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[Selena]

Selena hated open water.

The churning ocean was one of her few weaknesses. For someone who had spent most of her life underground in tunnels that hadn't changed for hundreds of years, the constant motion and total exposure of open water were more than unsettling. It made her stomach sick and put her paranoia on overdrive. Anyone with a scope could have spotted their vessel from dozens of miles away. There was no element of surprise. The sun was certainly not helping matters. In the month it had taken to cross the ocean, Selena's skin had gone from its usual pale tone to something that could actually be called.... a tan. A "healthy" glow, nothing more. Thankfully, she wouldn't have to face the sun's wrath for much longer. Selena, Chikara, and the girl known as Eliana had reached the eastern superpowers.

Selena had sailed for the river that separated Vildmark from Virrat, intending to dock on the Virratian side of the border. They were less hostile to outsiders according to the reports, and the criminal networks that dominated much of the hidden economy there would be a new sort of 'underground' for Selena to sink into. Vildmark wasn't suitable for her -- too distrusting of outsiders. Too militant. That would have been a good thing if Selena were at the top of the power hierarchy there, but just starting out? Too difficult to be worth it.

She directed the boat away from the main docks and towns she could see, heading for some rural land off to the east. They could ditch it without much trouble, and Selena wouldn't miss it at all. They had enough supplies to get them into a city. That would be far more comfortable. She'd actually have a place to hide away from prying eyes - allowing her to assess situations and attack when the timing was just right. There had to be some kind of poor saps to take advantage of. It was just a matter of --

holy shit.

A shadow passed over the boat as they neared the coast and Selena looked up to see a large silver object pass in front of the sun. A giant... balloon? But it was huge! It was some kind of flying contraption with a crew cabin - like a ship in the sky. That... that... was impossible, wasn't it? She took a look at the horizon and saw several other 'airships' floating above the land. Selena nudged Chikara's good arm, though the other one had mostly healed, and pointed at the sky.

"Look at that! What is it? You ever seen one before?" Selena paused for a moment and then came to a very determined conclusion. "I want one. That's going to be my reward for rescuing you. Get me one of those airships."

She gave chase, in a way, following the airship back to the shore. It kept on going, of course. She was forced to run aground on a white sandy beach a few miles away from what looked to be a small farming village. That was as good a place as any to bail out and head inland. Maybe they could use their wonderful good looks to get a ride into the city. ...Of course, after two months on a boat, the good looks weren't as good as they could have been.

Selena grabbed a bag containing her few belongings and jumped out onto the beach. Airship. Wanted. It was flying north. That meant she wanted to go north too.

"Come on, short-shit! Let's go! You too, kid."

[Chikara Nadir]

Chikara knew they were close to making port, but preferred to stay below deck for as long as possible whilst Selena did all the heavy work at maneuvering the beast that had swallowed them for the last few months. It wasn't that she wanted to be lazy- not with the amount of physical atrophy they'd endured already in close quarters, with only a rocky deck to practice fighting and hopes for windy days to work the ropes and sails.

The trip had taken longer than it might have if the ship were better equipped for long travel, and they had been limited in their original supplies, so they had been lucky enough to get frequent rain in their water reserve barrels and fish a couple times a week. The girl child had been none too impressed with the couple times they'd been forced to kill seabirds that settled on the boat to rest. Returning to solid land would be nothing less than a blessing for the group who had all lived the entirety of their existences inland until now, especially for the former Labyrinth dwellers. The only major experience Chikara had ever had with water was when they fought to abate damage from the great flood of their domain as an attempt to destroy it, many years ago. She was not a fan.

But the one thing the runaway queen was utterly and hopelessly in loathe with…was sunlight. Especially in high doses. There were innumerable perks to being head of Koridai, not the least of which included NOT being forced to go out into the desert, especially without full robes or a covered palanquin. Thus why Chikara was perfectly content with saying under the deck for as long as possible, packing up whatever of their possessions were worth keeping while on foot until they could secure a horse or whatever transportation was used on this continent.

Hopefully to the nearest clothing store or spa. Her delicate silk garments could be better used as fish nets at this point and as for her skin…well, as a consequence of never having been exposed to so much sun before, she had only barely begun to tan in the last couple of weeks. The unfortunate majority of her skin was baked, peeling, and overall the color of a ripe tomato, her lips were chapped to the texture of leather, and her hair…her poor hair. Those rich tendrils of crimson, bleached into some terrible shade of copper and gold! She looked like she could actually be vaguely related to Eliana, an idea that neither Chik nor the girl seemed too pleased to linger on.

Thus she was unsettled by hearing Selena yelling giddily above like a babbling toddler, and none too pleased at being forced to rush back up the short set of stairs with their few bags of supplies and personal belongings, to stand next to her daughter-turned enemy-turned peer and see what the ruckus was about. She waved a hand over her eyes to shade them from the hot orb in the sky, her eyes taking far too long to adjust to…oh dear.

"Is that…a flying whale?" she murmured out loud as she shadow began to develop into something substantial. No, it was not a whale or any manner of fish. "That's a ship? What manner of magic do they know in this country?!"

The woman sighed, inwardly knowing what Selena's request meant for their future. No peaceful life of retirement on the coast, that was for sure. She jumped out onto the wet sand, nearly flopping forward at her body's first realization that they were in fact on solid ground again, and motioned to the child to follow. There was only one question left for now, as the airship passed into the distant clouds. "Who will I have to sleep with to get one of those things?"

[Selena]

"I think you'd better stick with stabbing people - nobody's going to want to sleep with you while you look like that," Selena said, flicking her eyes over to Chik's peeling skin. The dainty queen hadn't spent nearly as much time in desert climates as Selena, preferring to hide in the Labyrinth or the luxury of Imperial palaces. Extensive campaigning against the Desert of Mystery and her rule over Ikana Canyon had allowed Selena's skin to more more easily shift tones.

She had to come up with some plan of action. The airship was heading north and, looking in that direction, Selena could see larger, denser settlements. That corresponded to the crude maps Calatia's explorers had given her upon their return from the East. The capital of Virrat was several hundred miles upriver, and that was a mighty long walk for two women who had spent a great chunk of time at sea. There were surely carriages running to and from the capital on main roads, as even older domains had such a service, but there was a problem. Neither Chikara nor Selena had any Virratan currency. There was a bit of gold, but all stamped with either Calatian or Koridian symbols. The local population would immediately catch onto the fact that they were foreigners, and that could be very dangerous given their desire to avoid running into old enemies.

Well, that just meant a life of stealing and pillaging was ahead, and no two women were better at such arts than Chikara and Selena.

They were in a rural region. There had to be horses somewhere. And what about clothing? Their garments had been tattered by the unforgiving ocean weather and Selena looked fairly obvious in her Koridian guard armor. Their food supplies were also growing dangerously low. They could sneak onto a farm and swipe three horses from the stable - two if Eliana was content to ride with either of the elder women. They could then head north and follow that airship. Wondrous military technologies would be waiting for them at the capital.

Selena took a look around the area. There were various farms with homesteads for each, then a small town situated in the middle of the community. Probably shops and the homes of small-time merchants. Every small town had a tavern - a good place for information. Then, beyond the town, there was a larger and seemingly well-crafted home. Perhaps a wealthier person from a city that had a country estate to avoid the hustle and bustle of the urban jungle. That would be a good place to steal things. But, should they check in at the tavern first to fish for information? Ah, but no money. They could flirt with smelly farmers and have them buy the drinks. That seemed less entertaining than breaking and entering, though.

She pointed to the richer house in the distance. "We're going there to steal shit. New clothes, food, horses, money. We do it real quiet like and don't cause much of a fuss. Sneak in without being seen. We don't want too much attention from law forces at this stage of the game. If you are seen, then knock the person out rather than kill them. Murder's lovely, but there's a time and a place."

"I'll get the horses. Kid, you go and swipe food - make sure it's good. Try to find booze. Chik, you go get the money and jewels. Think of this as a good way of waking up our slumbering abilities after being inside a boat for so long."

[Selena]

Just then, a seagull exploded into a thousand pieces. Stray dogs then began to snack on its charred flesh.

[Chikara Nadir]

Chikara barely nodded in agreement at Selena's request - no, her order, muttering something halfhearted about being told what to do by a lesser individual as she pulled the hood of her somewhat tattered cape over her sunbaked face and began up the grassy hillside at an angle toward the backside of the village, avoiding actual trodden paths by thieves' instinct. As her daughter said, there was 'a time and a place', and now was not when she should bicker over who was in charge or what decisions should be made.

Chikara had far too many centuries of leadership in a solid domain under her belt, whilst Selena had more of a history of commanding nomadic groups, starting from scratch and working her way up against the odds - this had been demonstrated impeccably with the rise of Ikana, her thievery of the Labyrinth, and the creation of Calatia. Chik's time would come, when someday they would yet again have a following of the wild and industrious outcasts who needed solidarity under a common rule…against her daughter's wishes and will. Selena could dream of her freedom in the skies for only so long, but their fate was sealed. One woman was a traveller across uncharted nations, the other a builder of cities and rules (albeit often the most twisted and taboo kind), and they always had a way of ending up as polar enemies. Nothing proved this more than the war they had started since the destruction of the old homelands, where the two women had made entire nations simply for the sake of destroying one another. Or so she'd been told.

The truth was, she could remember little of the past two years. Her memories felt like little more than a dream, of which fragments fluttered in and out of her vision and blended into some strange amalgamation of what she knew was fact and what she could only assume must have happened based on whatever details she could pry from Selena or Eliana without making her true intentions obvious. Like a child grabbing a handful of loose sand on the beach, the harder she attempted to grasp the reality of her rise and fall as Empress and Goddess and all the political and emotional implications tied to that existence, the more quickly the grains slipped through her fingertips.

Chik knew that her name was not welcome in this nation, for she was considered an enemy, whilst Selena's name had to be hidden because her people had made treaties with Virrat…and neither woman wanted to be found, regardless. There was now a young girl with them, who she assumed was to be treated as a daughter - despite Selena wanting no affiliation with the child, and the girl called Eliana wanting rather little to do with either woman. She knew that her powers as the Goddess had been endless, but on the boat the woman had struggled to fight equally in sparring against Selena at first, even when not using her injured shoulder. It felt like her soul had been sucked dry of all the vital magic that had flowed in her so freely, and she had been forced to rest and heal like a normal mortal woman whilst her reserves of power slowly replenished.

However, she also knew as soon as the wells of energy had filled and her body had healed…that something had changed. Chikara kept the realization secret from the others, although guessed they might assume that not all of her godly powers had entirely escaped, after all. Something of the ethereal remained, something that would have scared her if she were a less practical woman. But what was the point in letting Selena know what that meant quite yet? Chik wasn't going to trust the younger woman further than she could throw her, at least not until seeing her behavior off of the boat, when Selena had every opportunity to betray her. Her memories of these two years were vague, but the image of the cold brunette stabbing her through the gut in that Olimandias' temple was burned into her brain eternally.

The sound of a sharp horn blew in the distance, abruptly pulling the redhead back into reality. What was that?

Smoke arose from the direction of the horn, pure white and moving swiftly. At first she had every reason to assume the sound had been a warning of a nearing wildfire, but the smoke didn't seem to be growing or thickening - just swiftly moving as a single tuft, rapidly making way for the town. She'd heard of these, Chikara thought, a mention in manuscripts about this continent that had been buried in the libraries of…was it Koridai? Olimandias? It didn't matter, this metal thing she saw breaking the horizon surely must use the same unknown magic that the flying ship had mastered. Automated…automatically, something, something, train-thing.

Screw horses, she commented to Selena in the distance,I want to ride one of those.

They could get back to that subject later. In the meanwhile, houses.

Her eyes swept around the area, searching for the unseen. She had always been generally good at sensing nearby living entities, but her time spent as goddess, she decided, must have had a large impact on this skill. Chikara could feel them, not just the warmth and energy of nearby people but their very minds and hearts: there was a sleeping baby, an angry wife, and a tired husband in the nearest house. It was impossible to tell what was on their minds, but the gist of their souls was laid open like a book. Best to stay away from there.

Ah, but so many other houses were completely empty, their residents off to work for the day. And that meant meant that it was time for Chik to get to work as well.

She stepped into the shadows of a rather large and ornate building, pressing her hand against the brickwork facade and simply willing herself in. It was as easy as stepping through a breeze, the thick stone melting away from her and letting her pass into the building without a single mark to show for it - neither a speck of dust on her body nor any crack to the stone. Perhaps this was what ghosts felt like, wafting through all versions of reality indiscriminately. At least, unlike them, she could still get drunk and stab people.

A sparkling kitchen stood in front of her, with gleaming pots, knives, and…did that sink have a faucet? Indoor plumbing - what maddeningly wonderful realm had they stumbled upon! She should have invaded this place long ago!

But still, as Selena had voiced, they needed to just get supplies enough to get out of this town and manage through the rest of Virrat, at least for the time being. No mass pillaging quite yet, but that didn't mean Chikky couldn't have a little fun…

~~~~~~~~~~~

A couple of hours later, a very satisfied and far cleaner version of the former goddess walked back down the grassy slope, her shoddy bags replaced with bonafide leather-bound travel suitcases and her cracked war boots tossed in favor of stitched and fitted lace-up heels that reached up to her kneecaps. A neat sum of money sat in a purse satcheled to her side (and in her bodice, and a bit more in her boot…) - not quite enough for any one of the village's many families to be sure that they had been robbed, but altogether more than enough to make their group wealthy for quite some time. She easily hid layers of weaponry under pinstripe petticoats and a crimson outer corset, and best of all - her sunbaked face had discovered the beauty of salty scrubs and aloe lotion, and now was delightfully shaded under a laced-trimmed hat made to match her suit.

And last, but not least, over her shoulder Chikara carried two large brown-paper parsels with the seal of the local clothier. Couldn't have her looking gorgeous without throwing her fellow travelers a bone. Shame that knowing them, the outfits would have to be thrown out in a couple days and they'd be starting all over again. So hard to get blood out of satin and silk.

[Selena]

Screw horses, I want to ride one of those.

Well, that was a fine thing to think-say when Selena was close to the stables. She decided to forget the horses and turn back to see what Chik was carrying on about, but the sight that awaited her upon her return from the far side of the grand estate was entirely unexpected. It was a giant black... machine of some kind. It billowed smoke out from a small tower on the first car and made an awful chugging sound as it drew near. It slowed to a crawl as it neared one of the buildings in town and, with a hiss and screech, came to a stop. If that thing had the power to take them to the capital, then it would surely get them there a lot faster than a few old horses. But wouldn't they need tickets? It would be difficult to sneak aboard if they had a full staff to take care of passengers. Well. She'd made someone else responsible for finding the money necessary for the purchase of tickets.

If you want to ride that thing, then I hope you've found enough money.

Selena regrouped with the young girl before encountering Chikara. Eliana was holding a bag, which Selena quickly confiscated and searched. As ordered, it was full of food for their trip, along with a large glass bottle of home-brewed spirits. Selena undid the cork and took a whiff. Whew! Strong! That would do! She gave the bag back to the kid and, showing as much care as she could muster, gave her a nice pat on the head.

"Good small person. Good."

Eliana glared. "No horses."

"No horses because somebody wants to go aboard that giant steel contraption. Not my fault. It was a wasted walk to the stables, but I guess it was good for stretchin' my legs after all that time on the boat."

The pair walked back toward the homes on the outskirts of town and met... Chikara? Chikara, but in a very different style of dress. It was frilly and feminine and not at all like the garments of obvious evil that they'd worn back in the west, but it would do when attempting to blend in with the locals. She was carrying two large sacks and a few real traveling cases. And... what was that? Her skin and hair looked as if they had been taken care of. Had she raided a spa while Selena was off on her failed mission to find horses? Self-centered--

Chikara threw the brown sacks onto the ground in front of the others. Oooh! Presents! Selena bent down and unwrapped them with the glee of a small girl, but her face twitched in horror upon seeing the contents of either package. Dresses. Oh, gods, dresses. It'd be good for blending in, but oh, there was lace and it wasn't the kind of sleek, high-slit dress that Selena liked wearing at all. It was frilly. It was cumbersome. It had lots of laces. This was a terrible present and there should have been more leather and more pants and more sharp things.

But this was a region of commoners, Selena reminded herself. They wouldn't have anything up to her standards. That would be found in the cities, especially if she disposed of members of the military and stole their equipment.

"You don't know my personal tastes at all, do you? This is some kind of revenge," Selena grumbled. Never the less, she disappeared with the girl and came back some time later in her new attire. Selena's was a long, white dress with a rust colored bodice and lace-trimmed sleeves. Matching lace-up boots were just a size too large, but they would do. The child wore a green outfit that looked far easier to move in that the adult clothing. Damn children always got the better stuff to wear in these overly-fashionable cultures. Selena scowled as they grouped together.

She snatched the money purse at Chik's side and strolled up to the train station, determined to get this over with. The city would be bring better gear. Gear that wouldn't make her look like a mindless lady-in-waiting. Once at the ticket office she waited in line until it was her turn - something that felt entirely foreign. She was going to semi-legitimately buy something. Disgusting.

"Three tickets to the capital, please."

"Twenty each," he said. "And what will be bringing you up to Vatenbaer today? Looks like you're going to be attending a party."

"Just business," she replied.

She took the three tickets when they were offered and passed them to the others. As she approached the boarding platform, one of the staff members widened his eyes and waved. "Excuse me, you can't bring that on the train, ma'am!"

"What?"

"This," he said, pointing to the Kanagida. Oh no. "You can't bring a spear onto a train."

"It's ceremonial - a family heirloom. I'm having it sold at the capital."

"You'll have to check it in with your baggage."

Selena frowned and handed the weapon over to the man. The spear and their baggage was taken to a special car, and they were allowed to board. Now, in a dress and with no significant weapons on her person apart from the knife strapped to her inner thigh, she felt almost entirely naked. Selena was far outside her comfort zone. The trip had better be worth it! She sat down in one of the well-decorated bench seats in the first passenger car and left room for the kid and the harlot. After a few minutes, a whistle screamed and someone shouted for all stragglers to get on board. The doors were shut, the monstrous train bellowed, and they began to roll out of the station. It was a terrible but exhilarating sensation - like being on a carriage that was going far too fast.

"I hope you're happy now," Selena said.

[Chikara Nadir]

"You're miserable, therefore I'm very happy." Chik had too wide of a grin on her face as she sprawled herself out on a pillowed bench facing Selena, fidgeting with a pull in the side of her dress that allowed the hem to rise up a few inches. Surely it was meant to add ruffle to the skirt, but moreover it allowed a bit more freedom for her legs to move, and a little bare skin for the next time an unsuspecting man needed to be dealt with. She then slid her hand down the front of her bodice and pulled from it her dainty little spork, giving a wink before pushing it back down into hiding. Sure, it meant that they were well taken care of if the need for weaponry arose, but mostly the redhead wanted to gloat over getting to carry her favorite toy whilst Selena could not.

Having nowhere else to sit, Eliana plopped down next to Selena and stared at the woman expectantly. Silently. Creepily.

"Oh, just ask if you need help," Chikara said with a quiet 'tut tut', leaning forward and grabbing up one of the girl's feet. She sat it on her kneecap and swiftly began readjusting the buckles and lacing of her little black boots, which somehow managed to both look more elaborately girly and yet also more comfortable than what the elder women had to deal with.

"You look adorable, especially with that big bow," she referred to the emerald-toned velvet ribbon taking up the whole back of of Eliana's head, though it was clear from the girl's sour expression that she did not share the sentiment. "Now just remember to smile whenever anyone greets you, and if anyone reaches you shake your hand, you don't get to break their fingers unless I tell you to." This was about as motherly as Chik could be expected to act. More concerning was the possibility that hand-mutilation had been an issue in the past.

"I asked around while I was at the hat shop, and that particular airship we saw earlier seems to be one of the prides of the military fleet." The woman had lowered her voice to a whisper as an older couple found seats at the window opposite them, sharing genuine smiles toward the thieving female trio. Chik responded with a smirk and a nod, a little bothered by how well she actually could fit in.

Turning back toward Lena, she slipped her fingers beneath her bodice and this time withdrew from it a small book and a short lead pencil with which she began to write in it. "Whilst the navy uses nearly traditional water ships and apparently also some form of underwater vessel, the army seems to use airships as their primary form of long-distance travel during war-times. Horse-drawn carriages are still fairly popular, but there is rumor that scientists in the city are attempting to master a horse-less machine, like a train cart that needs no track, if you will. The milliner insisted that there is no magic used in running them, but that the inner arts are only really used in this nation for alchemy or other medicinal purposes. Damned shame."

She pointed a lace-gloved finger out the window into the distance, where a far-reaching haze of smoke could be seen. "From what I can gather, their capital rivals Khuffie's old abode in size, it might even be larger, unless your old information from Calatia says otherwise. Anyway, it would seem that we're entering on the eve of a national holiday, celebrating some war or another that they won against Vildmark centuries ago. I suppose that when you've been at a stalemate for this long, you're desperate to pretend your nation still is dominant. I wouldn't know what it's like to lead a country that isn't the best." Chik winked playfully at her daughter.

"Whatever the case, this will give us the perfect opportunity to sneak into every luxurious party we could ever want to crash, and the military will be far too busy with ceremony to notice if we want to have our way with their weaponry or technology." She pulled out a piece of paper that had been folded several times over. "And I happen to have bought a map commemorating the event by including a tourists' guide of every major museum, parade route, and government facility worth visiting."

[Selena]

The hat shop. Bah.

"I'm not going to any museums and that's final," Selena said firmly. "Unless they're war museums. You can be a tourist on your own time."

She looked to the small book that Chikara was writing in and wondered why it had been necessary to purchase a diary before setting off to Vatebaer. It wasn't good to write things down - someone could recover the book and use the information against you. She should have known that. Selena alone was tempted to swipe it, and Chik had only written a few short lines of text. Selena fidgeted in her seat. It was too cramped. The girl was too close. And breathing. Always breathing. Maybe she would have to remedy that one day.

"I know about Vatenbaer only a little from reports. Lots of corruption and criminal activity. They're sure to take advantage of the festivities as well, which gives us an opportunity to move into the underground. There are at least three major syndicates with some paid-off political power behind them. The military attempts to gun them down on a regular basis due to protocol, and we could be 'heroes' by assisting the military in taking down a few wanted men. Or, if you want to use your powers of seduction, we might be able to track down the crew of that airship and convince the boys to give us a special tour. At which point, well, you know. That might be easier. You're not back up to full fighting strength. We might want to postpone playing with crime syndicates until you've completely healed. Now jot all of that down in your diary and be sure to complain about how 'mean and terrible Lenacakes is today.'"

A young man came by and offered them a tray of drinks. "Would any of you like tea?"

Selena was about to send him on his way, but... well, why not. She grabbed one of the teacups and took a long smell. Delicate. Beautiful. Tasty. "Thank you."

[Chikara Nadir]

"It's not a diary, and I'm not putting anything incriminating in it," Chik responded to Selena's thoughts as practically as though the brunette had spoken them out loud. "I'm writing down harmless notes about the culture, new words and pronunciations, that sort of thing. Nothing that can't be explained away as my notes for a…new cultural book or something. And if I did decide to add in anything worth keeping secret, I'd write it in the old Labyrinth language - you and I may be two of the last surviving speakers. Regardless, we need all of the edge we can get, coming into this new world without a clue about how they run the joint. The map was meant to show us the best places to rob - or to avoid, for that matter - but sure, if we have the time to hit up a museum or two we'll only be the wiser for it."

She took the book and slid it under the bustle of her dress before leaning forward to accept a cup of tea for herself. In pure ladylike fashion, she even raised a pinky whilst drinking it. The destructive queen could definitely get used to this.

"We could definitely combine your two ideas. Save their world, then rock it, as it were. If any crime syndicates do show up, we take them down, make the good people of Vatebaer trust us utterly, then I have my way with whoever's in charge of that ship you love so much - keep the idiots busy while you steal it from right under their noses." Chik raised her lace-trimmed hand to take a long, sweet sip. "Though so help me, if no threats shows up by a couple of hours before dawn on the celebration night, we're doing things the hard way."

She leaned forward to set the teacup and its saucer down on the windowsill, then swiftly made her dainty hand into a fist, sending it flying into Selena's upper arm. "And don't you dare tell me when or when not I'm strong enough to get the job done. My shoulder barely bothers me, and the rest…well, I was running a nation of mercenaries and thieves long before Lazu blessed me with his powers. I had plenty of opportunities to kill you then, so don't think for a minute that I'm any less capable of finishing the job now."

[Selena]

Selena winced and placed a hand over the impact zone. "Opportunity to kill does not mean ability to kill, and I thought we were going to avoid fighting with each for a little while. We're not going to ruin this vacation by stabbing one another."

She leaned back in her seat and turned her gaze to the window. The local flora and fauna were entirely different than what she had encountered in Verden. The warmer, tropical climate encouraged lush woodland and colorful flowers. A striking blue bird with a large bill swooped by the train and disappeared into the trees. Everything was vibrant and bright. Selena paid close attention to the terrain as well, trying to make a mental map of the region in her head. It was a river valley - flat and wide - with mountains in the far distance. They frequently passed by small towns along the tracks, little wooden and brick buildings tearing by at amazing speed. The main population centers had probably become concentrated around the train tracks for the sake of easy travel. She could see smaller settlements in the distance. Mostly farms.

"Seems like a lot of people here. Don't know if that will make it harder or easier to hide. I'm surprised they've never made effort to contact the western nations, but I suppose we don't look too welcoming with all our wars. Their loss."

***

It took only three hours to reach the outskirts of Vatenbaer, the sprawling capital of Virrat. It was more impressive than Olimandias had ever been - Khuffie's former palace was shorter than many of the tall buildings that dominated the skyline. They were mammoth structures of brick and steel, standing proud over the more standard sized buildings owned by lesser people. A shadowy underworld had been formed by the luxury of the rich. There was a dark haze of the city caused by the billowing of black smoke from various tall stacks in one section of town. Trains darted to and from every section of town and then went out into the more rural lands beyond, their tracks linking together like metal webs. In the sky, grand airships like the one they had seen other hovered like clouds, and smaller craft buzzed about the giant zeppelins like agile sparrows.

They'd made it to the big leagues.

The train rolled into the main station at the heart of Vatenbaer - a large tunnel with stairs leading up into the center of town. The train doors opened and the passengers began to disembark. It took all of Selena's willpower to avoid hitting the people in close proximity. She hadn't been this close to so many people since the old Labyrinth drunk orgies. Finally, after much pushing and shoving, they made it onto the train platform. Selena retrieved their bags, more than pleased to have her spear back at her side, and rejoined the group.

"Well, then. Let's go explore! And maybe find a safe-enough place to dump most of these for a while."

[Chikara Nadir]

There was something soothing about the quiet miles of farmland stretching out into the nearing sunset, small depots that they paused at along the way to pick up celebrating families, weekend businessmen trying to get in that last document to headquarters before the holiday, carriages pulling up to pile on goods that were being stowed in the cargo cars. So many people that looked exactly like the misfit group of travelers, fitting in perfectly. Something peaceful, something…unnerving. Chikara wasn't sure that she liked it.

She could somewhat recall visiting the Koridain farms, the peaceful people praising her with far too much fervor for digging wells and building aqueducts to ensure that the homesteads sprung up on the edge of the desert could find some minimal prosperity. These people were probably in an uproar without her leadership, unless those left behind had found some way to hide the fact from the general population. Unlikely. They really were better off without her - both the sadistic selfish queen and the unstable god whom she housed - but it might take a little while before the nation came to terms with this fact. Definitely better to not be anywhere near that mess. Out of anyone, she would have the fewest answers to give them.

Perhaps that was part of what made her all the more at peace upon entering the city. Here she could yet again forget about the old world and be enamored with the new - the shining buildings, whirring aircraft, tinkle and tinker of toys animating themselves in store windows. What she assumed was the national flag hung from every gas lamppost, and men in regalia did meaningless exercises like the soldiers of every other nation in the world - proving they had all memorized the same steps as tiny cogs in the greater machine.

Chik gathered her suitcase from the porter with a wink and a feminine whisper that made him blush, internally snickering at how easy it might be to manipulate the men of Virrat if she really wanted, then half a minute later she was grabbing a street rat by the arm and wringing it like a wet rag for his attempt at stealing her change purse. Big city indeed, from the gleaming skyscraper tips to the familiarly dirty underbelly. She gave the kid a half-hearted threat, "You know what kind of bottom-feeding fish can't recognize when he's met a shark? A dead one," and tossed him to the side so the foreign group could continue on their way.

A group of women in thick leather jackets and tight woolen breeches hummed around a display on the street corner, advertising their 'progressive new airline, piloted by the most dashing damsels in the sky!' Their ruby lipstick and golden ringlets almost made up for the disturbingly bug-eyed look of the goggles that a few of them wore over their eyes. "If you're so desperate to get out of bloomers, you might try raiding them," Chik suggested to Selena. It was definitely good to know that a woman could get away with pants in this strange society, let alone legally run her own business. The place wasn't that painfully old-fashioned, it seemed.

"It might be a little harder to find an empty hotel room to stay in, but we have more than enough spare change to…grease any innkeeper's palm into giving up a room or two they have on hold."

"Then for the real trial!" She pointed toward the shining windows of a nearby restaurant, resplendent with candle-lit wine goblets, fine china, and crystal chandeliers. "I've always found that the best challenge at fitting into enemy territory is to prove you can master their eating etiquette. You learn so much about their culture and their historical background by the foods they cook and how they're served. And all the detailed gossip and top-secret news that a porker or a drunk will reveal when sated!"

"Yet we will endure, gorging ourselves for the sake of the mission!" Chik put the back of her palm to her forehead and faked looking faint, her fanged grin wide at the prospect of all that delicious food, the first real meal other than bitter beer, fish, and hard tack in many weeks. "Oh, what work one must do for the greater good!"

[Selena]

And so it came to pass that, after acquiring a humble hotel room in a cheaper section of town, Selena was forced to have dinner with with the fancy, upper crust members of Vatenbaer society. Selena sat very still, trying not to make any sudden movements that would indicate her real status as a barbarian pillager of the north. She tried to remember the various rules of fine dining. Don't slurp the soup. Don't eat with your hands, especially if the food would normally be consumed with a spoon. Don't belch. Don't drink an entire pitcher of wine in one go. Use the right fork. Oh god, which fork was for the salad? Which fork?!

No, no, you started with the outermost one and worked your way in as dinner progressed. ...Right?

Eliana was just as uncomfortable with the entire situation, which created a sort of unholy alliance between her and Selena. While Chik looked perfectly natural eating the fine food, the other two women very cautiously tore off bits of bread and discreetly ate whatever the entree was. They had decided to select whatever Chik was having for the sake of not looking foolish. Selena wanted elk steak and mead. Maybe a bit of mashed potatoes. And she wanted to kick back in her seat. Not sit up straight like a real, genuine lady.

"How is this supposed to be fun? I feel like I'm going to be electrocuted if I make one wrong move. Some of these people are already staring at me."

One such person was a sour-looking dark haired man in a suit that was sitting a few tables away. He was with several of his business associates, it seemed like, and they were having a rather enthusiastic discussion about something. At first she thought he was just enamored. But he looked cross. Like he'd found out her true identity and she'd burned his parents alive several years ago. When the waiter came by to refill her glass of wine, Selena nodded her head to the man that had been eying her.

"Who is that?"

The waiter looked over his shoulder. "Him? That's Rafe Yarek. I don't know if I'd go over there, ma'am. He's an officer in the Melchoir crime syndicate. Very dangerous people. Nothing a nice lady should get involved with. Though if he makes an advance, I'd be cautious about turning him down."

"Thank you."

The waiter took his leave. Selena tried to listen onto the discussion at the man's table more closely. Something about business and profit increases. Hard to tell at that distance. Eliminating competition...

Selena turned back to Chikara and frowned.

"Great, now you've got me in here with syndicate members and I don't have any real weapons under this curtain that you call a dress."

[Chikara Nadir]

"Not my fault you never learned how to downsize," Chikara had replied bluntly, making a motion that looked like she was adjusting the ruffles in her bodice - although to the knowing eye, the woman was poking down the hidden tines of her magical spork to make a literal 'point' to Selena about the perils of only keeping huge weapons in stock.

Eliana released a small moan, dropping her head nearly into her butternut squash soup. Not because she had any stomach ailment; she was just sickened by her adoptive mother's lame joke.

"If you're really that concerned about undesirables wanting you for their own, it's easily fixed," the redhead insisted. She pushed her seat back abruptly with a loud screech that halted the majority of conversation at nearby tables, stood and leaned close over Selena's body in the most privacy-bubble-bursting of ways. A lacy hand grabbed her by the scruff on the back of her head and the deed was done: Chik planted a thoroughly non-platonic kiss on the other woman, marking Lena as her own territory for all to see. Any conversation that had continued on the edges of the room finally was entirely silenced for an instant, then reignited full force by a hum of surprised and shocked whispering.

Chikara rose up again just as quickly and slid back with delicately quiet footsteps, turning and making way toward the table of suspicious, but now very curious men. Her personal brand of feminine movements were in full force - leaning an arm over Mr. Yarek's shoulder and whispering sweet nothings into his ear, giggling delicately at another man's hushed propositions as though she were actually somewhat shy and embarrassed. She twirled away to the other side of the table, picking up one of the gentlemen's wine glasses to take a deep sip as she allowed him to reach under her hemmed-up skirt to grope at her thigh.

After several minutes and a few winks and blown kisses, the woman pranced back to the empty seat at her own table, sitting and taking a hearty bite of spinach ravioli before turning to grin at Selena again. "I informed them that we're sisters traveling from our family's estate in the northern city of Atrati - the seamstress back at the port informed me that people are a bit…different up there - and that we're alone and without a clue about where to go to enjoy the vast and beautiful capital on this most celebrated of holidays." She draught half of her glass in one go, her food all the more satisfying after the dangerous endeavor. "We've been invited to the evening party at one of Yarek's homes a few blocks from here. And since we're clearly so unfamiliar with certain nuances of southern Virrat culture - having lived our lives in a different part of the nation and all - we can get away with hell and they won't think twice."

[Selena]

Selena knew what was going to happen the instant she saw that characteristic gleam in Chik's eyes. She remained motionless throughout the kiss, with her chin propped up on one of her hands, and appeared to be entirely uninterested. Just as expected, Chik then trotted off to the gangsters to do her usual song and dance. Rather than pay attention, Selena went back to eating her dinner, spearing her pasta and hoisting it into her mouth. She was in the middle of a long sip of wine when Chik finally returned, and, even then, her expression remained unamused.

"...we can get away with hell and they won't think twice."

Ah, so they were incestuous sisters. Wonderful. Selena had always wanted to be mistaken for an inbred hick! Well, then again, she had probably earned that reputation from having such an intimate relationship with her adoptive 'mother.' Now she was going to play the role of ladylike flirt all night. She had been planning on simply following them to their destination in order to stab them repeatedly for the sake of Virratian justice. That would have been so much simpler. And more fun. Now this.

Now, surely, Chikara was expecting - no, hoping - that Selena was going to cause some kind of fuss over that display. The other woman had the faintest trace of a smug grin on her lips. Even Eliana was braced for some kind of response. Well, no. Selena wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of an outburst. Instead, she looked back down at her plate and continued to eat.

"That's nice. When do we leave?"

Though, when one of the gangsters stood from his table and handed a slip of paper to the waiter, her question was largely answered for her. Seeing his movement out of the corner of her eye, Selena downed the rest of her meal and the last of her wine. The wine would be helpful. It was the only thing capable of making her social enough to flirt.

[Chikara Nadir]

"You can still have your cake and eat it too - they did promise there would be cake," Chik insisted to Selena as she pulled out her change purse and handed a tidy pile of Virrat's strange paper currency to the passing waiter, suggesting yet again that she knew more than her comrade was saying out loud. "I told them we would need to freshen up before joining them. Whatever you want from the inn, now will be the time. If that happens to include anything that normally wouldn't go over well at a party…well, we can take the back entrance."

She waved at the men and blew one last kiss before the two parties went their separate ways, the men still drinking amidst low voices discussing the strange - and overly friendly women, whilst the 'ladies' left the restaurant to prepare for the long night ahead.

"You could have at least pretended to enjoy it," the woman stated as soon as they were out on the street, more than obviously referring to her advances upon Selena. She chose her next words carefully, trying to decide whether to risk saying something that might give away exactly how shifty her memories of the past two years were. "I know it's been years since we've really shared each other's company aside from that god-forsaken boat." After all, there was no way they would have seen each other in their time as enemies except in the battlefield. "But we used to like being playful, once upon a time. Especially at the expense of others."

In five minutes they gotten to the hotel, which only had a room left for them by value of it looking too shady for any respectable visitor to want to stay in. They were not respectable people, and thus had no issue with the place. Chik first muttered something to Lena about requesting turndown service in the morning, then spoke to the front desk and handed the woman a couple of coins - which she would probably use toward alcohol for the holiday celebration, if her already glazed over expression meant anything. Then they trudged up the creaky stairs of the hallway, locking the door as soon as they entered their room and shutting the curtains to prevent any prying eyes from seeing what they had hidden in their luggage.

"So do we want to do this in full military gear or go in looking like ladies, get some drinks, and then end their pitiful existences?"

[Selena]

"Chik, I'm pretty sure we've tongue wrestled more in the last two years than we have in the last several decades. Now, since you're so keen on being mischievous, I suppose I'll allow us to go in dressed as ladies. I know you're proud of your flirting skills. Maybe you can learn something interesting before we commence the slaughter. Besides, it'd be good to go inside and learn about the building - escape routes, narrow areas that we can herd victims into, that sort of thing. We can leave a cache of weapons outside somewhere in one of our bags. Or we can improvise with whatever weapons we can sneak. I do still have my dagger, after all."

It was just... difficult to fight in a dress. That wouldn't do, and the party they were attending wasn't strictly a formal occasion. As Chik had suggested, Selena had doubled back to the train station after securing their room and took advantage of one of those lovely airship ladies. She had then stolen off with the real prize - woman's clothing. All in all, a fun adventure. Selena stripped off her dress in the middle of the small room and pulled on her 'new' pair of breeches. The size wasn't perfect, but it would do. The leather jacket fit much better, and she made sure to fluff up the fur collar for the proper effect. She zipped it up to the lower part of her sternum, making sure to expose a bit of cleavage for the menfolk to gawk at. Would take their attention away from her weapons.

"Okay," Selena said. She slid her trusty dagger into her boot and looked to Eliana. "What are we gonna do with you, rugrat? You're not old enough to be of any use in a real fight. But I'm sure you can help in other ways."

She rummaged through their bag of weapons before handing it over to Eliana. A garrote - she could stuff that in one of her pockets. Quiet if you did it right. Clawed gloves! Those could be put on when necessary and Selena did know how to fight with just her hands if she couldn't use a genuine weapon. She shoved those in another pocket. She could craft Molotov cocktails from any bottle of liquor in the place. The spear... was a bit too obvious at this stage. Which was a shame. She'd grown so dependent on polearms over the years. It never felt right to leave it behind, but she couldn't really sneak it in. Also not too good against bullets.

"Maybe you can smuggle in additional weapons for us. Or we can use you to cause a distractio--"

Eliana demonstrated her disapproval by using her enhanced strength to break one of the chairs in the room with her bare hands.

"--or we can use you to kill somebody."

Satisfied with what she had collected, and confident that Chikara had grabbed whatever she needed, Selena unlocked the door and led the trio back down to the street. It was easy to see where the party was located. All she had to do was follow the crowd of gentlemen in suits. As they approached the large home of Mr. Yarek, a few of the single men approached them. One, with a light beard, went straight for Selena (though the same could not be said for her). Already full of alcohol, he threw his arm around her shoulders.

"So, you're from the north, huh?! Haven't been up there since I was a kid. Love the mountains. Lots of fresh air. Which town were you from?"

Selena played along and put on her best pleasant expression, laughing a tiny bit. "My sister and I are from Atrati. We're vacationing down here for the holiday."

"No better place than the capital to have a good time."

"Only if you're capable of finding the right man."

"I think you've lucked out."

He took her by the arm and led her into the house. It was finely decorated and there was already a large number of people socializing within. Most of them were higher ranking businessmen in suits, and they were accompanied by equally fine ladies. There were a few roughnecks here and there. Must have been thugs from the syndicate they worked for. They were dressed in more casual garments, but managed to blend into the background to avoid much notice. There was a large chandelier in the main room that everyone seemed to admire - how tragic would it be if it dropped on the whole crowd? No, no, too much collateral damage. Chik and Selena wouldn't be heroes if they took out a bunch of civilians. They'd have to go just for the thugs. Easy to figure those men out. They'd be the ones trying to kill them after the action started. The civilians would turn and run. They always did.

A servant came by and the man handed Selena a glass of champagne. She smiled. "Why, thank you!"

She began to eye the potential exits. The people who looked like they were in charge. The number of thugs...

"Of course. So... you and your sister seem close."

Selena laughed and, with her free hand, patted Chik on the shoulder. "Well, it can get awfully cold in the winter up there. Sharing the same bed was common practice in order to stay warm."

[Chikara Nadir]

Chik had every reason to be further unsettled by Selena's admission of their personal relationship in the last couple of years. But now wasn't the time. She'd just have to learn to watch her words for the time being, until either her memories could get properly sorted out or she could get a handle on what had happened during that blank time based on conversations between herself and Lena. Eliana wasn't much of a help.

She tried to put these thoughts out of mind as she prepared herself for their next outing, tightening her bodice for extra 'oomph' on top and making sure her petite collection of weapons were securely hidden but easily accessible. Could never be too careful, or too sexy - especially in this whole new world, where her prowess has as of yet unknown. "Try not to draw too much attention," the redhead instructed Eliana as she adjusted the girl's bows and smoothed down her platinum locks. "Curtsy, smile, look adorable. The better you've tricked them into thinking you're not only harmless, but endearing, the easier it will be to get in close to break their bones when the time comes."

Otherwise, either of the adult women had her own role, memorized and understood without having to verbally remind the others of a single detail. Selena would try to flirt, but it was never her forte. She'd probably be far more successful at attracting the rougher men who liked her bite. Chik, of course, would act as seductive as possible without making their prey assume she was a harlot who had snuck in through the back door. They had to do this right the first time; there would be no second chances.

With this in mind, Chikara's eyes - and that defective sixth sense she'd been granted - were both wide open to attempting to identify every potential threat from the moment they entered the grandiose house. From the get-go it was obvious how deep this syndicate's influence reached. Of course there were the expected crowds of thugs standing in the shadows, starring down the other visitors as though they were on-call bodyguards, ready to leap in and start a brawl or guard one of their well-dressed bosses. There were also a few more easily identified Melchior elites, dressed in silk suites with far too many gaudy rings on their knuckles, over-the-top in their attempts to show their wealth and power. And, to Chik's chagrin, there were also several high-ranking military officers intermingling between, dressed in regalia with medals gleaming on their chests. It was hard to tell whether they might be corrupt and working in association with the syndicate, or perhaps they had started off as Melchior family and worked their way up through the ranks to further their group's influence. Considering how large the party really was, it was possible that these men were just here for a good time, entirely disassociated with underground crime. Unlikely.

Well, time to get started in figuring out the inner-workings from inside the belly of the beast. And Chik knew exactly where to start…the open bar.

It was such a pity, too. Normally she would have rushed to the bartender and begun ordering a slew of drinks to last her through the night, wetting her palate with ferocity and a claim that it was simply to "make up for all that sober time spent at sea." But not tonight, she had to actually be moderate. Not exactly teetotal, but at least keep her wits about her for once. Poor, lonely liquor, unable to get to know what it meant to be truly loved…well, luckily there were more than enough men already giving their all to the hearty assortment of premium alcohol, mulling around the bar as though it were their life source. Jackpot.

"I'll have a tall gin and tonic, hold the tonic," Chik said to the bartender in a tone far too high and giggly for her naturally, but it got exactly the reaction she expected. Several intoxicated men's expressions went blank as they stared at her - like flies to honey.

Right on cue, the moment the sharp liquid hit her lips, a hopeful drunkard hit her doorstep. "Sir Percinial Pruith, assistant deputy in the Central Vatenbaer Sheriff's Department, at your service." So that made him an assistant to an assistant in the police in the middle of a party filled with the rich elite, desperate to gain the approval of any lovely lady who didn't laugh him out of the room. He'd be perfect.

"Ruby," Chik lied, putting her hand out to be kissed underneath his walrus-mustache. "What fortune that a visitor to the city on this glorious holiday could be so lucky meet a man of your status. And here I thought it would be impossible to find anyone who could be the knight in shining armor to my little lost lamb of a self!"

She wrapped the arm around his, looking faint for a moment. "What muscles!" the woman exclaimed, before beginning to put her own strength - far greater than his - into pulling him away so they could both stand alone under the shade of a tall flowering bush planted in a huge marble vase. "I'll admit that myself and my younger sisters were a little concerned about being invited to this party, we had been told the most absurd rumors about Mr. Rafe Yarek being associated with crime! Now that can't be true, can it?"

"Oh, you'd be shocked at how true it is," the man smugly replied, clearly putting all his faith into Chik's lie. He assumed she was harmless, and hadn't a single worry in his inebriated brain that anyone else might hear. "They're not the worst crime group, that'd be Alcourt, but the Melchior people that Yarek's in with are definitely more violent. Our intel down at the station suggests that he's newly been given the rank of secretary in their inner circle, third in command, after is part in successfully assassinating the Alcourt leader's oldest son and heir. That's why we think their party tonight is so huge - it's both to gloat at how powerful they are and also so no one will try to attack them tonight…none of the mafia in Vatenbaer would dare strike among so many civilians. Little do they know!"

"Oh?" Chik asked, looking utterly shocked. He had emptied his glass of brandy, so she swiftly took it and replaced it with her own glass of gin. The man did not hesitate to continue drinking. "What do they not know?"

"Well, our informants also know that the party plans on clearing out anyone who's not in the know by eleven, offering them invitations to smaller parties hosted nearby that will continue on until dawn. Meanwhile, the head honchos are going to stay here and conduct their real business at that time, knowing that it would be too short of notice for their enemies to realize that almost everyone who's worth getting rid of will be together in one room. The head of the family and his VP are nowhere to be seen, but Yarek's dead meat at midnight, when our sting breaks the doors down."

"That's…so thrilling and terrifying! You'll make sure I've left far, far away by then, won't you, dear Percinial?" She rested her head on the man's shoulder, faking excitement at being with this big, strong man. It wasn't hard to do, as the smile on her face kept growing with every juicy detail he announced.

"Of course, sweet Ruby!" The man threw his arm around her waist, fumbling to hold onto his now empty gin glass with the other hand. "You know, my apartment has the most wonderful view of the city. It overlooks the great clock tower, and every year you can see the most awe-inspiring view of the fireworks display at midnight - it was my idea, after all, to have the sting right then so nearby partygoers won't be frightened by all of the noise here - and I actually consider myself a bit of a connoisseur of fine gins, myself, I have a cabinet stocked with all the best years of -"

Alright, that was enough rambling out of him. If he had nothing more useful to be said, then a pinched nerve in the neck and a swift blackout was Sir Percinial's fate. His body, along with the empty glasses, was dumped in the back side of the bush. When found later, it would be easy for anyone to assume had passed out drunk. The man was close enough to it anyway.

Selena, I wonder if your eavesdropping has been as successful as mine?

[Selena]

"What about that one?"

A man ran his fingers along a patch of skin just beneath her collarbone. She curved her lips into a smirk while her eyes lit up with mischief. "That happened when one of my father's rivals trespassed on our farm. He decided that defiling me would be a good way to strike back at the family. I was finishing chores in the barn one night when he crept in and tried to have his way with me. But, you see, I don't entertain just any man." Selena caressed the thug's lower stomach. "If you're not worthy, and try to take advantage, I lash out. He and I got into a terrible fight. He managed to nick me with his knife, thus the scar, but what happened to him was far worse."

That was obviously a lie - the real story behind the scar involved a battle against Desert Defenders that took place before the rise of the Alliance. But she was a simple farmgirl from upriver, now. Making up lies off the top of her head was proving to be a fun game. It seemed to be working on the crowd, too. She was now surrounded by various tough thugs, all smiling at the thought of what a tough girl might be like in bed, and a few interested businessmen.

"I'll be more careful around northern women," one of them said.

"You might also try hiring a few." Selena struck a gallant pose. "Do you let women into your ranks?"

"Not common, but we can always make exceptions for gifted individuals," said one of the businessmen. "Though a few senators have wives that are very helpful in certain instances. With enough payment and attention."

A large grandfather clock against the far wall began to chime, signaling the eleventh hour. The thugs immediately changed their attitude, as if remembering something important. Several dismissed themselves and went to attend other sections of the party. One, the man that Selena had been closest to, decided to stay put. He leaned in with a knowing smile.

"The old men are probably going to be turning in for the evening, but there are going to be several afterparties starting right about now. Do you want to go to one? I'll be happy to escort you."

"Afterparties? But the night's still young! Why are we moving so early?"

"Well." He warred with the idea of telling her or keeping it a secret, but the tattooed thug figured that a little farmgirl wasn't going to be much of a threat. "Between you and me, the head honchos are staying here to discuss syndicate business. All the party guests are moving elsewhere for the night."

Selena definitely wasn't leaving then. That was perfect. "As much as I'd like to waltz all over the city, I don't think I can hold out that long." She grabbed him by the collar and brought their faces closer together. Her eyes flicked down to his midriff. "There are a lot of rooms in this place. If we find a secluded spot, then we'll be out of their way. No one will miss us for an hour or two. This assumes that you can be quiet, however."

He entered another mental battle, but this one didn't last the same length of time. He quickly smirked and wrapped an arm around her waist, leading her to the back of the mansion until they entered one of the smaller guest bedrooms. Now, all Selena had to do was figure out how to make him last until all the party guests were gone. She smirked as he began to take off his jacket.

Interrogation is going just fine, Chik. Perfect time to strike is midnight. Go amuse yourself somehow. Babysit the child or something. I've already found someone to occupy my time.

- - -

When the grandfather clock rang midnight, then the last occupants of the mansion included Yarek, his associates, their unsuspecting thugs, and two of the most dangerous women in the world.

[Chikara Nadir]

For one rare night of ballrooms, grandfather clocks striking midnight, and not too many pumpkins, the impossible could be seen - whilst Selena was busy amusing herself with the intimate company of a man, Chikara, for once, was not. No, she was far too tense to let her guard down, too excited by the prospect of letting blood and asking questions later. She had decided…not to wait for Selena in order to begin.

By the 11th strike of the clock, little Eliana had already drifted off to sleep in a lounge chair in the front parlor. Her surrogate mother suspected the girl had swiped a few too many cups of the adult's punch, and made a show of excusing herself immediately to take the girl home so that they both could sleep off all of the evening's excitement. Having her own very unnatural ways of getting around, it had taken Chik no more than ten minutes to spirit away both herself and the girl to their hotel room, deposit the rosy cheeked parcel in bed with a change of clothes and a kiss on the forehead, and then she was back. Not at the front door this time, of course, but in the shadows where she felt most comfortable, slinking about with ease as though she were a fixture on the wall.

Patience was not the woman's best virtue, especially when the police were close at hand and their opportunity to cripple this organization was short. Thus by the third set of chimes that indicated a quarter till, she had already pulled her treasured eating utensil out from where it sat nestled against her bosom. She hid it behind her where the breadth of her pinstriped skirts hid the vibrant glow of the spork as it came to life, growing in size and intense heat into the molten trident that she alone had the right to wield. Clenching it tight, she prepared to strike out into the thinning crowd, ready to cauterize the denizen's flesh to the bone --

When a heavy hand grabbed her opposite shoulder from behind, pulling Chik back and forcing her clenched muscles to soften. "Selena, what the hell are you do-"

Of course, it was not Selena standing at her side; her adopted daughter was still busy upstairs preparing for the night's true festivities. Instead a man stood there, still holding onto her shoulder, staring forward with equal anticipation. Chik quickly let her weapon shrink and slid it into her corset before he could see her magic - if he was a threat, best to keep the element of surprise.

"My apologies, sir, I thought you were my sister. I've been waiting for her to appear so that we may leave the party." She offered a slight curtsy, using the opportunity to pull away from his grasp. He was well dressed in a fine suit, which was a solid shade of black from his ascot down to his shoes. Slicked back black hair, black eyes, black gloves - his face was the only part of the man with some color. Hmm, certainly didn't match with the colorblind way that most of the pallid men here were dressed, each more desperate than the last to look like a peacock desperate for attention.

He quickly hushed her, grabbing at Chik's hand- then hesitating to mumble about how unusually warm it was - and finally pulled his face close to hers to state, "I know what you are."

Now, Chikara was neither fond of being this close to a man unless she was in the business of either kissing or killing him, nor was she especially keen on hearing that her identity had been revealed. She began to pull her hand away, to go for her weapon again, but he held onto it all the tighter.

"I know you think yourself just another treasure hunter trying to get to the famed Melchior fortune. Well, of course most of it's hidden in safeboxes across the nation, but I found the Yarek family's jewels on my own and have already stolen them away, so don't bother wasting your time searching. A girl of your refined looks and…" he looked her up and down, "diminutive stature would be safest to find your sister and exit stage right as soon as possible. The police plan to raid the house at any minute."

Diel! For how well planned out this raid supposedly was, everyone knew about it! At least he was dead wrong about who she was or why she was sticking around so late.

"I appreciate your candor, but I assure you," Chik smiled against clenched teeth, finally freeing her hand with a harsh yank, "that I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself. Now, I could care less if you've uncovered all the greatest fortunes in the world." That much was true, for once. She and Selena had plenty funds enough to keep them going for the time being, and needed to travel light and discreetly. Now for the tricky part. "I'm actually undercover with the raid, borrowed from an all-female military group in the north, although the details of that are highly classified. So whoever you are, it'd be in your best interest to get the hell out of here before you end up being arrested or killed with the rest."

The man seemed startled, and took no time in giving her a low bow. "Whoever I am, indeed. Well, I can't argue the opportunity at a free escape," he said with a smirk, then hesitated…as though he had one last thing to say. Out of nowhere he swept forward, much faster than Chikara had expected from any man not imbued with the arts, and twisted his arm around the back of her neck to force the woman into his embrace. Before she could react, the woman was swept off her feet and into a deep, lingering kiss. When she was released, and finally found the opportunity to open her eyes and blink in confusion, the man was gone.

….Well, that was weird.

Selena, get your ass down here! she thought with a mental shout, shaking her head to clear it of the thought of that strange man. Whoever the hell he was, it was proof that magic or not, the citizens of Vatenbaer could still prove worthy adversaries. And come armed to the teeth, I don't trust that killing these men may be as easy as we anticipated.

She swept forward into the center of the room, spork yet again ready for the hunt, and quickly found herself outnumbered by a supply of inebriated men with their cufflinks and ties loosened, each and every one of them carrying a pistol or some other type of gun. Just as she suspected, magic was replaced entirely by technology, and they were all quite ready to use their bullets against her the moment they saw the woman's staff. Chik loved a challenge.

[Selena]

Selena, get your ass down here! And come armed to the teeth, I don't trust that killing these men may be as easy as we anticipated.

The commotion going on in the main room of the mansion was enough to interrupt the continuing festivities shared by Selena and her entertainment. He, of course, was in a panic, thinking that his giving into temptation had prevented him from keeping a proper watch on the situation. He was pulling his clothes as fast as he could, while Selena dressed herself in a more relaxed manner. He fumbled around for his firearm - left in a holster that was now on the floor - and scrambled to pull it back on. It was a large weapon meant to hide underneath his coat. Something like a rifle, but shorter. It looked like part of it had been sawed off with a metal file. One of those simpler short range weapons? What did they call it in the reports? Scattergun? Shotgun?

"You should stay here," he said. "I dunno what's going on, but it doesn't sound good."

"I'm sure I can take care of myself and avoid trouble. My sister is missing. I need to find her."

He sighed. "Fine, but avoid the main room of the mansion. No, wait, stay close to me. If someone's started shit, they ain't gonna wanna take on a shotgun blast to the face. They'll back down with me there. I'll tell you to run if it looks too dangerous."

She smiled at him - a dark and sinister thing, but to his eyes, it looked like the grin of a woman impressed by his bravery. "As you wish."

He opened the door and stormed out with his shotgun at the ready. She followed three feet behind, easily keeping pace with him as he rounded a few sharp corners that led back into the main room. Once there, she saw.... of course. Chik. Her spork was already on super-charged molten mode, and the thugs around her were clearly out for blood. Where were the local leaders, though? Perhaps busy with their meeting, wherever it was, or hiding in a safer room. Selena didn't understand what Chik was so worried about. This was going to be easy! She could see it in their eyes. Some had experience, yes, but none of them had that killing instinct. They weren't warriors. They were hired guns.

Selena's thug leveled his gun at Chikara. "Freeze!"

"Burn."

With that, Selena placed her hand on his back - admiring the strong muscles that she had helped entertain her - and offered him as a sacrifice in her honor. She channeled chaos and dark flame erupted from her hand. His skin began to scorch and melt from the primeval power at her fingertips, and he fell to the ground screaming in horrified pain. The other thugs widened their eyes, failing to react properly to her sudden attack. That gave her all the time she needed. Using what limited psychokinetic abilities she had, she flung his burning corpse into the crowd of thugs - bowling for gangsters! Two were caught under his body and the others sprinted out of harm's way, given Selena time to kick up the fallen shotgun into her hands.

She pointed the weapon at one of the thugs and fired, blasting him right off his feet. She smiled. Could get used to that - though it still lacked the style of her spear. It could be used as a nice secondary weapon for longer range engagements if nothing else.

"What's the matter, 'Sister?' Cowardice strike you at the last moment?"

One of the thugs, taking cover behind a marbled column, shouted across the room. "Who the fuck are you?!"

"Phantoms from the west," Selena said.

"Fuck, they're from Vildmark!"

Selena grinned. "You wish."

[Chikara Nadir]

From the time after Chik had told Selena to get a move on, up until the moment her 'sister' came blazing in with literal fire and brimstone, she had been plenty busy getting the rust out of her old battle moves - although so far these Virrat men barely posed a threat after all.

Her flaming spork in all its gruesome glory came to life when surrounded by so many opponents, lighting the dark hall with the blaze of a rising sun as Chikara sliced it forward to impale those men brave enough to move too close to her, then spinning it around like a whirring baton to fend off any gunfire that they attempted to spray her with. Both bullets and shotguns alike melted away at her weapon's touch, just as all but the best enchanted swords and spears had done back home. Oh, it was so good to be alive again!

By then Selena had entered the stage, bowling for fools and relishing the powers that the dark god had afforded her. It seemed that Chik wasn't the only one who had picked up some new techniques in the last couple of years, after all. Maybe that meant that she could get away with more in front of Selena without the other woman questioning it.

Eager for a better warmup than she was going to get by performing the same few motions - and rather disappointed that the brutes were too dull to figure out how to avoid them after the first few tries - Chik rushed to the other side of the room to give Lena some room to play with her own crowd, then immediately pulled the power back from her spork, forcing it to shrink back down to normal utensil size. Once it was neatly tucked away in her blouse, the men took that as the starting flag of the races, and a couple of the more physical ones rushed her with the fierce strength of raging bulls. Well, there was no way of avoiding being crushed by them, was there?

And yet, a split second later, the men were pulverizing one another, bruising shoulders and breaking teeth with no frilly girl between them. They stopped, staring wildly around in shock and outrage. "Where the hell did she go?"

Hell wasn't too far off, at least.

One of the thugs jerked violently, being forced abruptly onto his knee. No, that wasn't right at all. The others took no time in backing away a few feet when they realized that in fact, his lower leg was entirely missing - a couple feet worth swallowed up in the otherwise entirely solid floorboards. The man pressed his hands to the floor, desperately trying to loose it, but he was stuck like concrete. He jolted violently again, now halfway up to his thigh. By then the man could do nothing but open his mouth in horror, offering a pleading expression and an outstretched arm toward all of the comrades who wanted not to so much as touch him. A second later, he had been sucked completely down. The floor rippled for a moment like settling water, and was completely still.

The rest of the crowd slowly backed away, keeping their eyes and weapons trained on the offending spot. The stirring uncertainty of what would happen next made it all the more shocking when a scream emanated from the back of the circle, as one man suddenly slipped entirely down in one jarring motion, leaving nothing behind but his bowler hat.

"Monsters!"
"Sirens."
"No, evil conjurers!" the men fought verbally over what to call the assault, stopping only when from the other side, another one of their numbers was swallowed up by the floor.

"Show yourself, you yellow harpy!" one of the thugs was so brave to say, little knowing that Chik could never pass up an opportunity to show that she was anything but cowardly.

"As you wish," her soft, low voice responded, punctuated by a feminine laugh. Then from the back of the crowd facing Selena's side of the room, she rose up swiftly from below, standing the whole time as though being pushed up on a lift. The magical action only caused the men to jump back in almost a single motion, wrangling them like cattle further into one corner of the room. "Who called for me?"

There was silence for a moment, at least until the offending man was pushed forward by his colleagues as a sacrifice to the demon woman. "Do your worst, but I won't go down so easily."

His gall, along with the fact that the man wasn't entirely bad looking, brought a smirk to the redhead's face. Chikara slipped forward to greet him in one of the few ways she knew how, by wrapping an arm over his shoulder whilst forcing his lips to hers. She kissed him, full of the same fiery passion that she had been using to prove herself in battle, and all the more so after the man put his left arm around her side, embracing her tightly. The other men could only look on in shock, none brave enough to make a move until they'd seen how this played out. They didn't have to wait long.

After a lingering minute or two, the single shot they'd been expecting rang out. The man's right hand had been shakily holding a revolver to her chest nearly the entire length of the kiss, and he'd finally decided to shoot it.

Chik pulled away only an inch, looking up at him with an expression that implied more emotional hurt than physical pain. "I thought we had a good thing going," she frowned, looking down at the soot staining her dress where the gun had been pressed. Yet somehow there was no bullet hole.

A blank? No, that idea was 'shot down' in the instant that a man on the other side of the room, yet directly behind where Chik had been standing, fell down dead. "Did you honestly think I didn't expect that?" the woman asked, placing her hand over his to take the gun away without any argument on his behalf. The man already knew it was over.

She stared at the weapon for a short while, clearly unused to seeing so compact a firearm, then tucked it away into her skirts where he could only presume she had a whole hidden collection of evil death devices. Then Chikara pressed her hand to the man's chest as she gave him one last kiss goodbye. She leaned forward, and to the other men's further horror the woman simply slipped through him like a ghost who knew not the boundaries of physical matter, both individuals seemingly unscathed. The man grew still and slumped over onto the ground, and the bearer of his kiss of death held up her hand for all to see, bloody from the lump of flesh that slowly stopped beating in her grasp.

Chik was quickly met by cries of terror. Most of the men split to either wall, giving her as much distance as possible while attempting to flee for their lives, although more than one man fell forward to wretch on the floor at the unholy sight. But the queen of misery would afford them no mercy.

The bullets continued to fly, none of them hitting their mark, but plenty instead putting dents in the wall, rips in the paintings, and painful holes in their comrades. They were getting desperate.

Chikara, on the other hand, looked completely unfazed. But time was limited before the police would make their move on the estate, and she and Selena couldn't be caught in the middle of anything too maniacal lest they be forced to strike down the officials as well. Time to stop toying with the fools and put them out of their misery.

The woman closed her eyes, blocking out the sound of bullets whirring past like bees, each somehow seemingly enchanted not to harm her. Then all became still. The bullets slowed, humming as they passed through her body, whilst Chik had little trouble phasing out of physical form for a moment so long as they were only shot one at a time. It was tiring, but no more than sliding through walls or the floor. The men moved as though they were climbing through mud, struggling to shift even a few inches over a minute's time. Even Selena seemed significantly delayed, although much less so than the brute bodyguards, whirling about with fierce strength, fire and her own new gun in a strange slow motion. She could hear their rushed heartbeats, taste the fear and adrenaline in the air, even feel the heavy anguish passing through most of these men's minds.

And then it dawned upon her that this must have been what it was like the whole time that she had forgotten. Every major battle in the name of Koridai where the goddess had managed to kill a thousand men in a heartbeat, when she had appeared in a dozen cities at once, when she had razed Olimandias, burned the Woods, crushed the Labyrinth, and boiled the sea, all within minutes of each other…

It wasn't fair. These men didn't stand a chance - not just because she was stronger than the average human, but because she very well might be more powerful than any alive. Not just her speed, but also her strength, her ability to move through material as though all of the elements bowed down to her…no wonder they had made her their goddess. It wasn't out of respect, but fear. Even Selena had created a nation whose sole common objective was to destroy her. What other terrifying things was she capable of, if only her mind would let her remember? But maybe that was the point. Maybe having most of Lazu pulled from her body hadn't caused her to forget the past two years' worth of maddening deeds…perhaps she had unconsciously chosen to mentally block it out because no mere mortal could stay sane under the realization of having so much power and so much death at their fingertips.

Moving so fast that the rest of the world barely stirred had its impact, however. She was no goddess anymore, and definitely hadn't the magical reserves to keep this up for long. Chik rushed to the other side of the room, faster than the men could visibly see, and wrapped an arm around Selena's waist, forcefully pulling her 'sister' down to the ground. Only a handful of her men were left standing out of the dozens who had rushed from the bedrooms upstairs and their guard posts outside after hearing the commotion, but still more than need be left alive for the police to interrogate about the two mysterious women.

She inhaled deeply, more to gather her energy than her breath, and released a single sharp scream, filled to the brim with as much kinetic energy as she could syphon into one blow. The boom was visible as a shimmer in the air, knocking over anyone in the room standing at least at her height. Being the pinnacle of petiteness, no man was spared.

Chikara herself was not entirely unscathed, either. She gently settled herself down onto the floor next to Lena, grabbing at the back of her throbbing head with one hand, whilst pressing her other against her nose where a trickle of blood had let loose. But she was clearly lucky compared to the rest, liquid gushing from their orifices as they released their final death twitches.

Finally the rest of the world felt like it was moving at normal speed again, except for Chik herself, who could barely so much as move her fingers and wanted nothing more than to go promptly to sleep.

[Selena]

If Selena had a piece of gold for every time she'd ended up lying next to Chik with the other woman screaming so loud that it threatened to pop an eardrum....

Well, that thought was better left unfinished. Selena pulled herself off the floor after the supernatural shockwave had been successful in taking out the remaining opposition, but was dismayed when she saw Chikara's immediate state of fatigue. Gah, would she have to babysit her in addition to getting through the rest of the ordeal unscathed? Damn it all, she hadn't been ready for combat - still too used to her unlimited power as a goddess, not the handicapped power of a mere avatar. Stubborn little woman.

"Showboating slut," Selena muttered. "Always desperate to be the best, even if it means passing out from all of your overkill."

Selena would have been content to leave Chik on the floor, but the sound of approaching sirens triggered Selena's inner drama student. Attempting to make it look like the two women had been through utter hell - and were merely the victims in the whole affair - Selena placed Chik's arm around her shoulders and hoisted her up. Dragging the other woman along, Selena exited the main doors of the mansion and started screaming for help, waving as if she were some innocent little maiden that had gotten caught up in the conflict. Several police officers ran up to her - a few to secure the doorway and two to tend to Selena.

"Help!" Selena cried. "My sister and I have been attacked!"

"Is she all right? What happened?"

"We were invited to this party," Selena said in as frantic a manner as possible, "and we overheard a few of the older men discussing syndicate business. They ordered their thugs to attack us in order to keep us quiet, and one thing led to another, and then there were guns all over the place an--"

"Please, slow down!"

One of the officers at the entrance turned back around in what appeared to be horror. "Sir, there's been a massacre! Most of them are dead!"

Selena continued with false tears in her eyes. "One of the men took me into a back room and my sister tried to save me. A fight broke out. My poor sister here wasn't able to defend herself for very long. Weak constitution, I'm afraid. But I had to defend our family's estate from Vildmark raiders when the men in our family were away on business, so I was familiar enough with firearms to hold my own. I was able to dispatch the man who had me cornered, and then I moved quickly to assault the rest."

"You mean.... you did all this?"

Selena nodded. "Yes, sir. Am I going to be in trouble? I really didn't mean to cause unnecessary violence, but with my sister's life at stake..."

"Trouble? Miss, you've just saved my entire team from a terrible firefight! You've given us Yarek and his associates! You're to be rewarded as a hero!"

Selena allowed her eyes to light up. "Really?! No, sir, I really didn't mean to..."

"No, it's wonderful. We'll take both of you down to the police station so that you can recover after your ordeal. There's much we'd like to know, and you're entitled to a reward for assisting with the capture of Mr. Yarek."

"This is too much," Selena said, forcing a blush. "I have to fetch our niece from the apartment we've been staying at, but it won't take me long."

"Certainly, miss. We'll be waiting here for your return."

Selena walked off with Chik in order to recover the slumbering Eliana, and took care to laugh mischievously - quietly - into Chik's ear. That's what she got for showboating. Selena had arranged to take all the credit for herself.

**********

The policemen down at the station had been anxious to hear every word that the "heroine" had to say, and Selena was questioned for at least two hours before they were willing to end the casual interrogation. She admitted that there were a few potential loose ends in her story, but that didn't matter. It wouldn't take long before Selena would be impossible to catch. And, either way, she had gotten rid of a terrible villain and was still entitled to the reward money. One of the older captains at the station waddled over to Selena as she and the other two women sat on a bench in one of the hallways.

"I'm happy to present you with this as a reward," he said, handing out an envelope of money.

"I don't really feel right accepting this..."

"No, it's perfectly justified!"

"Perhaps we could arrange something else? Instead of the money, could my sister and I request a certain other reward?"

"Well, within reason," he said.

"We've always wanted to see one of the great military airships here. Would it be possible to take a tour of one?"

He smiled. "That's no trouble at all. One of the larger airships has recently docked after a lengthy patrol. I'll arrange for a tour tomorrow, if that's all right. I'm sure our boys in the military would be happy to show such lovely ladies around their vessel."

"Thank you so much!" Selena said with almost sickening cheerfulness.

"Not a problem. Again, we are in your debt. I hope your sister will feel better soon."

"Oh, so do I." Selena hugged Chik across the shoulders. "She tries so hard."

With that, the captain walked away and the women were left alone once more. Well, that had gone quite well! They'd gotten to kill off a potential competitor, and now they were going to be within striking distance of both the military and one of their airships. Military grade weaponry and unrivaled air power! All theirs for the taking.

Selena turned to Chik and grinned, fully expecting a hostile reaction. "Well, shall we go home and celebrate my victory?"

[Chikara Nadir]

Much to Selena's surprise, Chik was far from upset at Selena's willingness to take credit for the entire encounter. She could have it, every ounce of praise and every cent willfully given by the law. To a woman raised amidst thieves, this was her interpretation of 'dirty money'.

"I'm glad for you," the redhead said sleepily, petting down the curls on Eliana's head absently as the girl rested against her lap. "You've earned this, oh brave warrior and savior of little ol' me."

Her crimson eyes locked with Selena's, staring her down an expression that was grave and stern. I spent two years as a slave to the limelight, feared by even the smallest of babes for my abilities. What makes you think I would want any attention now? This simply affords me the opportunity to look harmless when we need the element of surprise. And I imagine we're both thinking that time is coming soon.

She suddenly inhaled and released a loud, wailing sob, pushing Eliana gently back onto her own chair and jumping to hug Selena around the shoulders. "Tonight was terrible, just terrible! I wouldn't have a friend in the world but for the best sister a girl could EVER ask for!" She sniffled hard, then pressed her nose into Selena's shoulder and blew.

"That said…I think I'm due for a long walk, actually, to clear my mind. And my nerves, for that matter, lots of stuff went down tonight that's all new and strange to me." Chik gave her 'sister' a smothering kiss on the cheek, then leaned in to whisper into her ear, "Besides, I really don't think we could get away with that kind of celebrating with Eliana around."

With that the woman pushed herself up, sighing at the effort it took just to do so. Now..she might be old, but she certainly didn't look it, and definitely had no right to act it. Just needed to walk around a bit, get the blood flowing. Get some of her supernatural energy back up to par after that crazy encounter earlier.

"You two have fun. Don't get the kid too drunk." Chik took a step forward, wobbled momentarily, then stood up a little straighter and continued onward. She only offered the others a short wave without looking at them before rounding the corner to the hallway and exiting the police station.

The night was crisp, but not entirely clean. That wasn't only the fault of city pollution; Chikara found her lungs burning with the smoke of the night's festivities. Every few minutes a small rouge firework still was let off from a family's porch or yard, sometimes barely missing the softly bobbing airships at port high above. One of them might be the very ship they'd been promised a tour of tomorrow.

"I don't know how you boys did it," she spoke out to the air for nobody to hear. The twinkling stars beyond the dissipating smoke were as good of listeners as any. "Being avatars to Lazu…was it easier for you? I'm sure that Keel and Jinn especially had no trouble finding fun in it and going mad with destruction - you two were probably the ones most responsible for all the craziness I've been blamed for back in the homelands."

She continued down the street, shaking her head - and shivering slightly as well. Chik wasn't so used to temperate weather anymore. Her body had grown too used to the heat of the desert, despite her abhorrence of the piercing sunlight. Even the Labyrinth had been plenty warm, insulted between the warmth of Kakariko above and the hot springs and lava pits below.

"Whole new big world to get used to," she joked to herself, amused at the stupidity of the brutes, and then the police, in believing that story about her weak constitution. Well, they'd find out soon enough.

"Big world's awful scary, alright," came a deep voice from behind her. Chik turned abruptly to see a couple of rather large men with something between grimaces and grins stretched across their unshaven faces. "Awful pity to try finding your way around, all alone."

"Oh, I'm sure I'll find my way just fine," the petite woman responded curtly, turning back to begin her escape. Whilst her remarkable strength in such a small package always came as a surprise to enemies, tonight it was also proving to be quite the nuisance. It didn't take long for one of the thugs to grab her arm and begin to yank her toward a nearby ally.

Chik sighed in frustration, giving her own forceful pull to free herself…and found that she barely budged. Another pull, and she was greeted with nothing but a harsher one back from his direction. No, no - was she really that entirely drained of energy and otherwise physically fatigued, to the point where her muscles couldn't even work against a single untrained buffoon?! "Cute little missy thinks she's gonna go off on her own. Nawww, the night's young and playtime's just begun."

What else could she use to combat these men? If her magic was depleted, then her spork wouldn't respond. Knife was in her boot, couldn't very easily grab it while being pulled so forcefully. Wait, she forgot - that packrat mentality earlier might come in handy after all. Chik fumbled around under her skirts, pulling from them the same revolver she'd stolen earlier from that gangster after their unusual deadly kiss.

"Eat lead, asshole," Chik growled, letting fly a bullet straight into the man's brain. Well, there was the positive side to being so close to him, point blank range. She quickly turned around to fire at the second thug and pulled the trigger again. This time it caught, and refused to fire. "Shit," she mumbled, realizing she had no idea how to make the thing work, or if it was even still loaded. It must have some safety mechanism she didn't know how to deal with.

All she could do was prepare for the blows, first one to her hand to release she had on the weapon, then to her head to knock the girl down. Selena… she struggled to send the single word out through her mental pathway as a distress call to the other woman, but her head felt like it was going to split in half if she continued. The world turned upside down, spinning as she assumed she was being grabbed up again to be carried over the remaining man's shoulder and further into the impending darkness ahead. But this didn't have to be the end. "You can have my money, do whatever you want to me, just…" she hated to admit such weakness in her voice, but it had to be done. "Please don't kill me."

"After what you did to my friend, you think you're going to get out of this alive?" the man snarled, tossing her into a stack of old newspapers and trash. The alley was dark and her vision was blurry from the punch, but Chik had no trouble imagining what he was preparing to do.

"I think that's exactly what the lady is going to do."

That was a different voice altogether, higher but still clearly male. A police officer from the station who had followed her path? The sound of a gun firing and the following thud of the street ruffian's body falling at her feet seemed to corroborate this theory.

"Are you unharmed?" the new male voice whispered, suddenly close to her. It sounded familiar somehow, perhaps one of the officers she'd personally met while being interrogated about the goings on at the mansion.

"I'll be alright, just need some ice," Chik said with as much a smile as she could muster, breathing deep with the sort of relief that she was entirely unused to feeling. He reached his hand down to grasp hers, and began to pull the now filthy woman up from her heap of trash. She stumbled, now far weaker than she had been just a few incredibly long minutes ago. "And some beef, cooked rare. Anemia, you see, I should have never been that helpless." Not entirely untrue, but it was more that fresh blood tended to be a good source of quick energy for her. But no need to explain those details to the man, she could get all the help she needed from Selena. "Just get me down to the station and I'll figure out the rest."

Surprisingly, she was met with a few seconds of silence, followed by the response, "That just won't do." Unannounced, Chik found herself suddenly being picked up again, this time in the new man's arms rather than over his shoulder as the brute had done. But just when she had began to tense up again in fear, something in his scent became remarkably familiar. He wasn't an officer - this was the thief who had kissed her earlier in the evening before making an escape! "I hope you will forgive me for being unable to speak to the police at the moment. I'm sure that my presence alone won't tip them off that I had been at the Yarek's mansion, but they're bound to start asking questions about how I met you, why I happened to be nearby…and although you seem to be oblivious to who I am, I think the station's men might find reason to give me more attention than I have the time for."

The man had begun to walk to the edge of the alley, where Chik could just make out the shape of a large covered carriage with a man in charge of controlling the reins. Yet there were no horses…were they down the street, relieving themselves? "Jiles, we will be having company tonight. Make the ride smooth, she's been injured by a physical assault and will be in need of Miss Florien's aid when we arrive at the estate."

She assumed that Jiles was the driver of the cart, but from there could make little sense of things. "Where are you taking me?" Chikara asked, not necessarily afraid of his gentlemanly habits…but still not ready to place her undying trust in him. "You were wrong before, I'm no thief out to compete for anyone's treasure. I'm just a traveler who keeps finding herself in the wrong place at the wrong time, and my sister will be worrying about me."

"Yes, but you're also injured, and the hospitals tonight will be packed with drunken fools who have half burned their fingers off from firecrackers," the man insisted, helping her into the cart where a soft velvet seat awaited. "I'll arrange for a message to be left at the station in your name in case your sister inquires. Just stay quiet about any illegal nonsense and enjoy the ride. You're in an automated carriage, you know. Less than two dozen sold publicly in the city, and three of them belong to me! You'd faint if you heard the pricetag for just one!"

The seat was far too comfy, and her heard overwhelmingly heavy, but Chik couldn't quite let herself fall asleep, not without knowing who this man was and whether she'd be bound to wake up in a worse situation yet. Automated carriage? Was that supposed to mean that it had no horses? Well, the time had passed for subtleties. "And who the hell are you, to spend that much money and flaunt it about to the wind ? And so soon after publicly showing yourself - then conveniently disappearing right in the nick of time - from the city's biggest party-turned-slaughter? Are you supposed to be the world's best crook or just the city's most deranged liar?"

"Oh, heavens, no!" He laughed heartily at her remark, leaning back into the cushions on the seat opposite her as they rode faster than any standard horse-drawn carriage down the cobblestone streets and past taller and taller buildings and the great clock tower, which chimed thrice to chastise all listeners for still being awake at this late hour. "I'm the Duke of Vatenbaer!"

[Selena]

"Come on, kid. Let's go get some shut-eye. We have another big day ahead of us," Selena said.

She nudged her young charge off the bench and led her out of the police station. The pair proceeded back toward the hotel at a rambling pace - the opposite direction that Chikara was heading in. Selena looked over her shoulder at the disappearing figure of her rival, wondering if it was a good idea to leave her alone. Chik had had enough time to recover her energy stores, hadn't she? They were elite warriors. Two hours should have been enough for Chikara to recapture a fair amount of her power. Then again, they were a long way from the Labyrinth, and Lazu's influence over the world had waned since the last great battle. When Selena had called upon it earlier, it felt like it had been diluted. No matter how much energy she tried to channel, it was never as much as she wanted. For Chik to have used the power displayed at the mansion, she must have channeled quite a lot. That would have explained the unusual drain.

"Why didn't you kill her?"

The unexpected question pulled Selena out of her thoughts. "What?"

"Her. When you had the chance. Why did you bring her back to Koridai?"

"For someone who never talks, you sure do ask some heavy-hitting questions," Selena said. Eliana's constant, piercing glare indicated that there would be no avoiding the subject. "Our relationship is complicated. I've had many chances to kill her. I seriously contemplated it this time, but, well, there was a way to avoid it."

"I was hoping you would."

"Why? She pampers you," Selena said.

"She single-handedly killed every person I cared about, and then she started treating me like I was some kind of personal weapon. I want her to die."

"Well, of course you want her to die," Selena said as if it were obvious. "Everyone wants her to die! She's very killable. I spent the first few centuries of my long life plotting to decapitate her, mount her head on a pike, and then rule in her place. When you live as long as we do, however, you forget why you were so mad after a while. The game of killing her became more entertaining than the actual act of killing her. It's a love-hate thing. I'd have nothing left to live for if I didn't have her to fight with!"

"I just want you to know that you're a disappointment for not going through with it," Eliana said, her nose slightly upturned.

"You're obnoxious and should go back to being silent."

The two rounded a corner, and the dingy hotel came into view. They avoided a few late night revelers and drunks on the street, as neither female wanted to be barfed on, and arrived at the entrance to their temporary place of residence. Selena opened the door and the young girl went inside, but a sudden, foreign thought struck her. It was Chik, but.... it was a weak connection. Pleading? Yes, Chikara was calling for her, but she was barely able to do so. For however much Selena bickered with the other woman, she was immediately stricken with a wave of concern. What is it? When there was no reply, Selena turned back to face the street. Dammit. Now she'd have to hunt her down. Eliana poked her head back outside.

"What is it?"

"You might get your wish, kid. Something's wrong with her," Selena said. "I'm gonna go find her."

"I'm going with you."

Selena made a face. "What? Why? Stay here."

"I want to see her mutilated body."

Selena turned back. "That's how the love-hate thing starts, you know. You're gonna get obsessed."

"Find her."

---------------------------

Now, finding Chikara was going to be a difficult matter. Selena had a faint awareness of the other woman's unique 'spirit,' but pinpointing her exact location was next to impossible. A sort of intuition urged Selena to head north. Back toward the police station, then on further into the unknown. She was on the hunt, moving at a rapid pace, her eyes constantly shifting over the urban terrain. She had to commend Eliana for keeping up, especially in the dress. The kid might have had potential after all. After twenty minutes, Selena detected the scent of blood and closed in on a dark alleyway. A body was there - missing the inside of his skull - and that seemed to indicate that she was on the right trail. Chikara had used the gun she'd stolen. Not magic. Something was wrong.

"What's this?"

Selena went to Eliana and examined what the young girl was pointing at. A black, watery substance on the ground. Selena ran her finger through it. Somewhat warm. She brought her to her tongue and immediately flinched from the horrid taste. Ugh! Oil of some kind! Oil... used in machinery, right? There was a faint trail of it left behind from whatever it belonged to. A small train, or some other kind of traveling machine? At least she had a trail to follow.

"We follow it," Selena said.

The pair ran through the city streets, following small splotches of oil left behind on the pavement. At one point they lost the trail at a crossing, causing a delay, but Selena found it again. Their path took them up to what seemed like a richer part of the city. There were no run down-shacks here. No grungy hotels. Everything was posh and elegant. There were statues in yards and buildings with thick iron gates. Nothing in Khuffie's great capital had been like it. Nothing in Koridai had been like it. This was a new level of luxury, and, on some level, it made Selena uncomfortable. This was not her kind of place.

They went on and on, even though Eliana was tired and her legs were sore, journey deeper into the upper-crust of Vatenbaer society. Chikara's signature was growing stronger by the minute, but where in the hell had she gone?

[Chikara Nadir]

Chikara had been tired and worn out, but she had also promised herself to at least keep her wits about her until she could find any evidence to the contrary of her belief that this man, whoever he was outside of outlandish claims, was not to be trusted in any fashion. And she kept to her word, forcing the supposed duke to engage in conversation through their entire trip despite his protests that she rest and spare her energy. The only problem was, he kept asking questions about her.

"I've been to that part of the country a dozen times in my lifetime, and cannot for the life of me remember there being a lake around there," he insisted, dark eyes lingering on Chikara's face far too long for her liking. "When we reach my estate I shall have to request regional maps from the library, so that you can point out exactly where your home lies."

Chik scrunched up her nose, a telltale sign of her irritation. "No, you won't find it on most maps. My family has owned the land surrounding the lake for generations, and I can never recall any cartographers requesting permission to draw up anything besides our property's outline."

"Your family owns it all, you say?" He looked surprised, continuing to stare at her all the while that he fidgeted with his black leather gloves, slowly removing them and using a silk handkerchief to start cleaning out some of the blood from the alley encounter before it began to set. "Surprising for that area, most people not of royal lineage are only permitted plots within their lifetime. Your family must be in good company with Baron Remeer."

"Oh, yes," she faked a smile in response. "When I was younger, my family would spend a week visiting his every summer. Those were good days."

"You must have been quite young indeed," the man quickly responded in turn, as though his words had been rehearsed long before they met his lips, "considering that Remeer has been dead for nearly thirty years. His son-in-law, Sir Norath, now presides over the region."

Th man finally lowered his eyes, only to pull a pocketwatch from his inner coat pocket, snapping it open and then closed again within a few seconds' time. "If I were to ask your family name, I'm sure it would be a lie. So, well bred as you claim to be, do you at least know mine?"

Chik stared, her smile paper-thin. "I do not."

"And the name of our blessed queen?"

She offered the man only a sigh as a terms of surrender, raising her hands an inch then dropping them back to her lap for effect. "I am a mercenary from outside your nation, if that's what needs to be said for you to stop interrogating me."

"From your accent and your lack of proper etiquette, I gathered as much. From Vildmark?" the man stuffed both his pocketwatch and his handkerchief back into his pocket.

"No, further than that." She thought for a moment, then considered a brave move. "My real name is Chikara. I was named for the ancient queen who now rules the nation of Koridai. My sister and I once served in her elites, so I suggest you not harm me lest you seek the wrath of the great Western magics."

That was not the answer that the man intended on hearing, but he seemed instantly re-enchanted by her in an entirely new way. "And my title is Duke Torrin, but for lack of expecting you to remember any of the other titles and surnames I was born into…you may call me Helith. It's a very untraditional name for our nation, but my father had a fascination with the very land you claim to hail from, and said the word was derived from an ancient term for the sun."

Now was Chik's turn to be surprised. Even before the great destruction that she had caused under the guise of the god Lazu, there were few books left in the world that were old enough to remember terms like that. Luckily for her, she was also older than most books. "Your father was correct. My niece's name comes from the same origin." She had been the one to choose that name.

"And yours…considering how recently I understand Chikara rose to power, I'm surprised someone our age would share her name." Inwardly, she was curious how old he thought she was. But Helith had already dropped the topic, and was pulling loose his cufflink to roll up one of his sleeves. Around the man's wrist he wore an unusual circlet, a solid gold bracelet adorned only with a simple hammered design and a few words in an ancient tongue carved into one side. The bracelet might have had far more to read once upon a time, but only a small set of scrawl was still legible. "He also had a collection of artifacts bartered from the continent, and gave very specific instructions in his will for no one to handle this but myself."

Chik took far too long to read it, not even realizing how close she had let herself lean over toward him to stare at the scrambled words with her one eye that wasn't swollen up from the attack in the alley. "Wind, racing like horses, honored messenger…" she stopped, staring up at the man with instant understanding. He hadn't used magic to sneak through the mansion earlier and disappear even from her own sight within the blink of an eye - it was just the work of an old enchanted relic that still had some speed-oriented magic left in it. "This thing can probably only give you bursts of speed for, what, several seconds at a time?"

"And the more I use it, the fewer runes are left carved into the thing," Helith admitted, quickly pulling his sleeve down again. "It's just a parlor trick, but no one must know of the thing's magic - for the same reason that you must stay completely silent about any Western powers you might be imbued with. Of course I could be sent to prison for my occasional slight of hand from fellow ultra-wealthy, but they could lock me up twice as long for possessing this thing and not surrendering it to the government. Uncontained magic without express permit can be considered a national threat and thus a call for treason, and anyone who has gone against Her Majesty's law and learned how to hone the dark arts…"

The carriage slowly drew to a halt, and Helith's tone became a whisper as he drew close to Chik, hurriedly finishing, "Your features are far too delicate to be ruined by being locked up in a laboratory for testing, let alone executed by firing squad. Whatever skills you have…do to anyone who sees them exactly as you I know you did to Yarek and his entire branch of the Melchior family: kill them."

He began to rise, reaching for the carriage door, but Chik grasped at the man's hand to stop him while they still had a moment of privacy. "I don't understand. You know I'm a murderer - were probably hiding somewhere nearby and watching the whole thing, for all I know - but you're doing everything you can to protect me. And you claim to be incredibly wealthy, so what's the point in stealing from thugs and risking treason for having that old relic on you?"

The man responded with a toothy smile, far too warm and genuine for her to feel any more comfortable with. "For the same reason that you spent an entire evening wining and dining a group of men that you had no intention of letting live…and the same reason that I know the police report for tonight will say that you request no reward. Hah, for the same reason that I risk you telling anyone of my own dark secrets. Because with your strength and my affluence, sometimes people like us simply get bored."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Within the half hour, the Duke had given Chikara a luxurious lifestyle that dared to rival her wildest memories of godship in Koridai. Florien, who she could only assume was the head of the house's live-in staff, had been the first to greet them at the tall wooden door with glazed glass in delicate flower patterns, inside which lay a foyer decorated by china urns and a high crystal chandelier that sparkled all the more as it turned mechanically on the ceiling. Each corridor was more opulent than the last; first the gleaming copper pots and white tile of the kitchen, where Florien patted antiseptic against Chikara's broken brow while the head chef insisted on stuffing wine and sausage down her throat. Even at this late hour, he claimed that a feast was being prepared for when more guests arrived.

Next was what she was told was one of the estate's smaller baths in the very next room, chosen for her to privately clean herself up because of its personal water tank, facing the same wall as the kitchen oven. The bath was hot, steaming even. It was unheard of back in the West; even water boiled in buckets then brought upstairs to her Arbiter Grounds tub had been tepid at best by the time it reached her skin. There were fresh towels waiting for her and a simple cotton dress to replace her muddied and ruined attire for the time being. She closed her eyes and sank into the hot water up to her lip until her fingertips wrinkled like raisins.

The level of hospitality was unnerving. If these people honestly believed that they were doing Chik a major favor and that she should be grateful, they clearly did not understand her motivations for being in their nation.

Then, as though there were an unheard bang at the door, Chik snapped up straight, splashing water wildly across the tile floor. She jumped to her feet and out of the tub, grabbing onto the towel rack to prevent herself from slipping and falling as she hurriedly damp-dried her hair and threw the dress on, not bothering with any of the outlandishly over-covering undergarments left for her. Barefoot and still fastening the tie around her waist, the woman ran at full speed back down the hallway, leaving wet footsteps down the thick rug than was spread down its entire length.

The front door was in sight, but already open by the time she could make out that Helith was standing there, staring at two familiar figures down the garden path. They had followed the trail all this way?

"I presume that you are Lady Chikara's…sister and niece?" the Duke called out, bowing his head slightly toward the two women out in the darkness. "We've been expecting you."

[Selena]

There was a brief, fleeting moment where both Selena and Eliana looked like a pair of clueless detectives that had been caught by the opposition - they were held in uncomfortable limbo, unsure of whether to flee or storm forward. Selena especially did not like the fact that this man was so cordial. Cordial people were disturbing. All just a pretense. He didn't appear to be menacing. Perhaps Chikara had simply gone off to have a late night encounter with a dashing gentleman. But that couldn't have been right. There was more to this situation than met the eye. She'd sounded as if she had been in a state of distress. The woman in question came flying down the nearby staircase, damp and clothed in a new dress, and seemed to have no desire to kill the mysterious person.

For however much Selena enjoyed mayhem and chaos, she was quickly taken out of her element when she wasn't sure where she should be focusing all that destructive energy. The rich, foreign setting - with all its new wonders - was not helping her state of confusion. She tightened her posture, standing tall and proud, hoping to look confident and dangerous. She marched into the entryway of the well-furnished home with no regard for manners or civility. Eliana followed, slinking in like a demon puppy following its master while simultaneously hoping to avoid attention.

"Who are you?" Selena demanded, pointing at the gentleman. "And how did my 'sister' end up in your company?"

He smiled, amused by her behavior. "Please, calm yourself. I escorted the lady to my home with the very best of intentions. She had a run-in with the less wholesome members of society, I'm afraid. I brought her to my home to tidy up and recover."

...What? Even if Chik had gotten into trouble with someone on the street, she would have been able to handle it on her own. Right? But then, there had been evidence of a gunshot. Had that been Chik's doing, or the mans? All so confusing.

"You neglected to mention your name," she said.

He bowed. "My name is Helith. I'm the Duke of Vatenbaer, and I am at your service, madame."

Oh, wonderful, they'd attracted the attention of nobility. Cover imminently blown. Selena shifted her gaze, now somewhat accusatory, to Chikara. "What happened?"

[Chikara Nadir]

Startled by Selena's first and only question of her, Chikara pulled the bindings of her loose robe-like dress a little tighter and shook her head quickly to let loose the teardrops of moisture clinging to her hair. Lord Helith looked less than amused at her dog-like behavior when it ended in water splashing onto a nearby oil painting.

"Not whatever you think happened," Chik responded firmly in a low tone, letting her eyes bounce back and forth between the two parties as though she weren't sure which one to join, and which to be defensive against. "I was ambushed, two large men. You know how anemic I can get."

He saw everything at Yarek's place, even my mass execution, she called out to Selena and without missing a beat, rushed over to her to hug the taller women around the shoulders. Her head throbbed slightly from the effort of a telepathic communication, but not nearly as bad as right after her face had been busted open. "Oh, how scary the whole thing was. But with our training in her majesty's army, I didn't show an ounce of fear. Did I, Helith?"

"I…of course not," the man responded after clearing his throat, startled by the suddenness of her personal tone. He turned to Selena and added, "Your sister took one of them out with little effort before I arrived. Lucky that I had been there."

I've convinced the fool that all of our inconsistencies with Virrat are because we escaped from Koridai so that our niece could be raised in a safer world. He's every kind of rich we've ever dreamed of robbing, but too important and well connected to get away with heisting. For now. "And I'm so glad you two are alright, with all the madness outside," the redhead loosed her grip on Selena and immediately leaned down to cling onto Eliana, who shrank back in recoil as if Chikara were covered in bees. He's warned me that the nation does not look kindly upon undocumented magic users, but he also seems too amused by our illegal status to care. You two…be careful. The youngest of the girls looked up at Selena, just now realizing that both of them could hear Chik in their head.

"I assumed that you would be hot on your sister's trail," the Duke continued, so as to break what he assumed was silence, "and had the kitchen prepare our best ducks and a healthy yearling cow. Lady Chikara did say that meat might help her recover more quickly, which sounds suspiciously like an iron deficiency. I can have the family's personal doctor here first thing in the morning if her state has not improved dramatically by then."

He turned to the side, stretching out an arm with a devastating amount of grace and dignity. "Until then, if you ladies would be so kind as to grace my late supper with your presence? I promise that you will be free to ask any questions you desire, and I will repay your patience with wine and the art of the best chef in the city. His crème brûlée is to die for."

[Selena]

Oh, for the love of....

Leave it to Chik to get them locked into a situation this awkward and potentially dangerous. The involvement of food was the likely reason behind it all. Chik would have sold off half of the Labyrinth in order to get a very nice slice of cake. Selena crossed her arms and glared at Helith when he offered her the late supper. She had no reason to trust him. The food could be poisoned. She would have snapped his neck simply for having seen the battle at Yarek's manor, as he might be able to find out their identities, but he was immune. Too high ranking to go missing. It'd be more trouble than it was worth. For as experienced as Chik was in the art of war, she had gotten them locked in what looked like a no-win situation. The only thing that might have been on their side was luck... and that seldom worked out in Selena's favor.

"A doctor will not be required," Selena spat. "We would be... honored to stay for dinner, however."

He seemed to sense her irritation, and became a bit nervous as a result, but he managed a smile. "Good. This way, please."

Helith led them into the room he had gestured to, opening a pair of engraved double doors. The dining hall matched the grandeur of the rest of the house. A massive oak table, full of fine dishes, was covered in white cloth. The chairs were padded with blue cushions of some kind. A massive chandelier hung from the center of the ceiling, hovering over the table like hail falling from the sky during a winter storm. There was an impressive wine rack on the far wall, and all sorts of delectable foods had been set out in advance for them. Selena had to grab Chik by the shoulder to keep the other woman from charging forward and mauling the meat as if she was a lion on the savannah.

Instead, Selena waited as Helith took a seat at the head of the table. She selected one of the chairs in fairly close proximity, figuring that if something was going to happen, Selena would be better prepared to fight as close range than Chik was - Selena had always been the one to favor melee strikes. Eliana took a seat next to her and immediately began devouring a bread roll.

"I introduced myself," Helith said, "and Miss Chikara has given me her name. I'm afraid I've yet to learn yours."

"That's because I'd prefer to keep it to myself."

He poured her a glass of wine. "I suppose that's fair."

"Forgive me for being short with you," Selena said, "but in my experience, when mysterious figures begin to act too hospitable to strangers caught out of their element, there tends to be a butchering knife beneath the butter tray."

Helith lifted the tray. "Just a regular butter knife, I'm afraid. Anything more than that would be messy at the dinner table."

"Why are you being kind to suspicious strangers?"

"As I was telling your sister, I am not immune to boredom. I find amusement in peculiar, unorthodox things," he said with a smile. "I'm not a very good noble, I'm afraid. Very little patience for it, especially in this political setting. Corruption has taken both countries by the throat since the breaking of the old empire. Any joy that could have been found in my expected responsibilities has been tarnished. Drink your wine."

"It's full of drugs that will allow you to take advantage of me."

"No, that's just the alcohol. It's naturally found in wine."

Selena sighed and took a swi-- wow. Not bad at all. Expensive stuff. Stuff you didn't find near the bodies of recently slain guards or common mooks. She needed to start killing richer men. As she felt no ill effects, she tested a bite of meat and found that it was equally suitable. She stared back at him. "...Very well."

"I'm happy that you approve," he said. "Will you answer one of my questions?"

"No."

It was then that Selena shot a glare over to Chikara. You! BE CHARMING!

[Chikara Nadir]

Charming?! Was Selena being serious? Chik was a soldier and a deviant, who only knew how to charm men into her bedchambers. Seeing as the Duke seemed to have no immediate interest in that, her options were beyond limited.

"I'll answer any of your questions, Helith," Chikara jumped into the conversation abruptly, jumping up from her seat and with the ferocity of a hungry dog, skipping over to where the man sat to wrap an arm over his shoulder from behind. In her loosely draped robe-like dress, her chest was pressed firmly against the man's back. Into his ear she quietly continued, "It's the least I can do for the man who saved my life."

However, Helth managed to look more uncomfortable than amused, blushing outright at her less than ladylike display. "Madame," he leaned back quickly to force Chik off of him, although he did manage to snatch up her hand and give it a delicate, gentlemanly kiss before releasing her quickly. Not one to ignore the point, the dejected redhead departed back to her nearby seat. Well enough, if he wouldn't accept her attention, it would go entirely toward her food instead "I only ask questions to which I believe I will get a straight answer." He winked, as if to keep it all in good humor that he didn't trust a word coming out of her mouth.

"Unanswered personal questions notwithstanding, I think I may have some entertainment for you ladies. The sort which you'd be hard pressed to stay silent about."

Chikara raised her eyebrow, taking a moment to swallow a huge chunk of steak before responding, "I don't follow you. Do you want to show us more of your new-fangled inventions, of the only-three-others-in-the-entire-city variety?"

The duke laughed heartily, busying his own hands by neatly cutting his duck into pieces easily three times smaller than the giant morsels the girls were attacking. "Well, yes, I do have plenty of those. Judging by your display tonight, I think you might be interested in some of the newest technology in handheld flamethrowers. I also have a patent for a single-person steam-powered flying pack that should be out on the market in a couple of months, and a music box that can play hours worth of true-to-life orchestrated music on a single electrically charged battery. Wonderful for picnics."

Chik had since dropped her fork back down to the plate, almost forgetting that she had another half-chewed piece of meat in her mouth. "Flamethrower?" She wasn't even able to pretend which item held the greatest interest to her. "And why would you want us to see these things, other than showing off?"

Helith continued to laugh, even being so bold as to reach over and place a hand on Selena's shoulder. "You ladies have quite the sense of humor. But I like your moxie. Never afraid to get right to the point, that's a rare trait to find nowadays in even the best of men, let alone a woman." Chik stood up a little straighter at that comment, but only went as far as clenching her fist. Not the time to get physically violent over his comments.

"But you're right," the Duke continued, "I would love for you three to do me a simple favor in return. As I've already explained to Lady Chikara, my father had quite the fascination with your homeland and thus accrued what competes to be the largest collection of western antiquities in the nation. Over recent years I have donated a fair handful of books and scrolls to the city's museums for the mutual benefit of having them translated, but I would be a fool to let anyone with a native talent toward the languages of today and yesteryears leave here without at least taking a gander at the collection. Beyond what I assume to mostly be scripture books and written histories, I also have quite the display of ancient armor and weaponry."

Helith stabbed a brussels sprout off his plate, relishing it with a swig of wine. "I promise you will not be disappointed."

[Selena]

Selena made a face at the sight of Helith consuming one of those horrid vegetable sprouts. She had only been able to choke two of the things down before deciding that they were unfit for human consumption. Awful! Best to concentrate on business and forget about her unsightly side dish.

"So, in exchange for your patronage, you want us to sort through your collection of imported goodies and do a bit of translating?"

"Something like that," Helith answered. "If you could also give me information on their purpose and history, that would also be a blessing."

"Shouldn't be too difficult. I doubt you own anything that I haven't seen before," Selena said.

"You may be surprised. Some of these items are well over five hundred years old."

Her eyes flashed with a hint of mischief. "I know."

Helith searched her expression, knowing that there was now more to Selena that met the eye, but he chose not to inquire further into her history. "Well, any information you can offer me will be greatly appreciated."

Selena speared a piece of meat. "Deal."


* * *

The duke led them to the east wing of his grand home and unlocked a heavy wooden door near the edge of the building. He shoved it open and led them inside, revealing displays that were better suited to a national museum. Pieces of armor from several different eras had been assembled in strong, intimidating poses. Scrolls were kept under glass and key. Weaponry lined the walls. Books were placed neatly on antique shelves along the back walls. The sight and smell of the ancient relics immediately threw a wave of nostalgia over Selena. It was like walking into a room back in Verden, even though she knew it wasn't real. Maybe that's what animals felt when they were thrown into a zoo pen designed to resemble their native environment.

There were so many artifacts that Selena was unsure of where to begin. "Do you want to start with anything in particular?"

Helith was also a bit overwhelmed by the possibilities, clearly not having planned for a tour with surprise guests from the west. He shifted in place, trying to decide on a direction, before finally pointing at the suits of armor. "Why not start with the biggest displays? The armor, if you will."

Selena walked up to the nearest display and had no trouble recognizing it. She tapped on the metal greaves with her knuckles and couldn't help but smirk. "This armor belonged to a pikeman loyal to the Hall of Heroes. It was a society sworn to uphold law and order. Nonsense like that. Given the look of the armor, I'd say it came from their later years. Just before they entered civil war and collapsed in on themselves."

"And this one?"

The next display was a long robe with various bits of metal armor serving as an outer layer. Not terribly sturdy - and not meant for close range fighting. "That comes from the Chamber of Sages. A mage would have worn it. They used ranged magical attacks, so they didn't need the heavyweight gear for a proper brawl. The Chamber sent their Sages out at mercenaries in various conflicts. Always with their own agenda behind it, of course. Their detractors referred to their home as 'The Chamberpot,' for the record."

"I've heard of their arcane magic, and I do have a small collection of scrolls that can be used to summon up low-end spells, but genuine magic users haven't been seen here for some time. How much of their population had.... the gift?"

"Almost all of them - they found a way to... inject their people with it. I never learned how they managed to do so, but it was effective. Some kind of mutation, people said." Selena turned her attention to another display of armor - this one decked out in black and red paint. Labyrinth! She smiled and hoisted herself up onto the stand to properly examine it. "Here we go!"

"Is that one special?"

"Belonged to someone in the Labyrinth! 'They' never had a genuine uniform - always stole things from battlefields and the like. Every ensemble was unique." Selena squinted and leaned in close. "This one was small, so it must have been used by a woman. Oh, you have some Labyrinth weapons over th--"

Selena stopped short, hopped off the display, and ran over to the weapon rack. She pulled a boar spear off the wall and immediately tested the weight. She looked back to Chikara like an excited child.

"MINE!"

Helith paused. "Pardon me?"

"Um, I mean, I really like it. Have a thing for spears, that's all. Especially Labyrinth ones," Selena quickly covered up. "You can keep it, naturally, just.... you know. It's neat."

"Of course."

When Helith looked away, Selena waved wildly at the spear and smiled over to Chik. It's mine, it's mine, it's mine!