Behind Those Golden Eyes

  • So many newbies lately! Here is a very important PSA about one of our most vital content policies! Read it even if you are an ancient member!
Status
Not open for further replies.
Liaal kept his expression pleasant but inwardly he was getting quite tired of his visitors. Or perhaps Sheila did not realize how weak her logic was. Either way he had an idea where she was going and he was getting to the point where he was inclined to do Tal the favor of killing her the longer the woman lingered in his presence. "Ah, my lady but you forget I know my little lost puppy quite well. You can imagine I kept an eye on his progress after he left my care. He stays in no place very long, it is against his very nature. Even if he did defy all things and stay here and for some reason wipe out the entirety of the black market, which he would not do because you do not properly understand his goals, I am not particularly attached to this country and I have many contacts far and wide where I could make just as much money as I do now." If not more.

He leaned forward, his expression serious. "Now then. I believe I already gave you my answer and I suggest you leave before the situation in this room becomes quite messy." The other patrons that had been politely ignoring the group now perked up and the tone in the room changed to decidedly dangerous.

"Oh nothing important." Xerxes said cheerfully as he dodged a quite deadly punch from his son. Tal had recovered somewhat but he definitely didn't want Archer picking up on just what had gone on. Luckily, Xerxes was a stingy old bastard and wanted to be the only person who got to annoy Tal freely so he wasn't inclined to help Archer on that journey. "You should finish that steak somewhat soon however. My friend isn't always the most patient sort and she may just storm in here and drag you two out by the ears."
Tal eyed his father warily, unsure if Xerxes was joking or not. Since Xerxes almost always thought he was funny even his aura didn't give a clue.
 
The atmosphere changed quickly in the room as the man spoke, and it would be foolish to linger. She did not regret her way of dealing with things however, as you had to test people you did not know to see what would push their buttons. Obviously this man was smarter than the fools whom quite easily fell for her mind games. It probably helped him that he knew that demon. They might not get any information out if him, at least not yet. But it was important to remember that she now knew who he was. Only one stray of hair would be needed for her to put a curse on him. Maybe that would make him want to talk.

"Of course." She smiled and stood up. "Oh, and don't worry about your errand boys. They're perfectly unharmed and I'll send them back to you within the next couple of hours." She then told him. It wasn't a lie, she hadn't harmed their bodies the slightest. But three of the four was in a state of insanity, they would most likely never recover. The forth were pretty out of it, he barely knew who he was when they left, but he might be able to get back to his ordinary life eventually with the right help.

"Friend?" Archer looked at the two, quite curious over what he might have missed. Tal knew what was going on, and he was quite pissed because of it, Xerxes seemed to enjoy something, and Archer were being kept in the dark. But he did not ask about it further.

"If someone were to drag me out by the ear I would most likely cut them in half." Archer mumbled while he finished the last pieces of his steak so he could meet that friend Xerxes had brought with him. Was it a witch perhaps? That would certainly be helpful.
 
Liaal fixed her with an unimpressed stare. He was quite done with the woman in his establishment. He also was quite curious about the boy who had been watching him so intently but had spoken so little. He had a feeling they were both seeing a lot more than the average person from this meeting. The boy had been daring enough to partake of a drink given to him by a poisoner so that spoke a lot towards both his bravery and cleverness. He wondered if Tal knew just who was after him. Perhaps he'd send the boy some information. The woman had annoyed him enough at this point he was feeling somewhat generous. And he was somewhat curious to see how Tal had turned out close up.

"Pleasure doing business with you." He said in an overly sweet tone, his face not reflecting his feelings at all. "Do send a message the more conventional way next time."

Tal enjoyed the image of seeing Archer and how he imagined the sorceress squaring off before finishing his own food. He then stood up, leaving the waiter their payment before letting his father lead the way out of the restaurant with a swagger. His father was in a fine mood, which only spelled trouble for the rest of the world.

Xerxes paused once they were outside and reached into his pocket, handing both of them a tiny packet of herbs. "Keep that on you at all times."

Tal lifted it in front of his face and tilted his head for a moment before shrugging. As he knew roughly who they were about to meet he was sure there was a good reason for it. He followed his father down the street to an inn a few blocks down. It was a modest establishment, not terrible but average enough that it didn't stand out either. They were lead upstairs where Xerxes knocked lightly on the door in an obvious pattern before letting himself in. Tal rolled his eyes before following and leaving Archer to bring up the rear and close the door.

There was a woman sitting at the desk waiting for them. She was not the old hag Tal had imagined. She looked in fact to be just as young as Tal, which was impossible since his father had met the woman before Tal had been born. She had dirty blond hair with just a hint of copper tones in the sunset light coming in from the window. She had sharp green eyes and a face that had just a hint of smile creases which deepened to a wiry grin at the sight of Xerxes and the two men. Her face was just a bit too round to be classically beautiful and she was just a tad plump. Her dress was plain grey and there was a hint of practical breeches underneath. "Greetings, Taliesin." Tal winced. "And Archer." She looked at them with eyes that were obviously reading more than just their facial expressions. "I am Celeria, 3rd Watcher of Crystal Circle." Tal's brow furrowed. He didn't think he had ever heard of such a thing.

Celeria's expression turned more amused and she shook her head. "You need not concern yourself with it. Of more importance, I hear you've found yourselves a dark witch."
 
"Make sure you're easily accessible next time then." Shiela replied with a innocent smile and sweet voice. Then she left before giving him time to answer her. She would have loved to rip the hair off his head right there and then, but there was other ways of doing it. His men were useless by this point, all but one at least. She could brainwash the forth one to take a hair and send it to her whenever it wouldn't seem suspicious. He wouldn't even be able to remember it to tell his boss, no matter the torture they might wish to put him through.

"You didn't say a word in there. What have you been thinking?" She asked Jeremy. It had been quite a surprise to see him not react at all, nor speak. It had slightly annoyed her that she had to guess what he wanted to get out of the man. Either way they probably wouldn't have gotten much even with his participation. Hopefully that would change once he was cursed to the brink of wishing for death.

Archer followed as always, curious of this new person he was about to meet. Personally he wouldn't have minded another man. A threesome was always appreciated after all. But that was not on the plate for this evening.

He closed the door behind them and walked into a room where a young woman sat. He guessed she was a witch just like Shiela, otherwise he doubted she would be of any help. Aisha had definitely made him loose hope in every female without magical powers.

"I don't know if I would go as far as calling her dark. Venomous is a good word though." Archer smirked, not letting the girl get to him.
 
Jeremy was slow to respond to her words, finally blinking his way out of the deep thoughts to give her a weak apologetic smile. "A lot of things. Listening to his story, broken and shaded as it was, didn't sound quite right. I mean, I believe him such as it was but there is something we've both been missing. The same sort of thing I tried to get from the girl before." He paused and tilted his head before shaking it with a sigh. "Now that the doll has failed perhaps probing her mind should be the next move we make, since she is already in our custody." He was somewhat annoyed he hadn't thought to probe her knowledge this time but he had assumed the demonicness of her friend had been the main secret. Now he was not entirely sure.

Celeria chuckled softly, still decidedly bemused by the fact that she was helping out a pair of demons and an assassin. Xerxes had shown her his control over the creature but none of them had expected him to go and spawn another demon, nor what kind of chaos would ensue from it. "Either way, it sounds like she needs to be taken care of and it is my duty to seek out such as her and deal with them." She stood up with suddenly icy eyes. "Now then we must devise a plan."

Now Tal was interested in the woman. He was terrible about dragging things out and playing around just to annoy people but right now he appreciated the straightforwardness. "We need to find her again, first of all. After we took the bait and raided her base a couple days ago there's been no sign of her."

Celeria nodded. "Did you take nothing from the base with you?"

Tal winced. "She made a doll of Aisha, which she tried to kill me with. There's not much of it left, I'm afraid I lost my temper." He remembered the blade suddenly and half turned to Archer. "Do you still have the blade she tried to kill me with?" He asked, not holding much hope of it's usefulness.
 
"Does that mean I'm allowed to kill him now?" Shiela asked. It didn't seem as if Jeremy had any further plans with the man named Liaal at the moment. While he had great resources for her work, there was other ways for her to get her poisons, so it wouldn't destroy her work to get him out of the way. Maybe she was a bit childish, but she hated to loose. If he didn't tell her what she wanted to know, then something bad would surely happen.

Archer grinned at the question and took out the knife. "I can't resist sharp and deadly." He pointed out, which might have also been a remark on Tal's personality. "Be careful, I haven't cared to wipe off the poison." He gave a warning as he handed it to the girl. It was mainly because she was needed at the moment. If it had been anyone else he wouldn't have cared to point that fact out. But Tal would probably become pretty upset if the only person who could give him success suddenly past out because of poisoning.

He weren't sure if the poison needed to get into the body through the blood or if it also could go through the mouth and be just as effective, but if it was the latter then it would be enough to touch the blade and then touch an open wound or the mouth to become poisoned. That's why he had made sure not to touch the blade. And considering he had been eating both dinner and breakfast without problems, it did seem as if he hadn't gotten anything on his hands so far.
 
Jeremy tilted his head. "Just in case we can't get what we're looking for from the girl let's leave him in reserve." He grinned at her playfully, amused by how much the man had irritated her. "Then you can have all the fun you want with him." His smile suddenly faded. What he had said was far too close to words that had been spoken just before Tal destroyed his family. Jeremy was not one to cry but the sudden icy blues and orange/reds in his aura spoke of his restrained anger and pain. He pushed the memories out of his and strode forward, leaving the witch behind in his distress.

Tal had just a hint of a smile on his face as Archer passed the blade over. He had a suspicion of all the aspects of the other man's words.

"Thank you." Celeria said blandly, as if passing around a poisoned dagger was a daily thing for her. She certainly handled it like something she was familiar with. She held it carefully in front of her and examined the blade musing. "The blade itself...useless." She spoke odd, like she was in a trance. Her brow furrowed for a moment before clearing. "The poison however...oh that is special." She shook her head and started to sound more like her usual self. "It is well that you did not let this touch you, Taliesin. It would have laid low even a personage such as yourself." Archer would not have stood a chance.

"Now then." She hummed to herself as she removed the poison from half the blade before carefully handing it back to Archer with a sly smile. "If you should happen to have the chance, you should definitely try the blade out on this witch." She returned to the desk and gestured imperiously at Xerxes, who rolled his eyes before making a map appear from seemingly nowhere before laying it out on the desk. He then stepped back to watch the magic happen from a professional.

Celeria was silent for several moments, though her aura was quite active and a good show for the two demons. Then she spoke one commanding word in a language none of them understood and slammed the handkerchief she had wiped the poison off with on to the map. She held it for about 5 seconds before lifting the cloth and leaving only the slight sheen of the poison on the paper. The poison visibly trembled for a moment before rolling across the paper to make a little clear copy of Sheila, slowly following her as Sheila returned to her base. "It takes a lot of ones spirit to make something capable of harming a demon." Celeria said happily. "It seems she is in motion though, we will have to wait until she's settled."

Tal tilted his head as he tracked her movement, mentally calculating something. "Oh. Shit." He said in an unusually unrefined tone. "She's been speaking to Liaal." He put a hand over his eyes and seemed to be overwhelmed by whatever emotion had hit him, at a loss for words.

"Liaal?" Xerxes questioned suspiciously.
 
Shiela was quite happy that the kid didn't value the man in any other way than as an information bag. Eventually she would get to kill him. It almost made her hopeful that the girl wouldn't tell them anything, because that would give her a reason to torture him even more before he met his painful end. She did of course notice the change in Jeremy's aura, but she did not ask about it. They weren't connected in an emotional way, they were just two people with the same goal. Whatever had upset him did not matter much to her.

"We should probably keep an eye on him until then. If he decides to seek out the demon, or the other way around, then it would be good to know about it and take care of it before it becomes a problem." She mentioned. It wouldn't be possible before she got either one of his belongings or a hair sample or something similar, so they needed to send the useful boy back immediately.

"I'll make sure to remember that." Archer responded as he took back the knife. He had actually thought about washing off the poison so that he wouldn't be at risk of accidentally getting it on his hands, and then on his food, and then in his mouth. But with that tip he just decided to be careful with how he touched it. It wasn't like it was the first time he was handling poisonous objects.

It was quite amazing to watch magic being used right in front of his eyes. A small version of Shiela walked around on the map. He knew exactly the streets and the houses she passed and could easily make a mental picture of the places she passed. What he couldn't have pictured was the place the man had come from.

"Liaal? The poison and knife expert?" Archer asked, remembering how Tal had suggested to search him up for help. "Maybe we should visit him and see what happened between them then." The assassin suggested. It seemed as if the fact that the witch might have visited the man distressed Taliesin. He weren't sure why though. Did he have information Tal didn't want the witch to know, or was it something else?
 
"I will leave it in your capable hands then." Jeremy said without looking at her. He remained silent the rest of the way back and disappeared into his room as soon as they arrived back at their new hideout.

"Yes." Tal's normally elaborate vocabulary was no where in sight as he turned and headed for the door, his eyes flaring with light when his father grabbed his arm. They had another moment of that quick silent communication between the two before Tal finally jerked his arm free and stepped away. "I will be fine!" Then he was gone out the door.

Xerxes let him go this time and looked wryly at Archer. "Do try to keep him alive." He assumed the other man was going to follow Tal, he was practically Tal's shadow at this point. In more ways than one.
 
When Shiela and Jeremy returned, she immediately hypnotized the only somewhat sane man among the four they had kidnapped before she sent them all back. It went very fast, and they would most likely arrive shortly after Tal and Archer. After that the witch concentrated on the girl.

She couldn't use the same techniques as she had on the men. Considering Jeremy's interest in her and plans to keep her, torturing her with the knowledge of him raising her child in the worst way possible in her opinion, it was probably best to try and keep her sanity on the level it was. If she went completely insane she wouldn't even notice his torture methods, and where was the fun in that? It would also be impossible to control her after that, so she could as well just die. Instead she had to use a slower method, heavily resembling the one Jeremy's old man had used on Aisha. If she also influenced what the nightmares would be about, she could more easily get to the truth.

As expected, Archer followed Tal as a shadow. He gave a quick glance at Xerxes before smirking. "With all due respect, if your son can't handle it, how could I? I'm only human." He shrugged before going after his companion. There certainly was a disadvantage for him as a human. Even though he was skilled, he was nothing compared to Tal. The only time that wasn't the case was when Tal's powers were taken away from him. As long as they didn't run into the witch he was fairly sure that wouldn't happen.

"So, what's the plan?" Archer asked as he caught up to his companion. There probably weren't any, but it was always nice to have some clarity on those grounds.
 
"We walk in." Tal spoke shortly but once his initial concern had worn off he was starting to act a bit more like his usual self, though he was still walking at a pace that nearly left Archer in the dust. They were quick to approach the bar that Liaal was currently residing at. He hadn't told even Tal where his actual home was. The bar was where Liaal met clients and/or troublesome people. Considering Tal's reputation, he couldn't blame Liaal. Naturally, Tal strode inside as if he owned the place and unsurprisingly, no one challenged him as he strode over to Liaal's table.

Liaal grinned and stood up to give Tal a hug.

Oddly enough, Tal had an amused grin and quite willingly let himself be handled for a moment before shaking the older man off. "Now now, this is no place to be getting so excited." He gestured for Archer to sit and then sat down himself so that he was between the two men, who were across the table from each other. "Liaal, this is Archer. Archer, meet Liaal." He sort of wanted to sit back and watch the two men interact, so for the moment that's what he did.


Liaal raised an eyebrow at the introduction, mostly surprised that Tal was allowing a hanger-on than anything else. Once Liaal gave him a good looking over however, it was easy to see how this man who was obviously another assassin had managed to hold Tal's interest. Archer was easy on the eyes, Liaal wouldn't have minded his company for a while either. Archer also had a grin that reminded him a bit too much of Tal. He had to wonder just how these two had found each other. He put analyzing the other man in the background of his mind and smiled charmingly at Archer. "Well hello." He purred. "Have you been enjoying your time with my little stud over there?"

Tal rolled his eyes and pressed his lips tightly together so he could avoid saying anything.
 
The meeting was certainly strange, even for Archer. First Tal let himself get hugged easily, even though he shook the man off eventually, and then he seemed disinterested in getting to the point once he had introduced the two men to each other. And here he had thought they were there to talk about the witch that had made a visit.

Well, Archer hadn't gotten any orders, and had only followed on instinct like he always did. He weren't one to bring topics to the table, he just gave information to already brought up topics. The only exception was if he had been ordered to be the one to bring it up, and since that wasn't the case, he did wonder slightly how long it would take before Tal would be bored of being the passive player.

"Yours?" Archer asked the man with an interested but doubting smile. "Last time I checked it was my marks covering his body." He smiled far too innocently for such a comment. Liaal hadn't seen Tal in a very long time, so making an ownership claim, even if it wasn't meant to be one, was unacceptable. If they decided to join each other again in any way that night, then Archer wouldn't mind a my pronounce. But at the moment Archer did not see any reason for him to make such a claim, thus did not accept it.

"I have to say, he's quite delicious. I don't mind sharing if you want to have a taste." Archer had no idea what Tal would think of such a comment. There might be people not even he would want to go to bed with. But it seemed as if he wanted to give the two free rein at the moment, so he only had himself to blame.
 
Liaal's smile grew with every word Archer spoke. The fact that Archer actually took the time to refute his claim was lovely and by the time Archer finished he was nearly falling out of his chair with laughter. "Oh Tal he's wonderful!" He straightened himself and fixed the two with a smouldering gaze. "We will definitely have to follow up on your friends suggestion." Just to tweak Archer's nose a bit he purposely downplayed Archer's obvious role in Tal's life.

Tal's expression was mostly bland, it was hard to say just what he was thinking of the situation. "Perhaps." This seemed like the opportune moment to bring up what he had come here for, though after having scanned Liaal's aura he was no too concerned anymore. "Maybe after you tell me what a certain witch who just visited you was after?"

"Ahh." Liaal leaned back and smiled secretively. "I had a feeling that might be the reason that spurred your visit." For a second he put on a pout but it didn't suit him and he quickly returned to his faintly amused expression. "You never knew how to go small did you?" Tal raised an eyebrow and looked pointedly around the bar, spurring another laugh from the man. "Yes, we had a lovely little visit. Veiled and not so veiled threats were exchanged." He paused and leaned forward a bit, unable to restrain his curiosity. "She said you were going to come to me for protection, surely there was no truth to this?"

Tal frowned at the other man, a scornful look in his eyes. "You and I know I make a point to always the most dangerous person in the room."

Liaal didn't miss how Tal had avoided the question and wagged his finger at the other man reprovingly. "You learned your way with words from me boy."

Tal shrugged his shoulders ruefully. "You've been doing the same thing, if you want to sate your curiosity then tell me what else you and the woman discussed."

"Oh very well." Liaal sighed theatrically and leaned back in his chair. "We didn't speak much, nothing you should be too concerned about. I sung the praises of your youth and our time together but nothing of interest. She left somewhat vexed. I'll probably need to look into moving again unless you take care of her." He added the last bit absently. He was not one to underestimate a witch. "So, just what happened that you would seek me out for protection?"

Tal was slow to respond but finally gave in. "It was not for me, obviously. An old friend of mine however has gotten into some trouble. Lucky for you, I won't be needing your services after all."

Liaal read between the lines easily. "Old friend? I thought you were quite done with that town."

Tal shot the man a cold glare. "I am. I can hardly help if they have to hunt me down instead."

"You're loosing your touch if any of those daisies were able to track you down." Liaal observed questioningly.

Tal's eyes flashed and he stood up. "It was a complicated situation. If you think I'm loosing my touch though by all means test it out."

Liaal raised his hands placatingly and shook his head. "Oh no, I believe you." He shrugged the whole situation off and grinned at the two men. "Though I wouldn't pass up a spar I am probably far too rusty to play with you young'ins."
 
Archer watched the two men throwing words back and forward. While he didn't particularly like the man very much, he still had to agree with Liaal. Tal was loosing his touch. And that came from someone only having known him through rumors and legends up until a month earlier. He should have sent that girl back a long time ago. The old Tal would have known that if he had been anything like the rumors.

Sure, there had been times when he enjoyed Aisha's company. Having someone to bully was always entertaining, and she had moments of courage that he could admire to some extent. The problem was that she couldn't get strong enough to come with Tal if she stayed with him, and she refused to leave him and wanted him to help her get stronger, which lead to kidnappings and people using her against him, which lead to her staying as weak as always. It was a bad circle created by both those fools.

"You might not have lost your touch as a swordsman, but you're not doing too good in the Casanova department. It must have hurt being rejected like that. But what do I know, it has never happened to me." Archer grinned. He still didn't know the whole story behind it, but he had gotten some hints during their adventure that at some point the two of them had gotten the chance to enjoy a night together and she hadn't taken it. It was just one of those fun facts that he only used to get some fun reactions.

"Even he who must not be named got further with her than you." The only reason he didn't mention Kellens name was because he knew Tal might loose it. He had truly hated that man by the end.

"Well, if we're done with him, maybe we should get back and figure out a plan. I doubt she's better off than that doll." Now Archer also rose from his seat, ready to leave whenever his boss wanted too. He had already stated that he wouldn't need Liaal's services, thus they shouldn't have anything more to do there.

At the same time, one of Liaal's men came up to him and gave him some information. The missing men had come back. Three of them was shaking like leaves and screamed every time someone just tried to touch them. The forth was shaken and didn't speak, but he seemed to be able to comprehend that he were in safety now, and he answered yes and no questions with nods and shakes.
 
It was a testament to the fact that Tal did hold Liaal in some sort of regard that Archer got surprisingly little reaction from two of Tal's sorest spots. In fact, Tal didn't seem to acknowledge that Archer said anything at all and simply cocked one eyebrow in response to Liaal's curious expression. Instead he watched the exchange curiously, putting two and two together as they two men continued to speak. "Well, you have fun cleaning up that witches handiwork." There was no sympathy in his voice. People who entered this business should know that they were in for pretty much anything.

Liaal stood up as well now. "Leaving already?" He strolled around the table and made to give Tal another hug, the latter of whom gave the man a slight frown, not seeming to be in the mood anymore. So of course Liaal ignored the warning and instead pulled Tal into a deep kiss. Tal was stiff for a moment before melting a little and leaning into the other man, fighting to take control of the kiss. After what was probably an inordinate amount of time the two broke apart, Tal looking smug and Liaal somewhat impressed. "Well, someone's improved since last I saw them."

"See you around Liaal. Assuming you don't die in the near future." Tal spoke casually before turning away and heading out the door, assuming as usual that Archer would not be far behind. He was still looking quite pleased with himself once they were well outside the bar.

Liaal's smile lasted until Tal was gone before he finally turned back to his messenger. "Give the 3 something to make them sleep." He of course meant permanently. "The last take to one of our doctors and get their opinion of his condition, then see if you can get any information on the witch from him."
 
Archer stood there, stomping his foot over and over again, just counting the seconds until the kiss was over. He wasn't jealous, but he was a bit pissed over not being included. Of course he would never have settled with ending on a kiss. Once something started, Archer made sure to finish it.

Eventually the two men stopped their display and Tal went for the exit. Archer childishly pulled out his tongue at Liaal as he passed the man and then closed in just beside his companion.

"Well that led nowhere." The long haired man commented. "So are we going back to your daddy and the witch? I'm guessing Jeremy and Shiela has stopped somewhere by now. At least as long as they aren't planning to leave town."
 
Tal couldn't help it. He literally cringed at Archer calling Xerxes that. It made the child inside of him absolutely horrified. He did his best to pretend it hadn't happened though. "I believe the proper term is 'sorceress'. There's a difference apparently." He rolled his eyes and shrugged, trying not to think about the witch leaving town. Honestly though that would probably be a really bad move on her part. She would be much more vulnerable on the road. "Either way, with her on our side this'll just be a mop up situation." So long as Celeria could effectively counter Shiela. The woman seemed pretty confident she could so Tal was inclined to believe her.

He fell silent then, thinking about what he was going to do with Aisha once they did get her back. He was frustrated as always by the duality she raised in him. She definitely had to go as soon as possible.
 
"Sorceress, witch, both uses magic. Sounds the same to me." Archer shrugged. Before someone told him the actual difference between the two, he would just continue to call them whatever came to mind first between the two words. He had called Shiela a sorceress a few times without being corrected, so he definitely didn't feel that calling the other woman a witch should be much different.

"Lets hope so. I'm quite tired of playing the saving knight." Archer replied. "It just doesn't fit my images." He was an assassin, and not the kind that killed to save people. He had already carried her body out of one place, helped her escape the second place, and even rescued a fake version of her from a third place. The fourth time had to be enough. Saving damsels in distress was not the job he had signed up for.

"You could just let her off at home. It's not like she can follow you if you run as fast as you can." Archer mentioned. As far as he knew, Aisha did have a family. She had sent a letter home once. That must mean she probably even liked them, or at least one of them. Why else would she tell them how she was feeling? Archer didn't know anything about her mother though. But even if he had, he would probably have given the same advice.
 
Inwardly, Tal agreed with Archer. He had already expressed how he was quite done with the rescuing business. He had turned down being a knight for a reason. He was frustrated and exceptionally ashamed that he had allowed this situation to happen at all, let alone 2 more times. Even worse, because he was stuck in this situation he couldn't bring himself to follow Archer's advice. That did not mean that he wasn't going to drop Aisha off somewhere to hopefully never see her again, just not with her family. He picked up the pace and they returned to the inn room in short order.

Xerxes opened the door for them just as they were arriving, still looking quite amused with himself. "A fruitful trip I hope?" His tone was a bit sharp. Apparently he didn't much like not knowing how this Liaal fit into the picture.

"Passably." Tal shrugged and slipped past his father just before Xerxes managed to completely block the doorway. If Xerxes had put on a little demonic speed it would have been a real contest but if the two started wrestling they'd probably break half the in and draw a lot of unwanted attention to themselves. Aside from the fact that their new sorceress friend may not approve.

Xerxes sighed lightly and looked after Tal with a frown before glancing back at Archer, who for some reason made him smile fondly, before he moved out of the door and next to the map where Tal had taken up residence. "She's been there for a while now, this is most likely her hideout."

"Then let's go get her." Tal said in a steely voice as his eyes flashed dangerously.

"Down boy." Celeria said chidingly from her position surrounded by items on the bed. "Keep the demonic displays for where we are going." She was still in the process of removing things from her bag. "I still need to make some preparations so as to ensure you all don't die in the crossfire." She looked between the three of them with a slight frown on her face and muttered in a stage whisper. "Though goodness knows why..." She was only half joking. Saving Xerxes was one thing but his son and Archer...well they had some unpleasant threads running through their auras. Archer in particular was problematic to her. Tal at least she could tell had some sort of redeeming morality instilled into him by his father, Archer had completely let loose.
 
They finally arrived at the inn and was met by Tal's father. If Archer hadn't know about his demonic abilities, he would have been quite perplexed over the man's accuracy with opening the door just as they arrived. Instead he became confused over the smile that suddenly appeared on Xerxes lips once he looked over at him.

Except for a raised eyebrow, he did not care to satisfy the small part of him that wondered what that smile had been about. He did not comment, instead he just walked in after the two men and joined them at the table with the map.

As usual, Tal was as eager as ever to get going and be done with it. Archer was so used to the other man getting his way with one word, so he had even started turning to follow his boss out the door. Instead they were immediately stopped by the sorceress. Crossing his arms, the long haired man leaned against the table. "What kind of preparations?" Archer asked, slightly suspicious. Just because Xerxes trusted her did not mean Archer did. Heck, he didn't even know Tal's father enough to actually trust him. Not even Tal was completely trustworthy even though he worked for him.

"If we act now we could surprise them. They're probably still recovering after their last failure." He argued before looking towards Tal with a raised eyebrow. It was all up to him. Whatever he did, Archer would follow. Now he had stated his opinion, so it was just to wait for orders.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom
Back