Atel scratched the back of his head nervously when Aiofe made the sidebar comment about Hellsend career opportunities. "I wouldn't say that too loud, someone might hear ya and take ya up on that..."
Haze rubbed his chin as their guide went over the hypothetical situation of the most likely course of action a scared adolescent boy would take. It made a lot of sense when he thought about: kids get scared, kids wet their pants, kids want to run back to their moms for protection. Leon didn't have his mom out here, so he'd have to find the next best thing. She even had the most probable location in mind, "You're pretty smart there, A-o-fee. Let's go!"
It was probably one of the better things that Haze and Atel heard all day: Their avoidance of the explosion sites down the street. The brothers were more than happy to follow their waitress guide as she started toward the quiet residential district. Together, they secretly wished that this whole mess would wind up just being a simple snatch-and-grab of the kid in the end.
Sergeant Alms' eyebrow twitched furiously, while the rest of his squad was dumbstruck as their bullets were deflected. Blinking didn't help the matter, as the winged mage still stood before them lacking any bullet holes. Damn power-hungry mages never ran out of dirty tricks. But good old fashioned steel and gunpowder would win this day, like it always did: That's what Connlaoth was built on-
Then the mage jumped up into the air, and whatever was to follow that setup couldn't be good. "Move! Now!" Alms yelled to his men as Tesri started his downward spiral, diving away as he did so. His men, however, were frozen with awe and fear, and didn't move in time to avoid the whirling Tesri. Soon enough, the seven soldiers where either thrown back, knocked down, or received the blunt edge of Tesri's sword upside their head.
Alms grit his teeth as he witnessed his squad get pummeled; not killed, strangely, but no less beaten down. They would have to get much more training when this was all over and they got back to the palace! No free time for a week!
It was all up to Alms now, and he knew it. If he didn't stop this crazed magic user right here and now, who would? He flipped his bayonet out, locking the blade into its place on the edge of the rifle's barrel. With that done, he sprinted quickly and thrusted at Tesri, hoping to catch him by surprise and stab him in the kidney.
Ayria perked an eyebrow when Kaite ran out of the house and began to tend to her wound. She was amazed, actually; did Seethe really listen to her? Well, it certainly was about time he recognized who was pulling most of the weight on this team! In fact, she deserved more special treatment like this more often, in her opinion. And more time off as well, as well as less time doing stupid, menial tasks that were beneath her.
"This is more like it! You're such a goddess!" exclaimed Ayria as she stretched luxuriously while her wound healed, resting her head on the pillow created by her intertwined hands. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to do manicures as well, would you? All of this rough-and-tumble business has gotten me a little worse for wear over the past few days."
Inside the house, Seethe came down the stairs with his hands in his pants pockets, looking very frustrated and angry. Reese slowly got back onto his feet, complaining heavily to himself about getting soaked from Pharzu's 'goddamn' sorcery.
Neseraph took notice of Zekial, and the present that was dropped at his feet. "That it? Did you get the sword?"
Zekial picked up the package, not paying too much heed to Neseraph, and opened it slightly. Inside was none other than Reigne's dark sword, which brought a satisfied smile to the Blood Angel's face. "Yes. We have it."
There was the sound of young, tormented female groaning inside the house. Isabella stumbled back several steps, her body contorting wildly as she did so. Her hands were shaking heavily, and she kept them pressed hard against her ears -- until her right hand slid free, and she covered her ears with her left arm and hand.
The dark circle flashed with a black light briefly.
Tendrils of gray energy began to snake their way out of her back, writhing about as they extended upward in a chaotic motion. She kept her head completely down, not looking at anything but the ground, but pulled out the oversized pistol she carried and aimed it squarely at Zekial.
"Give us the sword," said Isabella in a distant way. "Mother said only to ask nicely twice."
"What the fuck is that-" Reese started.
BANG!!!
Isabella's aim snapped supernaturally over to Reese quickly, and blasted a good chunk of his shoulder off. The Hellsend yelped in surprise and clutched his wounded shoulder as he tumbled back into the wall of the house. The shot elicited shock from Seethe and Neseraph, but most of all from Zekial, whom had seen this before.
"Damned tool..." snarled Seethe as he whipped out his own pistol and aimed it at Isabella.
"She's just a kid!" Neseraph exclaimed at the Hellsend.
"We have to go!" Zekial shouted as he bolted toward the door. Even though the door closed and locked of its own accord, the Blood Angel rammed it and broke through the wood, causing Ayria to glare at him as if he were crazy.
"Shit," Mariam cursed when the phone was hung up on the other end. She held one hand up to mouth, and cradled that arm at the elbow with her other hand as she started to think furiously. Maybe Vivante knew the way. Maybe not. Maybe they would end up asking a local on how to get to Blackbride's Way, despite how 'iffy' that might be with all the madness going on at the moment.
Either way, they didn't have much time.
Seemed like Vivante was onto something though. A start of a plan at least. Leave the extra baggage here, at least, while keeping Leon close. "Yeah, I'll get him. He's my responsibility. Do you, good sir Vivante, happen to know your way around this place? Do you have any earthly idea where she was talking a-"
Like a well-trained guard dog, Vivante was instantly onto a man that just walked into the building, pinning him against the wall in short order. No wonder Insera kept him around; Mariam was starting to wish she had her own Vivante!
Unfortunately, though, it was a false alarm. The man Vivante jacked was not a threat, but instead one of those people from the night prior. It was a lot of names and faces to take in all at once, and Mariam had to think hard to recall this one.
"Z... zaph... he's good, Vivante," Mariam managed. Then, apologetically to Zaphikel, "Sorry about that. You should really knock first though, it saves a lot of confusion, hun."
She kneeled down and once again picked up Leon's unconscious form, setting him on her shoulder with a slight grunt. "We have to go though. Diane's in trouble and we're pressed for time."
Anima dragged Insera's sleeping body into a nearby, vacant house. She picked the lock and closed the door behind herself, taking one last look at the dead guardsman in the street with a smile. It looked like a family might have recently lived here, but left for whatever reasons. Some furnishings of the house were still present, clean, and in good condition.
Like the bed in the master bedroom upstairs on the second floor, which Anima dropped Insera's body onto. She tied each leg to a bedpost tightly, leaving the rope that bound her wrists in place. When everything was ready, she broke an incense stick underneath Insera's nose, letting the fumes work their way up into her nostrils.
Insera woke coughing and gagging, her eyes watering slightly from the sharp smell of the incense. Anima smirked slightly when she was awake, and tossed the incense stick aside. She sat down on the edge of the bed, looking down at Insera with that baleful grin, and said, "We have a lot to talk about, don't we?"
Insera shook her head furiously, the events of the past several minutes working their way back into her mind past the overpowering scent of the incense. She glared up at her captor.
Anima had darkly tanned skin, and black hair down to her chin that flared outward slightly at the tips. Her eyes were red, the pupils being little slivers of black in the sea of crimson. Her smile was anything but genial, a twisted reflection in a malign mirror that harbored only lunacy. Her clothes were mostly gray, which some black and dark purple, and most prominently was a form-fitting tunic that went down to her ankles, with two side slits from the waist down.
Taking a picture out of her pocket, Anima held it up for Insera to see and asked, "Is that you?"
Insera couldn't hide the creeping surprise that found its way onto her face. She looked at the picture, taken in the twenty-first century, of herself and Neseraph exiting a bank together.
Anima had her answer. "Insera it is then. So, you've seen Neseraph after his transformation, hmm? That makes me jealous..." She discarded the picture, then leaned toward Insera while resting her elbows on the bed, asking with a wry smirk. "Do you love him?"
"Who are you?" growled Insera.
"Anima. Now don't change the subject. Do-you-love-him?" she asked again, narrowing her eyes in a coy way.
"Why would you care?" she asked defensively and suspiciously.
"Just curious. I was his first love, so I suppose I might be a little obsessive." Insera's sudden flare of rage made Anima laugh a little, then say, "Don't worry, those days are over. I need him for something entirely different now. But..."
Anima suddenly grabbed Insera by the chin and arched her head back, exposing her neck. She took out a knife and laid the cold steel on her neck, letting her feel it for a second before saying, "I said, don't change the subject. Answer the question. Do... you... love... him?"
Nazune nodded, then entrusted the device into Noubohri's hand, saying, "Alright then. Here it is. The other bomb's not far, it should be just across and a little ways down the street."
She motioned for them to follow, before bolting out of the shop and back out onto the street. The faster the last bomb was disabled, the better. She glanced to her left, searching over the heads of the increasingly sparse crowd to try and locate the building she knew from the visions. After a moment, her eyes locked onto it: The glassblower's workshop.
"There!" she exclaimed, then started in the straightest line she could toward it, weaving unseen around the populace as necessary. When she made it to the front door of the workshop, it opened without protest, unlike the previous building. Nazune stepped into the building, glancing around at the many shelves filled with glass bottles, pots, and art.
She only had a moment to look around the workshop before the back door, before obscured by shadows, opened up and the light of the day spilled in.
And through that door walked the avatar of Mother, followed closely by the bickering Alexian and Skylance.
Mother froze when her eyes locked onto Nazune, as she did too. Alexian and Skylance even stopped, both somewhat surprised that Mother's wild hunch was correct.
The workshop was silent and still for a moment.
The Angel Lindraeus landed near a clearing, well outside of the city of Reajh. He pulled his hood back up over his head, loathe to be seen and recognized by anyone but Feyda or Latira. He noticed another person far off in the distance, a woman he would guess, just standing out there on the far edge of the clearing. He didn't know what she was doing there, and didn't want to find out. He just wanted to appease Feyda's whim to come to Reajh and track down the murderer of the Brilliance Outpost, then, hopefully, leave as quickly as possible.
He frowned and crossed his arms as he waited for her and Latira, knowing full well that that may not be the case.
