Fjorn: Lonely Fate (oneXone with Vespar Leviathan)

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Adelaide Belial

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It was in the Moonshine Bar that Arturia found a seat. Tired after one of the most tedious missions she's ever encountered, she wanted badly to forget the entire endeavor had happened. It had been a group mission, nearly five people, all of whom expected some big connection with her. All of whom, were sorely disappointed, she avoided their orders like the plague, instead choosing to do her own thing. They were going to get themselves killed anyway. She'd led them to victory, and after claiming her own prize, left as quickly as she had come.

Here, in Lazulis City, the top town when it came to missions, she was told by her employer that this too, would be a team mission. She had groaned and protested of course, but the man was offering her a lot of money for this job. So, begrudgingly, she took the quest. She was to wait here for her partner, someone she didn't know. And when the partner arrived, he would present her with an envelope, vanilla in color. In turn, she would show her own envelope, handed to her earlier, and they would go over their mission together.

She sat down, at the bar, holding up one hand to get the barkeep's attention, "I need something strong. Very strong." She was in an incredible sour mood.
 
Otto hadn't been feeling well since he'd gotten to Lazulis City. Something he couldn't describe, but a very terrible feeling in his gut. He shook his head as he reached his destination. It would go away soon, it had to. He had a very important mission today, so he couldn't be nervous. He stared at the envelope in his hands. Vanilla in color, and very thin, he wondered what was inside.

It wouldn't matter until he met the partner he was assigned to. Walking up to the pre-destined are, he sighed. Hopefully, he wouldn't screw up like he did on his last mission.
His brother couldn't save him forever.
 
It was probably into her fifth or sixth drink or so that Arturia had seen a small figure walk into the bar. She knew for a fact he didn't even remotely look like he belonged here. She snorted as she downed another glass, "Something terrible's going to happen......." She groaned, moving her envelope in front of her, right in the obvious line of sight. She had been doing this with every possible candidate for her partner. If this.......boy, recognized the envelope, she had found her partner.

Of course she would have quite the problem, if he was her partner..... He looked so wimpy, with the build of a cowardly mage, or sneaky assassin bastard. She would not have fun dealing with this boy...... "We can't assume.....t-the worst, ol' girl...." she slurred, her eyes straining to keep focus on the slightly out-of-place boy. Arturia rested her elbow on the table, looking down again at her envelope. "Would....be rather nice to find my partner though......be lying if I said that this envelope..." she stressed out the word envelope, swirling her glass around, "...hadn't caught my interest."
 
Otto stared in a mixture of both shock and disappointment at the sight before him. He was hoping, that maybe his partner would be someone who looked strong and could break boulders between their fingers. Not this drunkard woman! He wanted to turn and run away, or maybe pretend he didn't see her. But this wasn't what he imagined. He sighed inwardly, quickly making his way over to sit beside his would-be partner.

"A-Are you..." He raised his envelope to be in her line of sight. She groaned loudly, causing him to jump back. She looked over to him, her eyebrows raised. Obviously she was probably a little drunk. "You're the partner, huh?" She raised her own envelope as well. Otto tried to give her a slight smile, then nodded. She stood, leaving a tip for the bar keep. "Then let's go."
 
There was nothing that could be done for it, Arturia was stuck with the lanky little boy for a partner. "We Need To-....." she caught herself as her voice began to rise, "We should get outside, and check out these envelopes." She led the way, hoping that she wasn't stumbling in front of her new "partner." She turned back to the boy, "My name is Arturia, ask away if you have problems. We're going outside because these envelopes could have confidential info......" she snarled as she looked around, "......And we don't want any competition or opposition."

She got to the door, clutching her envelope tightly in her hand. The looked back to the boy, still somewhat dissatisfied with his small stature. Or maybe she was too drunk to notice anything else. He probably had good skills. There was no reason to assume the worse. Great, I've gone back to being a sentimental drunk....we have to get into open air. Head swimming, Arturia led the youth outside, the dawning sky setting Lazulis City into a gorgeous twilight. There were still people out on the streets too. Taking a deep breathe, she growled, "You have some place where we can talk in private, kid?"
 
Otto slightly jumped back, and averted the elder's gaze. "I know...a place." He said quietly, stuffing the envelope into his pocket. He walked pass Arturia, and remembered. "My name's Otto. It's nice to meet you." He muttered. He couldn't forget his manners, after all. Walking ahead, he waited for Arturia to follow behind. Which she did, begrudgingly. He made his way easily through the tides of people, almost like a ghost. Many would believe him an assassin, but he's not ruthless enough for something like that. Every so often, he would turn around to see if Arturia was still behind him.

He didn't want to lose his partner to the crowd, right? Finally, they made their way into the one place he knew no one would over hear their conversation: His Lazulis apartment. He quickly unlocked the door, and then rushed inside. Aruturiaa sluggishly followed behind him. What had she been drinking. "This is a good place..." He said, gesturing for her to sit down so they could speak. He fished out the envelope from his pocket, and also sat down across from her. "Now about this..."
 
"You have the money to buy your own place?....Damn-...Ah, about the envelopes, we should open them up. See what we're doing. Find out what's going on...." She shut her mouth tightly, "Well.....here goes." And with slight resignation, she took out a small blade, ignoring the look she was being given and opened her envelope.

It read:
To Lady Arturia Felas,
For your latest mission, we have assigned you a partner. This mission is not one you can work out alone. You'll need him as much as he'll need you. As you know, at the end of Seina , when the sun is high in the sky on the Solstice Festival's end, the nation of Agos has threatened destruction on Fjorn. It would seem that to add insult to the massive injury, Agosian spies have gone into the capital Castle Jiskista and stolen the young prince and heir, Prince Aaron Jiskista.

Arturia's read over that part, again and again. The prince had been kidnapped? The prince, of the entire country? Gone? What in the hell were these people doing with their lives?! He was the only heir to the Emperor, you'd think they'd have better security!! The letter continued on, an though Arturia was officially done with this, she knew she'd miss something important if she didn't continue. And sure enough it continued to say:

Please be cautious with this information. There are those in this country who wouldn't mind the prince disappearing. Please only trust your partner. We have few allies, and there may be spies in the house of Jiskista. GO, you have a limited amount of time in which to complete your mission. We are entrusting you and Sir Otto with the life of the Prince, and the lives of the Fjorn people.
~Thank You,
Lord Sirvio of Castle Jiskista
 
Otto stared at his partner in silence and shock. How could the prince have been stolen? There's no way that they just happened to be threatened by another country and not keep watch of their royals. That didn't make any since. He continued to think deeply until Arturia cleared her throat, catching his attention. He looked over to her. "Sorry..."He opened his own envelope and read aloud:

Sir Octavius Risas,

As you have hopefully heard already, Prince Aaron Jiskista, has been kidnapped by Agosian spies. We have entrusted you and Lady Arturia to retrieve the young lord and help the two countries from warring, all before the Seina Solstice Festival. We have heard rumors of the prince being kept in the city of Heloa in Agos. Please save our young lord and, with the help of you partner, prevent another war between the two countries. Time is of the essence, but please be careful.

We shall all be awaiting both yours, and the princes' safe return.

~Lord Sirvio of Castle Jiskista.

Otto glared at the letter in his hand, almost hoping that it would burn into a million pieces. Why? Why did they have to go the the rival country, and not some of the best knights the country of Fjord has ever known? He growled lowly. It doesn't matter know. We just need to do our job. Looking over to Arturia, he tilted his head to the side. "Are you ready to go? It's gonna be a while to get to Agos." Especially, with the 'crossing the border' part...
 
Arturia was angry, and it wasn't helping considering the buzz of drink had not been completely eradicated by fresh air. She flipped her hair behind her ear. "We don't have much of a choice. Unless you want to go all the way to the capital Castle, and demand that they find their own damn prince?" Not even waiting for the boy to respond, she stood stretching out her hands, back and shoulders until they popped. Snorting she turned back to Otto, "We'll need transportation, and fast, You know Lazulis City isn't very well known for their water travel...." She looked around, walking to the nearest window of the small apartment and opening it.

Down below them, she could see most of the city, and they had carts, pristine roads, rich-looking people...... None of which could get them to Heloa. But, if they played their cards right.... She jerked around fast, sending a dangerous glare in Otto's direction. "I know a guy, or.....knew a guy who worked with some people on some pretty experimental stuff. If we can find them. They could help us get to Heloa easy. We wouldn't even have to cross the border physically." She smirked, if the old scaly-wag hadn't bailed after their last mission together....... nodding she began to walk towards the door, "C'mon then Ottoman! We've got fish to fry!"
 
Otto wasn't sure he like where they were going. It wasn't like he didn't trust his partner's judgement. It's just that Arturia still seemed a little buzzed. She probably didn't have her head on straight at the moment. And if they wasted time, well the mission would be ruined. While he did want to leave without any sort of hassle. At the same time, he didn't want to do anything illegal, which is exactly what it seemed like they were going to do. He bit his lower lip. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, he began to convince himself, I mean the kingdom chose her so she wouldn't do anything illegal.

He took a deep breath. In the end, it doesn't really matter anyways. As long as they saved the prince. He threw his hands behind his back, and then sped up his pace. As long as it wasn't illegal. He couldn't stand it if it was illegal. He looked around, letting his thoughts wander. I wonder who's going to help us out?
 
The old man would've been home by now. And if he wasn't, well.....his little girl would be willing to let them into the study. She smiled devilishly, it was too easy, this mission would be over soon enough. She took a glance behind her, the young boy- Otto, was looking around like they were gonna break in somewhere. She laughed, leading the two of them downtown, through crowds upon crowds of people, the stars were just peaking in the night sky.

Arturia led them into a large lot, filled with metals, scraps, and unfinished metal do-hickies. The place gave off the impression that quite a few people had either died or been seriously injured here. There was a rough-looking, built, muscular man with greenish hair and bright brown eyes. He had some ski goggles and fire proof gloves on. He looked up at the sight of them. "O ho ho~! Girl-o! Tis been a while o' hadn't it tho~!" Arturia nodded, turning her body so that Otto could see the scarred man as well, "Aye, how've you been, Lovi? Might be needing your skills once again."

The man, Lovi, sent a somewhat suspicious look in her direction. "Now, Girl-o, Y'know I can't be helpin' ya out wit yer illegal dealings! I got a family ta think fer!" Arturia shook her head, "Never again, Lovi. I was in a bad place......" Arturia trailed off, not wanting to start up personal conversations with some stranger present. "Lovi, are you still working on those flying deathtraps?" she said, changing the subject with a half-drunken chipper smile. The man got up from his station, "Why don't ya come inside, and we'll have ourselves a looksie~!"
 
Otto couldn't stop smiling. Honestly, his cheeks were starting to hurt because of the old man, Lovi. He was nothing that the boy expected. The whole area seemed to be a lot brighter than he had imagined. So he stayed silent, and smiled. "Ya might be a tired. Take a seat, lad." He gestured, in the mess of his home, to a tiny chair near the entrance, which Otto gladly sat in. He looked round the room, which was just as messy and clustered as the outside. The only difference was that there was a roof.

Lovi and Arturia walked over to a different corner of the house while Otto wasn't looking, so he continued to look around. All the wonderful little doo-dads in every corner of the house. It was strange to think that there was any living space whatsoever. He heard a voice behind him. "Who 'r you, n'er do well?" He heard a soft voice behind him. Turning around quickly, he spotted child that matched her the old man. Green hair pulled into a tiny ponytail a top her head, and giant brown eyes. "Who 'r you?" She asked again, putting her arms on her tiny frame. Otto gave an awkward smile, "I'm here with Miss Arturia." He said politely. The girls' eyes widened immensely. "Oh! Arty-Girl O's here! Right now, eh~?" She grabbed his arm and dragged him through the home.

"She's probably lookin' with me pops on one o' his machine doohickeys, yeah?" She said with a grin. "Let's go 'n fine 'er!"
 
Arturia was delighted that the old man hand't strayed in the slightest, "So, Lovi.......are you willing to help us out?" Lovi, with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, let out a hearty laugh, "Ya haven't said a thing about ma' little one, not since ya' been bargin' in here! What if she were sick, the little heart?" Arturia sighed, Lovi, though he was a helpful man, often dragged the life out of her. " I saw the little angel when we walked over here. She's gotten really big! Now about your work, Lovi-" The man walked away abruptly, once again heading ahead of her. ARturia snarled, trying her best to not show her souring temper. The man was happy to see her, but he also didn't want her here.

"Ya also haven't said not a thing 'bout what ye be needin' ma work fer, Girl-O~! How do I know ya ain't double crossin'' me, eh?" He said, though he didn't openly threaten here, his hand was lying dangerously close to one of the small oak wooden drawers in his hallway. All of which were filled with weapons and dangerous tools. "You haven't exactly given me any reason to think you wouldn't double cross me, either Lovi." She stated, backing up a small ways, ready to fight her way out if that became necessary. " I know yer types, Girl-O. Yer Mercs 'n Berserks......'ve got ma own ta look out fer." Arturia glared at him, "So you let me in your home to argue? You already mentioned your daughter, and I'm not hurting you!" she growled angrily.

It was amazing how easily the air around the two of them had switched, into a more hostile lucid air. Arturia shifted back into a more civil stance, "I can't be telling you all the details, Lovi. But we'll both be......better off if you just help us out and send us away. I would never hurt you or Sari......" Lovi almost began to argue again, but he could here what Arturia heard. His little girl, Sari and Otto striking up a conversation in the other room. Lovi stubbornly set a blank expression on his face, "Fine then, but if this is just like the other time, there will be no-"

"I'm not like that person anymore.......I am nothing but a person who desperately needs an experimental air vessel."
 
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Sari was more of a delight than she initially let on. Otto was having a wonderful time as she spoke about all sorts of the contraptions that her dad made. Seeing someone so full of life like that, it made Otto happy. He couldn't be like that with his dad. He looked downcast, which caught the tiny girl's attention. "Yer not listenin' to m' story, boy-o!" She said, punching him in the arm. Otto flinched. "Sorry, Sari." He apologized quietly. She gave a curt grin. "Tis be fine, you just nee t' listen t' me story!" Otto nodded. "Right, I was thinking." She tilted her head sideways.

"What'cha here fer, anyways boy-o?" She folded her arms over her chest. "You in somethin' illegal., cuz me pops don't do that stuff." She warned. Otto shook his head. "No! Nothing like that! Don't be ridiculous!" She settled down. "Good. Yer a nice kid. Be a shame if me pops would hafta waste ya." Otto smiled weakly. "A real shame..." Sari nodded in self-conformation. "So, whadya here fer?" Otto looked up, "I don't think I can tell you. It's...really top secret."

Sari's eyes widened. "Yer an assassin!! Do ya kill bad guys n' stuff!" Otto snorted, confusing the little girl. "No, I can't do anything like that!" He looked around the room. "But we do need to be going..." Sari tilted her head sideways as Otto paused. "We have a time limit..." She stood and walked past Otto. "Pops! The boy-o needs to go!! He's gotta assassinate some bad guys, yeah!!"
 
Arturia could've sworn that Lovi's eyes bugged out of his head at the word "assassin." What was that kid trying to do? She had just gotten past Lovi's strong barriers, and that wasn't as easy at it might've looked. He would slit their throats for deception. Quickly, she interjected, "Sari! It's been a while, hasn't it? You've gotten so big!" she smiled wide, thankful that Otto was being quiet in the background. Sari's eyes, a light brown like her father's, lit up further upon seeing her. "Ya' didn' tell me yer in t' spy business! How long ya' been killin' t' bad guys?" Arturia let out a giggle, lifting the small girl off of the ground.

"Now you know that you father doesn't well appreciate people killing people, Sari. Now it's nice to see you, but I'm in the middle of doing some business....." she turned to Otto, handing Sari off to him, "If you want you can go play 'Assassins' with my partner Ottoman. Okay?" Sari let out a high-pitch squeal, "Really? And we can kill t' bad guys for ya?" Arturia nodded, Sari jumped down from Otto's hand, and hurriedly dragged him off, trying to find some imaginary bad guy.

"So sorry about that, Lovi. I've no control over what that Ottoman tells her." Arturia stated, turning back to Lovi, who was still facing her with a blank visage. "Tis be fine Girl-O.......type o' machine would ya be lookin' fer?" Arturia looked around the empty hallways, "What do you still have in commission?" Lovi sighed, rubbing one side of his temple with his hand, "Check fer ya self." He stopped at a small unassuming for, opening it to reveal what looked eerily similar to one of those small laboratories that dark mages are so fond of.
 
Otto was becoming restless. Sari, for a child, was more energetic than any child he had ever seen! And the workshop where she lived, was definitely not the best place to play assassins. The child knew her way around the building, making her the perfect "assassin". She always caught him off guard, jumping on his back and tackling to the ground. It slightly embarrassed him. If a child could overtake, how would deal with the spies from Agos?

He laid, on his back, on the ground. While Sari kicked him on the ground. She said it was a "part o' me trainin' boy-o!" So he just laid on the ground, so he could think about what to do when he got to Agos. What if they were captured? What if the prince doesn't want to leave? What if the prince was dead? He sighed inwardly. Try to be positive, Otto. He accidentally rolled onto his side, which allowed Sari to kick him in the eye. He let out a loud scream, and brought his hands up to his eye.

Sari'e eyes widened, and she knelt beside him. "Pops!! I kicked ol' boy-o in the eyes!! He be hurtin' real bad!!" She called over Otto's wails of pain.
 
Arturia was admiring the stainless metals, they had to have been purchased from a different town...... Everything was shining and glimmering like diamonds in the rough. She had been staring over the sleek designs of the odd machineries, when a specifically beautiful shine caught her eye. It was beautiful to say the least. So oddly shaped, and with goldfish colored trimmings.... Arturia couldn't believe it. It was a large steel cabin, with a golden colored deck on it, with two sleek golden wings resting at its sides and a third wing-fin on the top to guide it along. "Dear Goddess Fjorn......" she breathed, when her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by an ear-shattering scream. "What?!"

Lovi, who had been watching Arturia admire his work, quickly jumped to action, especially when he heard a familiar call, "Pops!! I kicked ol' boy-o in the eyes!! He be hurtin' real bad, tho!!" Arturia almost cried out herself. It was part-ways because she didn't want to see what her somewhat wimpy partner was doing. The other part was not wanting to leave the beautiful vessel that she had officially decided to claim. She took off behind Lovi, getting ready for whatever happened. When they finally found the scene of the accident, they were somewhat aghast to find Otto holding his face tightly, yelling. And Sari at quite a lost as to what to do.

"What has his idiot done now.......?" Arturia muttered, walking over cautiously, she reached a hand out to offer to Otto. "Ottoman, are you alright, are you going to die?.....because if not, get up. You're scaring Sari and Lovi, and we're about to leave."
 
Otto squeezed his eyes shut tightly. Upon hearing his partner's voice, he turned his head towards her voice. "Arturia?" He asked. He felt something move over his body. He forced himself to sit up. Why would she something as rude as that? Did she not know that Sari had nothing short of an iron foot? He opened his left eye, the one that wasn't kicked. His vision was slightly foggy, but he could tell. It was Arturia, sitting in front of him with a bored look on her face. Otto opened his other eye.

"I-" He paused. There was no way telling his partner that he was hurt was going to help him. She was so cruel! He turned away and cast a healing spell over his eyes. He sighed. "I'm fine. Let's go. You found a transport?" He asked. Arturia just nodded, and walked back into the other room. Rather eagerly, when he noted. He felt a ug on his sleeve. It was Sari. "I'm sorry boy-o. I didn' mean it." Otto nodded and ruffled her hair. "I know. I'm just a baby." He sad softly. He turned and followed after Arturia, "Did you find a transport?" He called out.
 
"I already told you yes, Ottoman." Arturia snapped. He was yelling out in pain so loudly, and he healed it just as quickly. Making a big fuss, and worrying both herself and Lovi! That was just plain rude. She pushed past him. "So, how about it, Lovi? You willing to let me use that beauty from earlier?" Lovi, scratching his head, a look of relief on his face, "Well yeh, 'd mighty appreciate it tho if ya returned it in one piece, tho." Arturia nodded, though she didn't exactly turn around to face him. "C'mon Ottoman!" she ordered, marching onward back to the place where the vessels were.

When they had found their way back, Arturia waked quickly over to the machine that had caught her heart. "That lil' beauty there 's called Starbound Destiny. She's a beaut, sure, but just as faulty as t' rest of 'em. Can't stay in t' air too long, no Girl-O. but she's a nice land vessel all t' same. I need 'er back 'n one piece, alright?" Arturia nodded again, "You've already said that, Lovi. I will bring your vessel back without injury." Otto and Sari had come in as well, so Arturia got back into her more "business-like" attitude, "We've got a mission to do Ottoman! We've wasted enough time, let's go!"

She glanced between Lovi and Sari, "And again, thank you!! I won't let you down this time!! I promise you that!" she called, boarding the Starbound Destiny with a pep in her step. She looked towards Otto, "Get on, Ottoman."
 
Otto looked at the metal giant. He gulped. "It doesn't fly in the air?" He asked the old man, Lovi. He crossed his arms and nodded. "Ay, lad." Otto nodded, and boarded the ship after Arturia. He looked over his shoulder to Sari. "We should play again, sometime." Sari raised an eyebrow. "Ya be wantin' a beatin' again? From me?" Otto laughed. "Of course! A man's gotta know humility." He returned. He turned his head back to what was in front of him, and walked into the ship, the door closing behind him.

He found Arturia, who was standing as if she owned the machine. Or as if she built it herself. Or as if she was proud of a child. He shook his head, and sat down somewhere on the ship. He looked around, and found the transport to be very impressive. "This is a beauty, what did Old man Lovi call her?"
 
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