Orichalcus: Another Realm

Talia takes a sip of the coffee.  "Mmm.  Excellent."  She takes a glance at the newspaper and chuckles at the headline.  "He double-crossed me, and I was supposed to be the one that seat.  I simply did what was necessary to survive.  Still, I thank you for the compliment."

Irving popped an eyelid open at the sound of something large and made of glass shattering just outside of the building. Screaming from a very angry lady followed. A furious male voice yelled back. Something else breaking. Something that vaguely sounded like one of them threatening the other. More yelling and something else breaking. A dog has started to bark, adding onto the commotion. Throughout it all Irving slowly pulled himself up, having slept on the couch that night, exhaled one deep, drowsy yawn, stretched his arms, and rubbed his heavy eyelids without paying a whole lot of interest in the escalating quarrel outside. Why would he? It was just another regular morning in his little slice of heaven.

It's always something.

Irving picked up the book he was reading overnight off the floor and tossed it back onto the seat as he went to go wash his face and prepare to take care of the day's problems.

-----

The small town of Alister was an okay place to live. Sure, the government of Alibab was corrupt beyond belief and the supposed law enforcement couldn't be bothered to do their job, half of the population had bloody or dark pasts that only some of them regret, it's discouraged to go to the back alleys even in the day, and there's recently been a major drug problem concerning something called Miracle, but beggars can't be choosers. The town is mostly run by the local mob: The Moretti, named after their founder. The good news is that after a change of leadership a few years back that involved some in-fighting and their previous boss having their head ripped off by someone having a bad day, they've been lending a hand. Defending the town from bandit attacks, patrolling and policing the streets, managing soup kitchens and general aide for the more-unfortuante-than-the-rest, putting away particularly bad troublemakers, making sure the water and grocery store food isn't infected, even commissioning construction of more houses, that sort of thing. They cared about the townsfolk more than their actual supposed rulers, so nobody really minds. It's far from perfect, but for a lot of people with nowhere else to go, it was a decent enough place to settle down.

There have been some headaches lately, however. Namely, another town by the name of Destria became victim of Gaia's wrath, manifested in the form of a devastating earthquake. Refugees have scattered to seek shelter among the nearby settlements, Alister among them. Now, The Moretti have had their hands full trying to provide provisions and shelter for them. A camp and a few apartment buildings had been set aside for them, but if things keep going the way they are, there's a distinct possibility that some may need to be turned away.

The leader of the Moretti, one called Irving Jailus, has his work cut out for him.

------

Irving cracked his neck as he walked through the front hall to the apartment building serving as the Moretti base of operations. A roughnecked lady jogged through the entrance and approached him. She had blond hair with bangs covering her left eye, rough features that have seen a fare share of roughhousing, a singular pearl earring on her left, and a scar over the bridge of her nose. "Boss," she said.

"Sydney," Irving nodded. "How many overnight?"

"Just three," she said. "A nun and a pair of kids. 'Parently, the last of an orphanage. Poor bastards."

"Below average," Irving said.

Hate to say it, but I hope we ain't getting much more. Rodney keeps yellin' at me about the food situation, as if I'm not worried 'bout that.

"At the camp?"

"Yeah," Sydney said. "We screened them and everything. Haven't been doin' much, the nun just seemed concerned 'bout lettin' the tykes get some shut eye. They look like they'd been walkin' for days."

"Well alright," Irving said, walking out of the building. "I'll go give 'em the official Alister welcome."

"Yer gonna mug 'em?"

"No, that's the unofficial Alister welcome. When have I ever done that?"

Sydney shrugged as she followed him out. "Ne'er too late fer a change of heart."

Libra

"You can simply call me Libra." He lifts up a paper or two, looking at a rather filled calendar. Seems Libra is a busy man. He drops them back down in place and return to Talia. "You may leave whenever you feel ready. However, I'd prefer within the next few days."

Talia drains the last of her coffee with a satisfied sigh.  "Once I've refilled my waterskins and travel rations, I'll be ready to leave immediately.  So long as these 'others' are prepared.  We can stop to purchase rope and torches along the way."

Libra

"Ah, perfect. Well, should everything turn out just fine, Crystal should be returning sometime tomorrow and you can head out with both her and Aeon. I'm sure the three of you can handle some ruins excavation just the three of you." He turns to the butler. "James? Show Talia to her room, would you?"

He bows. "Of course, Master Libra." He walks over to Talia. "Follow me, Lady Talia." He then heads over to the elevator, awaiting her in order to bring her to floor twelve.

Talia follows James to the elevator.  She pauses at the elevator to copy his bow.  "Master Libra," she says in farewell as she steps in.

The door closes and Talia's toga hit the floor almost simultaneously.  She flops onto the bed, tossing most of her gear to the floor.  She takes a long draw of whiskey and drains the rest of her waterskin, then places them aside.  She nestles into the bed and draws the blankets over herself.  It's been weeks since she's slept in a proper bed, well before making an attempt on the prince.  She gets comfortable and stops the flow of her magic.  All the exhaustion of the last month washes over her like a wave.  She immediately passes out.

She wakes up to the darkness of the middle of the night, extremely confused about where she is.  She takes a minute to remember and let her eyes adjust.  She squirms over and grabs the whiskey, chugging the rest of it as she swings out of bed.  She chokes a bit as the plush rug suddenly turns to cool stone tile.  She finishes the bottle and tosses it in a nearby bin.  She slinks out of the room and back to the foyer.  She finds a small tray of fruit waiting just outside her door.  Her stomach growls and she wastes no time digging in.

After she's satisfied herself enough to stop the hunger pains, she wanders to the window.  She stares out at the city once more, enjoying the sight of the town beneath the night sky.  She munches on an apple and lets her mind wander a bit.  Talia catches a glimpse of her reflection in the window and cranes her neck to examine herself.  She's looked better.  A lot better.  Nothing a few days of sleep and some proper food won't fix.  She shivers from the cold and decides it's time to move on.

She strolls around the floor in search of a a place to clean up.  She finds an elegant, simple bathroom without much difficulty and draws herself a hot bath.  She dozes off while soaking, suddenly snapping awake and dragging herself back to the comfort of the bed.  This time she turns her magic on herself, hypnotizing herself to fall asleep.

Crystal

Suddenly, Crystal's unbreakable eye contact is broken by flames spouting around her. She lifts a hand, blocking the stream with her hand as it spreads out, flying to the sides. Not expecting Irving's weapon, she's suddenly hit in the leg by an arcane bullet. She seems to stumble slightly, but rallies and stands back. The hand blocking the flames closes as she tosses them aside, out of her way. She reaches down with the other hand toward her bleeding leg and causes multiple thin blood needles to float out from the wound and suspend in air.

I don't know what kind of weapon that was, but the sooner I get out of here, the better.

Crystal quickly spins around, causing the blood needles to swirl around her in a motion similar to a windstorm. The rain of needles flies toward the fire spitter in front of her while her other hand tears the blood out of the armless mercenary and splays it across the ground in large puddles. Her scythes swing forward, spinning around and flying toward Irving to keep him busy and catch a break from the magick fire.

Crystal's face spreads into an evil grin as she notices the blood splattered across the ground. "Now we're playing by my rules."

Crystal

Jumping up to evade a direct hit from whatever strange weapon this mercenary was using, Crystal soon finds a mysterious gas blast upwards and surrounding her. She lands back on the ground, but stumbles slightly. "What...!?" Her wounds seem to have opened back up. Blood begins to gush out of her chest and her leg. She's effectively crippled for a short moment.

Impossible...! My magick isn't working!? I can't...! I can barely breathe without my magick to sustain me...! Rrgh...My head is pounding...But I can't die here. I WON'T die like this!

Crystal coughs, spurting out some blood from her mouth. The battle seems nearly over with that last maneuver. Some gurgling comes from the back of her throat. The sound breaks into a loud scream as her body erupts into flames.

Those standing close to Crystal are knocked backward as she rises from the ground. Her cloak burns away entirely, revealing her body and her torn clothes. She turns, eyes brightly flashing before turning a glowing red. Black markings appear on her face, reminiscent of something attempting to claw its way out of a cage. She opens her mouth to speak, her voice slightly distorted. "I was going to simply play with you a bit before taking the child, but I see that is no longer a choice." Crystal raises her hands in the air as the blood spilled on the ground follows her lead, taking the form of two large, demonic claws. One of the claws swipes at Irving, attempting to grab him while the other opens its palm, unleashing a storm of blood needles on Sydney and her fire spitting ally.