft chair, still looking quite perturbed. "I am unsure if it's anything at all..." He frowned and then shook his head. "But my gut tells me that there is something be to found on this line of inquiry. Let us see if we can get ourselves a meeting with this 'Liaal'." He sighed lightly before flashing a wiry grin. Who knew it would be so annoying to get rid of a demon even with the help of a witch?

"No need." Tal replied cheerfully. "We'll meet up with him tomorrow night. In the meantime there is little to do aside from entertain ourselves." He smiled wickedly. There was the implication of sex...but also probably blood and possibly someone else involved in somewhat unpleasant ways.
 
"I'll see what I can do." Shiela replied. It wouldn't be hard to trick out the traders, what might be a problem was to get the right information. They couldn't give her information they didn't have. If the man stayed in the shadows, then maybe they didn't know much, or even anything about him. It wasn't unusual for people to work for someone without knowing who they were, as long as they got payed.

As expected it was easy for her to get a hold of the men. With poison she immobilized them and forcibly lead them to their hideout. There she used magic spells to get into their minds, slowly making them go insane until they told her what she wanted to know. If they never told her, then they most likely didn't know, but it would be too late to save their minds even for a skilled magician. Oh well, the world was filled with people that could replace them.

During the afternoon the next day, Archer finally woke up. Most people would probably have fled in horror if they knew what had been going on the other night. Archer on the other hand had found it extremely entertaining. Non of his former employers had ever come close to Tal's level. Most people were just boring, no matter what they did. Maybe the only people whom actually could entertain him was those who weren't quite human.

Stretching a bit, he sat up and yawned. Now the fun would be stalled for a little while. Once Xerxes came, they would probably be too busy with a rescue plan to have time for such nights again. Hopefully they could dump her off somewhere once she was saved. If she were to be kidnapped one more time, he might just kill her himself.
 
Jeremy was fascinated to see Shiela at work. He had seen his grandfather do some interesting things with his aura manipulation but they were quite subtle, and even gentle, compared to the methods the witch used now. Of course they didn't necessarily have much time to try the methods his grandfather did.

The methods were quite successful though and it only took a few men before they found one that was in Liaal's inner circle. Using his information it was easy to track down the man, enjoying his time at a high end bar near the university. Liaal did not seem particularly surprised as they approached him. It had been hard to miss his contacts disappearing. He scanned them both with hooded eyes before smiling brightly. "Ah, the infamous witch Shiela and her new...friend. I had wondered who was knocking on my door so forcefully." He gestured politely for the two to sit down at his table and motioned for a servant to bring them drinks. "And what brings the two of you here?"

As usual, Tal was up before Archer though he did seem quite a bit calmer after their activities from the night before. He was sitting at the window to the inn they had ended up at and stared musingly out the window. When Archer woke up he seemed to return from his thoughts and turned to Archer with a wicked smile. "Did you enjoy yourself last night?" He hadn't really expected Archer to have had any problems with what he'd done, considering what Archer had done in the process of torturing Kellen's man.
 
Soon they found a man whom knew about Liaal, and it didn't take them long to get to him. Shiela had believed it would be much harder considering how that demon had spoken of his many names and how he stayed in the shadows. If someone truly did not want to be found, it was hard to fail. Did he want them to find him? Probably not, but it almost felt like it when it went so ridiculously easy.

"An old friend of yours." Shiela replied. She weren't too sure of their relationship when they had been together, so she kept her tone flat so it could be taken either way depending on what he thought of the demon. "Taliesin. You did know him long ago, no?" So far she did not give him their intentions as they didn't actually know what he thought about the guy. All she knew right now was that he was good with knives and poisons, which meant she wouldn't touch anything he gave her. She trusted no one.

"It was certainly a night to remember" Archer grinned and stretched his arm high up in the air before he started to put on his clothes. "Any ideas how long we have before your daddy will arrive?" He asked, while rather clumsily forcing on his pants. It was possible to get clothed with style, but he just didn't bother this morning... Or afternoon. Time didn't matter. Either it was day or it was night. They were divided by light and darkness, and that was all you had to know.
 
An amused sparkle entered Liaal's eye at the mention of Tal and he nodded agreeably. "I stumbled upon him, once upon a time. Well before he became the figure that he is now." He smiled wickedly. "Angry teenagers are so cute don't you think?"

With some effort Jeremy was holding together his old, deadpan expression. Since his grandfather had died he had had a hard time playing the part he once did, but now he considered it essential. At the mention of Tal as a teenager he felt his inner beast perk up, realizing they may have just stumbled into quite a find here. Even better, while the man was playing coy there was an obvious tension in the air due to having two rather dangerous people in the room and neither of them being quite sure who was the more dangerous. "Sounds like he spent quite some time with you back in the day."

Liaal shrugged deprecatingly. "He was so hard to resist, with those beautiful wild eyes and enough arrogance to drown a city and as much stubbornness as the most irate mule." He spoke fondly and probably would go on about Tal's similar traits for quite some time if allowed. He wasn't quite sure what these two were after yet and saw no reason to make whatever it was easier for them. In the meantime, the wine he ordered arrived. Jeremy, reading the man's aura with a quick glance casually picked up the glass in front of him and took a long draw, making a pleased noise. It was on par with what he would have drunk once upon a time.

Tal winced at Archer's casual mention of his father. As fond as he was of Xerxes the sort of discipline involved in teaching him swordfighting from a young age ensured that Tal had never even thought of Xerxes as 'daddy'. It made him shudder a bit just to think of it. He muttered something irritated under his breath before standing up. "He will be entering the city shortly. We can go meet up with him once we've had some breakfast." Though considering the late hour (though not quite dark) they would probably not be having the usual breakfast items.
 
Shiela did not agree with the man in the slightest. Teenagers were some of the worst things she knew, especially angry undisciplined ones. They were too impulsive with no self-control. They were just dangerous to be around. On the other hand, she saw most people as dangerous. Anyone that could eventually kill her was a danger. Sure, Jeremy could probably kill her considering how close she let him come to her. But as long as she didn't do anything against him, she doubted he would. She was also certain that she could figure it out if he planned to murder her long before he actually did it.

"You must be quite happy then." She told him. "We've heard he is here in town and might try to find you very soon. Apparently he needed help with protecting a friend of his." Liaal had spoken greatly about the demon of the past, but what did he truly think of him now? If he decided that it was worth to help the demon, they might have to get rid of him.

Archer was delighted of that reply. Food was highest on his list at the moment. "I'm voting for a nice bloody steak. Yesterdays pleasures reminded me how fond I am of them." He chuckled. An odd breakfast, but quite perfect for lunch in his opinion.
 
"Ahh so that was him." Liaal shook his head. "That boy always did know how to make a mess." The disaster that had occurred in Kellen's mansion was the talk of the town. He was silent for several moments as he read between the lines. He had no doubt these people were enemies of Tal, and while he liked the boy he wouldn't say he was best buds with Tal either. If anything Tal owed him some big favors. "Well, you'd think he would know better. I am in the business of selling rather than protecting after all."

Jeremy smiled faintly, though he was practically itching to probe the mans mind for what he knew about Taliesin. Jeremy could just sense all the information the man was holding back. He supposed it wasn't all that important once the demon was dead though.

Tal grinned, thinking fondly of the night before. His father would most definitely not have approved but luckily he would never need to know anything about it. "I know just the place then." He declared before standing up and leading the way. They where just about done enjoying their high end steaks before Xerxes strolled up to their table and sat down as if he had been there all along.

"Well hello there boys." He said cheerfully, eying their 'breakfast' with a raised eyebrow. "Enjoying your meal?"

Tal made a point of slowly chewing the bite that was in his mouth for an inordinately long time before answering. "Quite. You seem to be quite alone however."

Xerxes was completely unperturbed. "Oh, don't worry about that. Daddy's got things taken care of."

Tal's eye twitched and he almost choked on his next bite of steak. "Where...the hell...did you get...that from?" He coughed. Xerxes smirked but did not reply. Tal had a bad feeling his father may have been lurking around long before he actually showed himself.
 
That? What might he be speaking of? She weren't sure as Tal had done quite a lot since they arrived. He had destroyed an inn the previous day, which she only knew since she still were connected to his and Archer's aura. That could probably have been spread around already. Though the biggest that had happened was probably the massacre at the mansion. Shiela was sure though that Taliesin wouldn't mind buying some protection from the man if it came down to it. So he was still a dangerous chess piece that could be used against them.

"Some people just don't understand business." Shiela smiled. "That boy has been incredibly bad for business wherever he's gone. No wonder people want to get rid of him." She now knew that the man did not value Tal to the extent of dying for him, at least not if he didn't get the right prize. "Just think about it. Most of the people interested in your supply are targets for him. If enough people pay him for getting rid of them, and he stays here, what will happen to your business?"

While the risk was slim that he actually would get payed to take out every criminal that bought poison, there was still a chance. He did not kill the innocent, which was quite a foolish decision of an assassin, thus the business of the black market was at most risk when he was there. How much one girls mind could tell you in so little time. It did also help that even a demon's hair could reveal a lot about a person. But she also had a hundred years of magic under her belt. That was experience most witches could only dream of. She knew more than most of those pitiful fools would during their whole lifetime.

Archer had completely forgotten how much he used to enjoy steak, but now he was reminded. Though his enjoyment did fade a bit when the father of the year showed up. He didn't bother with joining in on their 'happy' reunion, and instead just kept eating. That was until Tal almost choked over something. Curious he finally payed attention to them.

"Try not to kill your son, I would never be able to find someone remotely as good as him for my nightly activities." Archer complained shamelessly before getting to the point. "What exactly did I miss this time?"
 
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