by Harlon Banks
"There was a mention of a spiky silver-haired, pale skinned young man who helped him retrieve it in his own log report. We had a talk over the phone about that artifact, and while your name wasn't brought up on either side for security reasons it was quite clear we both knew you were the connector. He seemed quite surprised that you went from him over into my care. I at the same time was surprised by how he praised this 'hidden potential' he sensed in the two people he hired." She chuckled pulling away from him and pacing about. Jonath scowling slightly in annoyance, it's like everyone were playing with him like he were a board game piece. Min had figured it out, Jonath didn't know why he thought he'd be able to stay under the radar.
Though from what it sounds like, neither Jeremy nor Wren told Min much of anything about Liariana and that she had tried to kill him. At least they had some sense of restraint, specifically Wren. Hopping back up on the edge of the stage and getting comfortable, Min crossed her legs over one another and leaned back with palms swept behind her for support. Head swaying away black bangs of hair from her slender features as she then continued.
"So, kid, you've been to similar ruins like the ones I plan to send some of you to explore soon. Got your feet wet and had some real experience in the field doing contracted jobs like this; I'd personally say already that experience alone makes you a bit more useful for this type of expedition."
Jonath furrowed a brow at her, what did she mean by that?
"As far as I'm aware there's only one other Nightborn here who has actually undergone jobs like this beforehand in their history. The rest, while skilled never have done things on this level of importance hence they have for the most part lower rankings. Experience plays just as big a part as book smarts and combat prowess." She chuckled taking a small breath as Jonath awaited the punchline. The moonlight being obscured by more clouds blanketing the facility in temporary darkness until the backlights activated.
"Kelgard Crimson, the guy you fought used to run with a group of defective mercenaries from the Group back in Luminous City. His first mission like this was at the age of fifteen, he passed it with flying colors." Min said. Jonath's eyes briefly widening, not out of true astonishment (although it was surprising news all the same) but out of underlying agitation. He already didn't like the guys attitude, even if it was well deserved. The last thing he needed to be hearing was how this guy was some prodigy Nightborn with a reputation that far exceeds people of his age normally.
"He's pretty impressive on and off the field; he was the only survivor of his group on their last mission. He still carried through and accomplished the goal too which earned him praise throughout the Group. He was even offered a place at the Royal Guard but declined due to reasons he won't tell anybody."
"What does he have to do with any of this?" The amnesic scoffed annoyed locking hands behind the nape of his head like a pillow. "Let me guess, he's that Nightborn you mentioned earlier?" He said this with a blatant eye-roll. Min snickering at his antics and nodding with a nonchalant smile.
"Aye." She answered. "He was one of the youngest mercenaries to ever be accepted by the mercenary Group and the only reason we even got our hands on him is because he one day just decided to ask us to let him in. He's basically a guaranteed member of the expedition team we're going to be sending off which leaves three others available. We have a max of four people to build a party for jobs like this unless explicitly stated otherwise. It's a simple guard duty job so four is fine. Given how that Ylrah girl is rather exceptionally gifted as well especially in terms of ambush techniques and hiding her presence she'll probably be number two of the group. That leaves two more..." She paused, looking Jonath up and down again.
"You feel like you want to be that third one?" She smiled expecting.
Jonath tensed up for the briefest moment as his eyes honed their gaze on her harder than before. Did she just offer to bypass him into keeping his Black ranking? His reaction expected by her, Min taking the time now to casually explain her reasoning.
"You survived going in the ruins once didn't you? You already stand a better chance of coming out again over the rest in my books. Those who know something firsthand always fare better than those who know nothing. If this was any other type of mission I wouldn't be offering you this but I'm giving you the say so based off your history and your connection to Wren."
Jonath couldn't really believe what he were hearing, this woman was legitimately giving him the chance to accept something of a cheat code to keep his ranking. Her reasoning, while it sounded believable and understandable to him at a glance still left him wanting more. She had to have some underlying goal to doing this; she didn't look like the person who would offer such a deal with any sort of frequency.
Regardless of her own intentions being true or not the bigger question was should Jonath take her offer or refuse it? If he said yes, he'd have a shortcut to reach Wren again and possibly have another talk, as well as try to get more answers about those ruins and why Wren insisted he come back and even be around Melissa long enough to probably get some info out of her. On the other hand it was dangerous, he still had very little control over his powers or even an understanding about most of them. It'd be like taking a gamble with the stakes being his life. If something went wrong. There was no guarantee he'd be saved again like with Liariana. He'd also be stuck with Kelgard, something about that imagery just turned him away from the entire thing.
"I don't need an answer now, you're free to think about it over the week." Min spoke after Jonath's silence dragged on for almost a half a minute. Clasping her hands together as she hopped up again and gestured her soldier guards dismiss themselves. "Tomorrow everyone will be allowed to leave the facility grounds and visit their homes and whatnot, you can go ask your old man on what to do if you want. Or go see Wren yourself and poke his brain about it before you give me an answer. Think about it yeah?"
Min walked past Jonath while lightly squeezing his shoulder, her soldiers following without looking at him. Damn, what a way to start things off. A few passing moments of silence, hands still behind head as his ghostly pale gaze looked skyward at the return of the full moon beyond the clouds, Jonath just stared in silence.
He had a week to think it over... He'll worry about it later.
Sinister Awakenings
The Challenger Chapter Forty-Three: Sinister Awakenings
"Kynerva, huh? Such an interesting land..."
A woman's voice, calm and curious chimed out from under a hood that obscured the bulk of her features as she sat atop the edge of a rooftop by her lonesome. The dark colored building they were atop somewhere in the Worker's District and shrouded in the shadow of a taller structure nearby, hiding away their visage from those walking below. From what could be made out of this woman's appearance was that she was tall. Very long, spiky disheveled black hair that trailed to below the knees draped over a noticeable bust, her hips and waist curves prominent with slender muscled arms and long legs garbed in all black. Her lips twisting into an impatient scowl as she slumped over.
Strapped to her back was what appeared to be an eastern blade, perhaps a katana. Except this one was different, for there looked to be a smaller blade about the length of a tanto fused at the hilt, the edge facing the opposite way of the katana blade. A two in one blade from the far east, how strange. Hands reaching up to grip the opposite ends of her hood and pull it gingerly off her head revealing eerily familiar eastern features. She was an older woman, maybe mid to late twenties given her aesthetic. She had a lot of hair, her bangs hanging heavily off her forehead and asymmetrical, favoring the right as they parted down the center and brushed over the crest of her right eye and framing her face stopping below the ribs. Her eyes an intimidating and profound shade of red. Her pupils thinned out like a voracious predator's as they eyed over the civilians disinterested below.
The only mar across her beautiful skin was the long, thin scar that ran across her throat diagonally. As if someone had tried to murder her some time
ago and that wound was a testament of their failure. For what reason, does this beautiful stranger watch over this shrouded in moonlight city? Her gaze slowly turned skyward, taking in the view of the building that cast its shadow on her with a bit of annoyance in her sinister eyes. Such an ill placed building ruining her view of the Diurnal District. That's where she wanted to be right now...
Raising her legs from dangling off the edge with a quiet sigh as a breeze billowed through her beautiful hair, the mysterious stranger stood up and arched her back in a stretch. Her long legs distributing her weight more to the right as arms reached to the heavens and her head leaned back with closed eyes and a deep inhale. Such great air this eternal night had, much different from the dry, morbid winds her homeland had over the recent years. Her animalistic eyes opened back up again to take in the moonlight, that gaze of hers and her features in general strangely familiar yet completely foreign all the same.
"Ahh..." She gently huffed lowering her hands back to the confines of her cloak and popped her neck satisfied. "That's enough sight seeing; it's almost time to go to work."
She stood on the very edge of the building looking down, and that was quite a drop, despite her features looking unfazed. Her open toed boots teetering to and from as if she were contemplating jumping off like some mad woman. An unsettling chuckle escaping her throat as her eyes seemed all the more ecstatic the longer she thought about it. She couldn't wait, she couldn't wait for any longer to do what was coming. It was unbearable. Before she could do what she wanted, however, she had to carry out the job she promised the others. Eyes looking back up at the building that blocked her view of the Diurnal District with yet another irritated glare that bordered on the lines of a psychopath. Then she calmed down, just as quick as she grew mad.
Oh well, just a little longer. She'd come this far on her hunt, what's the pain of staving off that bloodthirst for just a little longer? It'll make the family reunion all the more intoxicating. So much more intoxicating.
There was a vibrating and a beeping noise coming from the phone in her back pocket. The woman withdrawing a blood red smartphone and eyeing the screen ID with a blank face. Stepping backwards back on the roof she accepted the call and brought the phone up to her ear as she turned to walk away. Her voice soft and casual as she greeted the person.
"What do you want, I'm busy? She said more as a rhetorical over an actual question. The masculine voice that responded was rather light on the baritone.
"That's not a nice way to speak to your allies. Especially since we're helping you out in the long run. Such a beautiful woman shouldn't be so rude." The stranger chuckled over the phone not actually bothered by her abrasive hello. The woman looking up at the sky again with calm, eerie red eyes as another breeze blew her bangs across her face briefly masking away her right eye before they settled again. Her gaze then lowering and starting off to the side as she rested her free hand on the curve of her hip with a disinterested scoff.
"I won't ask again, what do you want?" She said with a cold, demanding voice. A heavy sigh being heard over the phone as the man she was talking to cleared his throat and replied with a cordial tone of his own. The woman stopping her walk to listen.
"I was just informing you that we've finally found the means to deal with those pesky towers. We just need you to acquire one more small little relic for us and we can synthesize the proper catalyst to reject the effects of that insufferable Lazarite. I reckon you are capable of handling such a task by your lonesome yes? Our other associates must be needed elsewhere to make this all go smoothly."
The woman's soft glowing red eyes seemed to sharpen in their gaze as she heard the news. Her lips thinning into an ominous smirk as slit pupils glazed over the city of Luminous before her. That was good news, her excitement only seemed to grow more and more at this point. That sinister show of happiness sudden faded away in favor of a more serious stare as she stood alone on the roof.
"So once I get this artifact you speak of our contract will be complete? There's a certain someone I came to have a little reunion with; I need to catch her before she realizes I'm here and tries to run again."
There was another pause over the phone...
"Ah, yes." The man finally answered after some delay. "Make no mistake we are aware of your personal motives. Once you have given us the last relic we seek you are free to terminate your deal with us if you so wish it. I do however, strongly suggest that you reconsider staying with our organization. Over the past year you have been a significant, and treasured ally of ours and we would be fully prepared to indict you to our inner circle should you agree and give you whatever it is you so desire." He spoke with high regard in his tone. The woman narrowing her eyes in thought, pale features showing a bit of apathy for his words but also a sliver of consideration.
"Tell me what it is I'm getting and how to go about getting it." She replied while turning to walk towards the edge of the roof again. "The quicker we get this done the sooner I can consider your offer."
If only she saw the sly smirk that came across that man's features from though the phone when she said that. He managed to plant the seeds of curiosity within her, that was all he had hoped for.
"Wonderful, I'm sending you an information packet that'll have everything you need to know about where you're going and what you're retrieving. Feel free to go about completing this task at your own discretion. I have the utmost faith in your skills."
Clearing his throat, the man could be heard shuffling about before another notification popped up on her phone. The beeping noise causing her to lower it from her ear and examine the bright screen with analytical eyes. Her stare and unmoving one as it looked over the contents she had just received. Putting the phone back to her ear the young woman reached around her head with the other hand and pulled the hood back over masking her features.
"As you wish." She responded before hanging up the phone and stashing it away in the confines of her cloak. Her boots balancing her tall figure on the very edge of the roof, back facing the long drop down as her gaze turned skyward again with a brief longing expression to her eyes. A land cursed by an ever lasting night, just one of the many mysteries that wafted in her mind. The longer she stared at the moon, with the breezes of the city blowing her cloak and long black hair in the wind; the more and more she began to think about a certain someone whom she'd tracked across an ocean to find. Those red eyes and their empty glare colder than even her own when she compared their gaze to her own.
"It's almost time for us to meet again, after so long..." She said to herself in a foreboding yet serene voice as she stared at the large, full moon. Her right hand rising to gingerly trace the scar across her throat that marred her beauty. Primordial red eyes narrowing in cold disgust and vengeful wanting. Her voice now ice cold with purpose.
"I'll make sure that this will be a reunion you'll never forget, little sister." Her words were laced with subtle venom, and she fell backwards off the side of the building down several stories to the street below. Her landing was silent as the grave, body completely unharmed from the fall as she stood from her crouched position and disappeared into the shadows of the night.
Meanwhile...
Knock knock knock!
Liariana looked up from her criss crossed position in her room, having been tending to her bandages that wrapped her arms and chest before hand. Red eyes peering through bangs of black from the dark corner of her room as the moonlight shone through the lone window onto the door. Jack's voice soon echoing through the stale air with happy tone as he pushed open the crudely closed door with a grunt.
"Yo Izu! Got my hands on something I think you'd really like." He chuckled with clearer features and a beard that looked significantly more taken care of than the last time she'd seen him. The Yelkath blinking surprised at his cleaner appearance, tilting her head as he stepped in carrying a parcel wrapped in black fabrics while he wore a brand-new trench coat and undershirt with dark pants. Onyx eyes peering down at her as she
turned on the small lantern at her side and illuminated the room with its dim glow, her gaze looking towards what was in his hand. When he plopped down and set the 'gift' before her she noticed he had sat on his knees with hands on thighs as if imitating traditions she noted from home. The bow that followed made her blink in curiosity.
"I heavily apologize if this is disrespectful in your culture but I wanted to try and make you feel a bit more at home for when you check this out. I went out, and using my prestigious underground hobo connections got my hands on something I think you'll greatly love." He sounded cheery and proud as he said this, that wide smile of his stunning Liariana with its warmth as she couldn't do anything else but stare at him in vague surprise. Her head tilting downwards, Jack pushing the wrapped present towards her with both hands and gesturing she hurries and unwraps it. Hesitating for but a moment, she eventually extended her left hand out, her limb wrapped in bandages from the base of the fingers all the way to the chest. Exposed fingers hovering over the fabric before grasping it as her other wrapped hand reached forward as well to assist in unwrapping it.
