The Otherworldly Traveler

[Zen]

It was a mistake, a miscalculation. That had to be the reason why Frostbite was in this mess in the first place. She knew Taiken would never intentionally get her captured, but for the man to make a mistake, for him to be surprised like that… Well that just never happened.

And look at where that had gotten her.

Shackled spread eagle against the wall was a tall, lithe woman. With cheek bones that could cut glass, and hair as golden as the sun the woman should have been on the runway. Instead she was bound against her will in a steel room. Grates made up the floor, gathering rust, blood, urine, and feces like stalactites in a cave. Obviously Frostbite wasn't the only one who inhabited this cage.

Breaking out on her own was out of the question. The shackles pulsed with an eerie purplish glow, stifling her mana and preventing her from casting any sort of spell. And despite her toned form, there was no possible way for her to break through the shackles; they were too thick and were drilled into the steel wall.

But that didn't stop her from trying.

Long cuts appeared across her wrist, skin torn open from the shackles. Blood ran in rivulets down her pale arms where they dripped onto the grate floor. (Where those droplets went to Frostbite wasn't certain. All was dark underneath). Her heart rate climbed, her chest constricted, panic was settling in.

There was a hiss, and the door slid open. Light pooled into the room.

Three figures strode in, two cloaked, and the other crisply dressed in a white lab coat. Frostbite narrowed her sapphire eyes on him.

"Well, I never thought our attacker would be a woman." He sounded surprised, but a smirk pulled at those blue tinted lips. "You can leave me. It looks like she won't be giving me any trouble."

His cronies left obediently. Frostbite tried to peer out the door but the light was too far intense for to make anything out. In seconds the room returned to her dimly lit cage.

"Now, let's get to know each other." He announced, clapping his hands together. "I am Ethan Harrow, Director of the Experimental Sector of Aether Industries."

"I know who you are," Frostbite said hollowly, eyes grim.

"Oh you do?" he replied in delighted tones. "So you know exactly what is going to happen next?"

She struggled once more against the shackles. All it did was draw more blood.

Mr. Harrow withdrew a pair of latex gloves from his lab coat and put them on with a resounding snap. His tone was casual, almost playful. "You know, they say that ignorance is bliss. Others tend to disagree. They say that ignorance is a plague that must be remedied. What are your opinions Miss…?"

"Like hell I'm going to give you my name."

"Very well. I'll have it from you in due time. But identities aside, what is your opinion?"

"I'm of the opinion that you should let me go so I can beat your face into a bloody pulp," she said between clenched teeth.

"Tsk, tsk. Temper, temper. That'll raise your blood pressure my dear, I have no doubt about that."

Cold, slender fingers clamped Frostbite's chin, forcing her to look into the man's face. He had handsome features, handsome and sensual, but cruel. She saw it in his eyes, saw how they lacked depth and compassion. He was analyzing her like a robot would, turning and twisting her head.

"You're a rather pretty thing. Makes me wonder how you got tied into this mess of destroying our inventory. You've cost us a fortune."

Her retort died on her lips as the man stepped back and withdrew a needle and vial from his pockets.

"Well if you know who I am, I see no need to prolong this any longer." The needled sucked up whatever mysterious liquid existed in the vial. "The pain will stop once you've answered my questions. So we will start off with a simple one. Who are you working for?"

She swallowed her fear. Fists clenched in anticipation.

"Go fuck yourself. I'm not telling you anything."

His toothy smile sent shivers down her spine. "That's what they all say."

 

[gaebolg]

Her head was pounding. Harriet had been out last night, dancing at some pretentious club that served their alcohol in wine glasses. Someone had recognised her and bought her a shot in her honor. " It would be rude to turn them down" was the excuse she used. This wasn't the first time it had happened, far from it, but she always managed to find her way home. Where was she now?
A wall, that's all she could see. A brick wall that she was apparently laying up against. The soft roar of cars murmured in the distance, with the occasional blast of a horn that sounded fairly close. She wanted to get up, but dreaded the thought. That is when the headache would get worse.

Mentally, Harriet made a checklist of her body and clothes. She tapped around with her hand without moving her head. Frilly blouse: check. Black leggings which are doing nothing to warm her up: check. Black work boots, the only sensible thing she had worn: check. She had used her jacket as a blanket at some point, which was good, her face was freezing.
Several especially loud horn blasts coming from a car close by acted as an alarm. Mainly because it wouldn't shut the fuck up, as if it was her subconscious telling her to stand up. She sighed and in movements that would be graceful only to a three year old, she managed to pick her self up. The pounding began anew, the headache before had merely been polite tapping in her head. She let out an audible groan.

An alleyway, wonderful. How she got here was surely a hilarious story. Taking baby steps at first, she inched her way through the backstreet. She took a beep breath, thought of the tylonal and water and used it as motivation to walk at a normal pace. She emerged onto a busy street.
She couldn't believe her eyes, she had been drinking at a decent size town in Maine, but what lied before ( and above) her was a massive city. Her first thought was New York city. Though how she traveled hundreds of miles without remembering it was a mystery. That idea was shot down quickly, the skyline, or what she could see, was completely alien to her.
The road in front of her was congested, which was the source of the honking, and the side walk was filled with people going to a fro. She zipped up her jacket and felt a bump inside one of the pockets, it was her phone. In all the excitement of waking up in an alleyway hung over she hadn't thought to check it. She whipped it out and unlocked it with a swipe. No service... what city could she be in that has no cell coverage?

There were a few texts , none of them really helped. There were pictures taken with random people with her face red with intoxication staring back at her. She slipped the phone back in her pocket , adjusted herself, and began walking in no particular direction. Hoping to find a pharmacy or convenience store.
She came across a newsstand, the headlines were all gibberish to her. The stand was being operated by a balding man that looked to be in his late forties. She was glad her smooth black hair always looked presentable , even without her taking care of it, though it did feel disgusting right now. Her eyes met his, and her mouth stood agape for a moment while she was trying to think of a non-ridiculous way to ask where she was.

"Can I help you miss?" He had some kind of strange accent, Harriet couldn't place exactly where it was suppose to be from, but she almost burst out laughing. She did manage to crack a smile.

"Uhh, where am I?" Obviously all that thinking was for nothing.

" Broadway and fifth" The man said as if that would cause her to have a locational apiphany.

" I meant... what city." She winced at the sound her asking that question.

"Rios..." He said with a raised eyebrow.

"Rios?" Her head was swimming, was this guy messing with her? Can he tell she is hung over and is trying to be funny? "South ...America?" She said with a crooked smile, hoping to be in on the joke
.
The man looked incredibly confused. "uh, no. North Shenzing".

"Shenzing would be the... country?" She said , trying to keep up her smile.

"Uh, yep. That's where we are." The man scratched his forehead, this lady wasn't making any sense to him.

They sat in silence for a few moments looking at each other before Harriet blurted out "thanksforthehelp bye!" and started to walk away before she remembered something.

"Oh! Do you have any Tylenol?" She said dragging herself back in front of the confused man.

"I'm sorry I don't know what that is."

"Ibuprofen? motrin? Acetaminophen? " She said getting more desperate with each word, the bright sun killing her causing her to squint , making the headache even worse.

"Nope, nope and what?" The man rubbed his temple, he was beginning to get a headache of his own from this strange woman.

"Pain killers, do you have any pain killers?!" Her hands were firmly planted on the counter top. She mouthed the word please, blinking her strikingly blue eyes several times.

"Oh, uh yeah, I got some (unintelligible) right here." He pulled out the pill bottle and placed it on the counter, hoping this was what she meant. He felt bad for the obviously confused lady.

"Sure, that's fine, whatever. How much?" She pulled her wallet out from the other jacket pocket and began counting her money.

"Five sovereign please"

Sovereigns? What the hell are those? She pulled out five ones and placed them on the counter. "I have... dollars"

The man looked at the strange green paper wide eyed and then back up to the woman."What the hell is th... here just take it "

"Thanks a lot." She said, hastily picking up the the pill bottle and opening it. "You wouldn't happen to have any..."

The man placed a small cold water bottle on the counter and nodded at her. "Don't mention it." A couple bucks to help out this girl would be worth it, he could call it hi good deed for the year. Also, it was worth it to get rid of her.

Harriet stuffed three of the pills in her mouth and took a huge swig of the water, downing all of them at once. Finishing off the water bottle, she tossed it into a trash bin. She sighed and prayed the pills would go into effect soon so she could figure what the hell she got herself into.

 

[Zen]

Frostbite thought it was an exotic venom, something that would slowly kill her. She wasn't sure what it was rushing through her system, but she was right about the slowly killing her part. Her wrists and ankles were becoming numb, and faint blue outlines appeared where the shackles cut into her pale skin. Frostbite wasn't sure how long it had been since he had given her the injections. She had fought hard as he stabbed the needle through her arms and legs, nearly whimpered as he wiggled the thin metal against her skin. Then he left her cage, retrieved a stool and sat there with his elbows on his knees, fingers steepled.

She issued a faint groan.

"Would you like to know what I gave you?" The cruel man asked. He retrieved the vial and gave it a shake. She heard the contents slosh around, red bubbles frothing near the lid.

"What does it matter?" she breathed. "When I'm dead, I'm dead."

"How right you are," he replied, tucking the vial back into his coat. "Do you have any last words before you die? Something to impart upon those looking for you?"

"No. I don't."

"Pity. We will return your corpse to them, as a message, you see."

"You can't kill me that easily."

"That's what your spirit says." He rose, his white lab coat sweeping the floor like a cloak. "But your body says otherwise. I'd give your body another hour before you're in real danger, so I'll make you a deal. I'll give you the antidote if you give me some information."

Frostbite tried to move her toes, her fingers -- anything -- but all she felt were pins and needles, akin to what happened when her limbs fell asleep. Her digits moved, but slowly and with agonizing pain. The blue tinge was steadily growing in size, encompassing both of her hands and climbing up her ankles.

"What did you give me?" she demanded.

"Poison," he said simply, hands out spread.

Frostbite hesitated. "And you'll give me the antidote if I give you information? Any information?"

"So long as it is information that my employers will deem useful."

She wouldn't rat out Taiken, not if her life depended on it. He was doing this damn thing on his own; she wouldn't let herself muck it up. If she were more courageous she would have let herself die, but fear was encasing her in its icy grip. Frostbite exhaled deeply, her head resting defeatedly against the steel walls.

"My name is Samantha Wilcox."