Koga stepped out of his room rubbing his eyes tiredly, his perpetual exhaustion seemingly unperturbed by the soft bed and relative quiet he'd had the good fortune of enjoying last night. The man wondered if the other two were awake yet (he hoped not, he wasn't ready to deal with people yet, no matter how close he was to them) and turned his gaze down the hall, just in time to watch NIGHT and DAY walk out of the same door together.
The same door.
Koga squinted for a moment, and then rubbed his eyes, trying to confirm that his near sightedness hadn't suddenly returned in-game.
Yeah, no, they just walked out of the same door.
"Morning," the man waved at the two before turning and heading towards the prospect of some food and caffeine, far too tired to try and puzzle out why DAY had been so set on having a room for herself, only to spend the night with NIGHT anyways.
only night would stop in her tracks at having been caught by someone she knew. this point was of relevant note, because day was the one who stepped forward falling behind koga, grin on her face, as though completely unaware of the revelation that had just transpired. "good morning to you too, koga!"
and the player cursed herself inwardly for not having imposed the early leave when she knew it to be for the better--
so she shambled behind them, hollow and indifferent (read: debased by frustration and ire), as the trio made their way snaking towards the eatery just a short walk away. it was only when her double fell in speed to match night's pace that she was able to shoot her half a sharp glare.
"i told you so."
"and what good was it to worry about it? it's not like he asked about it." the construct had her hands locked in a clasp behind her back, and the grin on her face spoke of little regrets from their accident. it fell when night opened her mouth to object. "ah-- no, don't worry about it. you can put the blame of it completely on me. it was my idea to begin with, after all."
"yeah," the player retaliated, arms folded and a volume a little too unadjusted for social norms, "and if you'd just told me from the beginning this wouldn't have to happen."
"but that would spoil the surprise! even you had to admit it was an ingenious idea."
"oh, you and your big mouth."
the two continued pacing, and night stewed in the joy of her equal. the nerve of complacency. she seethed as her words flickered in a whisper -- "see, if you'd just be a little quieter--"
"--like you should be now?" came the smile and corrective mention. and night silenced herself unwillingly, offended, turning away from her partner in crime. "you've got so much col, anyway. it was a small price to pay for a good time!"
the look she returned the doppel was ineffable, to day's unspoken dismay. "and if you had a little more tact, you'd know we're with company this time." then, the woman headed through the door into a tavern, with the construct left shrugging and tailing her companion without complaint.
their exchange after was kept to low volumes.
"you remember you could've said no, right?"
"i know that."
"then i rest my case."
night groaned, rolling her eyes before shooting daggers the entity's way. she stopped in her steps, teeth bared. "you."
"me."
"i'm blaming you for this."
and the construct was just as unbothered, demeanor confident. her hand shifted to her chest as she strutted past her companion, leaning in as they shuffled along. "that was what i was going for, yes." her eyes never left the player, and night could feel the stare bearing down on herself, as sleep was threatening to take hold of her once again. "so hey, whatever helps you sleep better at night, right? c'mon, isn't that still me?"
"shut. up."
the two of them would only find silence once seated at a table for three.
A part of Koga was tempted to inform the two women who'd trailed behind him that he was, in fact, not stone-cold deaf, and that he could indeed hear them. The rest of Koga, which had enough sanity and societal wherewithal to recognize that that was not likely not a very smart move if he intended to keep his paltry few remaining friendships intact.
Besides, it didn't take a genius to figure out what they'd been doing.
As soon as the trio were seated, Koga slouched in his chair, crossed his arms and let his head hang back, eyes closed, only opening them again when a server appeared. "Coffee for me, please. If you've got any honey, I'll take some of that as well," he said when it was his turn to order, and then promptly going back to his pseudo-sleep.
A couple of moments of silence passed before Koga actually said anything to the other two in the form of a question. "So did you guys really burn Col for that last night?"
"whatever the standard meal is."
night hadn't been attentive, but she swore she could've seen the display of a breakfast spread when walking in. no taste, but the player could afford some semblance of normalcy for the time being. as night caught her friend failing to stir, she thought it best to be quiet whilst waiting for their order to arrive.
it was a well needed pause for everyone involved.
so picture this: three party members, sat almost in a line at a round table, each with their own level of duress marked in their expression. and if night and day had been two extremes -- the former taut, arms folded, and the latter nothing short of sunbeams -- then koga had been placed unjustly in the middle; a casual, uncaring slumber.
until the query was asked.
"well, what else is col going to be used for?"
and night wanted the world to have swallowed her up just then. witnessing cardinal mistakenly deciding to be unforgiving made her wish she could dig her own grave instead, if aincrad wasn't going to do it for her.
"y'know," day continued, leaning forward with her chin set to the back of her hands, "i don't think it comes as a surprise to you, koga, but with a farming build like night's, you tend to turn out the pretty penny. there's no shame in spending it once in a while."
even so, the player remained quiet, lips pulled back into her mouth. her entity, however, leaned a cheek towards her makeshift rest. "so, did you manage to get a good night's sleep after all?"
that was good sign if their friend responded in the affirmative, right? after all, he looked like he--
"you looked like you needed it."
then what about night...?
the player rolled her head to face the construct, away from koga, expression pained.
Feeling more combative than usual in his morning exhaustion, Koga tried to find some flaw in DAY's logic as NIGHT grimaced beside her, anguish evident on her face. Finding no sound rebuttal Koga simply let out a quiet "Mm-", humming in acknowledgement. If you got the Col, might as well use it, he supposed. Though he still felt that that perhaps wasn't the wisest use of their money. Whatever floats their boat.
"Well, probably got more sleep than you two," Koga answered as he opened his eyes and sat up somewhat proper in his chair, only to immediately ruin that by leaning forward with his elbows on the table. "Not that matters much. Anyways, what's the plan for today. Head over to Ordsea and find...who was it we were supposed to talk to? President? Police Chief?" Was there even police chief's in Aincrad? Captain of the Guard seemed more thematically appropriate here.
now to talk business -- that was something night could do. though after the events of the past day (why transport wasn't offered towards yvlon at the end of the last quest, the player wasn't sure), even her own memory had been foggy on the details. and it wasn't as though she'd taken notes down on the basis that she'd remember what they were supposed to do.
be it that the folly of human strike the players again.
night cracked her eyes open in earnest, emotions falling to neutrality. so too had day's, she realized, gaze towards her entity. for a moment, she wondered if their forgetfulness had been easily identified by the construct. the grin turned her way told her so.
"president brienne," day reminded the party. she raised a finger to gesture with, waving it around in a circle in the air. "we were supposed to head his way to let him know about the supposed sabotage."
"about the fire?" the pieces fell into place once she had that jostle of a reminder, and to that her counterpart nodded.
"to that, we'll need to find transport over to ordsea, the next region."
and night considered the situation curiously, just as the platter she'd ordered was set onto the table. eggs sous vide, bacon and a few pieces of toast. perhaps the servings were already prepared for issuing, for some of her meals components did seem a little cold. she moved to break the egg, dipping a slice of bacon into the running yolk. "what good would a president do about this, though? hell, is it even reasonable that this floor has a president in the first place...?"
the entity shrugged, looking towards koga as the waiter had placed a cup of coffee down. "beats me. until we get there, none of us are going to know, it seems."
"so much for insight," the player joked, half hearted, taking a bite of her meal.
Praise the gods that the other two had a better memory than he did. Even if Koga had been at full wakefulness (or at least what passed for being fully awake for him) he doubted he would have remembered any of that.
Koga said a quiet thank you to the server as she set down a cup of coffee in from of him. No honey though, shame. The man picked up the hot mug, still steaming, and gently blew across the top, as if it would actually help cool it to any degree, before taking a sip. Wasn't bad, but it tasted the same as every other NPC-brewed cup of coffee across Aincrad.
"I just don't see how the president of another region would be able to help anyone here. Don't think that international fire fighting is a thing...especially since they're still throwing buckets of water." They were missing something here. They had to be, because so far, nothing they'd said made any sense except who to find. "Whatever," the man said with a shrug before taking another sip of his coffee. "I guess we'll find out when we get there. Speaking of, are we just gonna hire another carriage?"
and night realized koga had actually brought up a good point. she hummed, thoughtful, at the idea of international fire fighting, but at the same time she wasn't liken to compare the floor to an entire continent. an island was more likely. what was even the cause of the division between the different factions and regions, anyway?
no, wait. that was the whole point of the questline, wasn't it? it was called mysterious divide for a reason, right?
the player stewed in that horrible other realization, too, as she continued eating the rest of her meal. which left day to speak on the topic of discussion, a part that the gemini seemed all too ready to accept. "it's definitely for the best," she commented on transport, a hand resting upon the table. "granted, we could always take the walk over there, but that would take some time. unless you're thinking about taking our quest completion slow."
though she was certain the pace of their progress wasn't commented upon in offense. and yet, it urged night to devour her food at a faster rate, eyes keeping an eye on the construct for signs of boredom. not that she could tell day needed to be entertained, nor was she certain the entity could even feel that way. toast in hand, she considered what else to be done on their journey. "they say that there's been subterfuge with regards to that fire. and sure, division and terrorism aside. but i don't get how this would happen to be related to the quest."
"you mean a motive other than what you'd mentioned, too, right?"
discrimination as the front and centre of their plotline? night could scarcely believe it. she turned to koga after taking a bite of her food, as though to prompt of his guesses as well, humming if not to catch his attention.
"I'm not exactly keen on walking all the way there, so I vote we get a carriage." Koga decided as the sounds of NIGHT's utensils clattering against her platter drew his attention. The way she was shoveling her food in her mouth, Koga would have thought she'd never seen food before. The man squinted at her and quietly sipped his coffee as he watched a moment longer before looking away, only because it was socially unacceptable to stare at someone as they ate.
Koga did, however, find himself being stared at no long after, as if he might have some insight that the other two didn't. He could only shrug in response. "I mean, I don't know jackshit about fires or arson, but if it was the latter they targeted the alchemist hut. So, medicine. Could be reading too much into it, but if someone wanted to cripple infrastructure, what little there is, that's not a bad place to start."
"huh."
night would never have thought about it that way. it was true that the medicine hut may have been targeted for that purpose. though, were there not also other better locations to have set fires to instead? the thought sat in her mind as she pushed away the dish, finally complete with her meal, chewing what was left of the food in her mouth. she rose from her seat as she did.
"well, time to get going!" day was the one to leave, first, given that the players still needed to drop col on the table. they shuffled out one after another, with the rationale on the pause in conversation that -- "there's always time for talk on the move." a quick drop by the local stables, night making the payment for this road trip, and they were soon to be off.
and it was a wonder how many different designs of wagons the realm had. the over-head shelter in their current floated up like balloons, tethered to the vehicle only by use of tough steel ropes. and night wasn't about to question how possible it was for this to be realistic, but the extra sunlight in from the norm of like models were welcome. she leaned in, elbow on her knees as the parties sat facing each other again, taking in the view for a moment.
then, through her inventory, she pulled out the second phrase kept safely on a paper note. examined the scrap alongside the first, connected only when she brought it out and day joined her piece beside night's own.
"anything comes to mind?"
the player shook her head. "all i'm getting from this sounds like some method of rebirth more than anything. like the mention of a cycle." a conversation not held in private -- she lifted her head, checking in on her friend, hoping that he, too might be interested in the clues they'd picked up along the way.
The two women were quick to stand, ready to leave. DAY went on ahead of them as NIGHT left beside some col to pay for her portion while Koga stood and quickly downed the remains of his coffee, only to cough in regret as soon as he was done. It hadn't exactly cooled enough to make that an enjoyable experience. Covering his mouth as he tried to avoid getting his (virtual) germs everywhere, the man also left some col behind before chasing after NIGHT and DAY.
There mode of transport for this journey was...strange, to say the least. Something akin to a hot-air balloon, tied dragged by ropes. While NIGHT may have questioned the viability of such a design, Koga gave it no more than a passing, questioning look. Such designs, he recalled, had been used in a world record breaking sky dive less than a decade ago. It was all about balancing the gas buoyancy with the mass of the carriage. The only real thing that the man thought to question was how the gas was being contained, and what gas could possibly be used in such a small amount.
Video game logic.
The wagon bobbed up and down slightly before finally settling as the three found their way to some seats, and NIGHT procured her portion of their riddle.
asked DAY, to which could only grunt acknowledgement of having heard the question as he fished out his small scrap of paper.
He too examined his piece, before trading with NIGHT and nodded in agreement with what she'd said. "Maybe. Given it's theme, could be more specific. Circle of Life? Or maybe cause and effect." Koga frowned a moment as he reread the tiny scribbles on the paper. "Both?" This was quickly becoming aggravating, like trying to solve a puzzle but only having half the pieces. "Ugh, I dunno. I think we won't be getting the full picture until we find the other two phrases."
"y'know, it'd be kind of morbid if it did have anything to do with death and rebirth," night commented, tucking away the note. "or circle of life. aside from the birth part, anyway." her gaze was set to the road ahead, and what storms would await them from the darkening clouds above. it only spoke of rain that came a little too late, a little too far from their origin, that little medicine hut on the other side of the region. and it was on that note that she wondered what the next area would be like.
when the downpour first started, she believed it to be akin to its namesake. ordsea, after all, had the waters tied within its make. and yet the showers had reminded her of home, somewhat. air warm and humid. it almost made her wonder if they were heading towards the tropics, as time went on.
she traced out the directions their quest had sent them on, while contemplating on their movements. north, to east, to south. they would be heading west next, if the pattern continued. and she wondered if there would be anything at the center of it all, had she known of the territories better. a thoughtful hum directed her to look towards the outskirts as they passed them by. crystals once green now fell away to a firey red.
"the person we're looking for," night spoke up, aloud, though to no one in particular, "it's president brienne, right?"
so perhaps no sea, and no waters either, judging from the hue of the light. likewise, she wondered what the city there would be like, though knowing there was a political figure installed in the region told her much about what was to expect. "should we get dressed before visiting them?" something was to be said about first appearances when meeting the wealthy and powerful. and night clutched at her tracksuit, wondering if it would be enough. it usually hadn't been, given society, but amongst other players, it had surely seemed that way.
conflicted. she watched the trees part in lieu of a vast field, the only mark of territory to signify ordsea, aside from the capital in the distance, the shards that struck out from the grasslands, shimmering a ghastly and glittery, beautiful burn.
"Hmm, morbid?" Koga repeated the word with a slightly confused look on his face. "Why do you say that?" It didn't seem all that morbid to him. Death was just a part of life, it was only morbid if they made it so.
A crack of thunder split the air just before the gentle pattering of rain began. Fat drops struck the canvas above their heads, keeping them dry by some miracle of physical properties, repelling the water entirely instead of absorbing it until the fabric could no longer contain it all, and slowly dripped it upon those who had found shelter beneath it.
"Uhh, yeah, I think so," Koga answered back, pausing his appreciative gaze of the rainy scene just outside the wagon's confines. The air was crisp, but thick and heavy with moisture. It didn't have the smell of the creosote bush like it did at home, nor was their the slightly salty scent of the sea, but still. It was rain. That was enough.
Koga shrugged in response. "I mean, they're gonna be an NPC right? When was the last time an NPC in an MMO actually cared about what the players were wearing?" There was probably some niche or outlier case where it did matter, but if there was, Koga couldn't conjure it to mind right now.
"In any case, I don't think we've got much time. We're almost there."
"just thematically is all," night responded, almost lucid in her eyes. "the thought of what happens to you, in death, especially without your will." and the player only looked up from her hands once the query about their dress had been answered. for a moment, she turned to day, who had cocked her head to the side with a scrunched expression.
"um, hello? i'm right here, you know, and i resent that."
she wondered if the man saw the irony in the situation -- the two players, alone with one of their opposing kin in a single cart.
and the construct rolled her eyes, though without disgust. part of the player had wanted to sympathize, but all the same was the idea that they had to be at brienne's home posthaste. so night nodded in agreement when they first passed through the walls of the city. a nameless capital, as of current to the players; despite turning to their resident cardinal guide, day appeared to want to keep her mouth shut, pouting almost solemnly at the idea of being ignored. even with a hand placed upon her shoulder, the entity seemed not to budge.
maybe it was discrimination, after all. just not in the way either of the two had expected.
"well," night continued, looking towards the tallest district in the labyrinth of the settlement, "if we're going to meet them as soon as possible, then so be it. maybe they might not mind given the idea that we're outsiders to begin with. i'll let the coachman know."
behind her, day put on a nigh unconvinced expression, eyebrow raised. and a sigh escaped her, once night came trudging back to her seat.
the road uphill was smooth. red flickers of crystal light and warm lit flames speckled the wet stone, shimmering. and paved roads with a slow speed, even in their weather, made for seamless journeys despite the incline. upon a community gated, their vehicle came to a sudden stop. there was a pause before their escort hollered for them off.
"this is as far as they'll let me go. you'll have to make the rest of the journey in on foot towards the president."
fair was fair. and it poured, still, as the trio shuffled off the deck. day first, drawing the hood upon her cloak up, almost as a retreat. night could understand. the summoning of an umbrella was her answer, drawing close to her aid in response.
with a shrug, she added, looking towards koga. "sorry. umbrella's only big enough for the two of us. tell me you have another one."
"Yeah, but, you're not really an NPC," Koga replied, crossing his arms and shifting in his seat slightly. "Well, I mean I guess technically you are in the most literal sense, but the connotation..." Koga fizzled out a little as he realized he was having a difficult time explaining his thoughts, and as a result was probably only digging himself into a deeper hole. So, he sighed. "Look, you're the exception to the rule, is what I'm trying to say, okay?"
Gravity shifted as the wagon began to climb the hill and Koga sat there in an awkward silence, not looking at the other two across from him. Good job buddy. Real good job.
"this is as far as they'll let me go. you'll have to make the rest of the journey in on foot towards the president." The coachman called to them, and one by one each of the party hopped off the wagon, before it turned back around and began to rattle it's way back down the hill.
The sound of fabric moving violently drew Koga's attention. NIGHT was holding an umbrella, shielding herself and DAY from the rain.
"Nope, but I'm good," Koga said, grabbing the ends of his collar and tugging on them. Blue light fluttered and coalesced into a leather hood attached to the collar of his coat, the water striking it and running off leaving his head dry. "I keep forgetting to buy one," he explained, before nodding in the direction they needed to go and starting down it as he buttoned up his coat, shielding his torso from the rain as well.
As they walked along, Koga looked around at their surroundings. Lichten. This city was completely different from everything else they'd seen on the floor so far. Where everywhere else was still wooden cottages and buildings, Lichten was stone monoliths, architecturally refined, defined by a culture of its own. Victorian meets Gothic in the tall buildings, each sporting seemingly unnecessary spires wherever they could without becoming too cluttered. In the distance, some clock tower rang a bell. Perhaps Aincrad's approximation of Big Ben.
And straight ahead, the largest building, sporting an even larger courtyard. Fenced off from the streets, the rabble. Perhaps four or five stories tall, but long, countless windows dark on the inside save for the stray orange glow emanating from one here or there. The scale alone would indicate it being the presidential estate.
And that's where they were heading, it seemed.
"So, who wants to do the talking this time?" Koga asked, figuring at this point, they were probably taking turns.
"well, don't look at me," came day's voice now nondescript. night had forgotten its sound as soon as she'd heard it, as much as she'd expected her other's peppy undertones from the doppel's mouth. "i can't do it."
and it almost felt snarky, the way the entity carried her attitude, but with a wrap of her arm around the construct the player brought her close. almost like protection, even though neither needed it. she took the party in, making sure not to trip on polished stone, crossing a threshold that wasn't visible but she was certain definitely existed in the system. something only her mirror could tell.
past the entryway was a large door, drenched lightly in a warm hue that contrasted the rain's cool darkness. away from the downpour, sheltered by a minimal roof, the woman rasped meagerly, hoping for a response.
night gave them a minute. it never came. her brows furrowed as she hammered at the door, harder this time, and half of it creaked open just as she'd raised her fist for a third knock.
they say first impressions were important. that made the woman the worst offender of the bunch, given that partially soaking and borderline violent was not a good way to present oneself at the step of another. and who greeted them but a portly, elder woman, short with tied gray hair and rimless glasses sporting a butler's suit. "excuse me?"
so the player was speechless. adamant to stay that way, at first, until the greeter rolled her eyes and nearly slammed the door shut again. "hooligans, the three of you. now, try that again and--"
"no no no--" night finally spoke, knocked out of her panic. "-- we're, uh-- we hailed from the other region--"
"srona."
"--srona. the-- the one with the trees, and the forest, and the--"
"dagan."
"-- dagan! right. that's the mountainous..."
it was only then night realized she was being prompted, unnecessarily (although, thankfully?) by her better half. and she glanced to her, half scowling in realizing the err of her method, before turning to the staff rubbing a hand over her face.
she should try again.
"from dagan, to srona. we came here from the last because we were tasked by percival to relay a message to president brienne. is this the right household?"
the butler closed her eyes, two fingers rubbing at the bridge of her nose, before shifting away from the entrance. the door was pulled open. "inside, now. all of you. i presume this has something to do with an extremist group."
"y-yeah? well how did you--"
even the player was a little clueless on the workings of the system, though that was enough of a hint to notify them of their progress. day pushed the woman inside, and the door was held open for koga, before it closed shut. in the main foyer, there was a grand set of polished stairs leading towards the back of the room and splitting out to two different wings. service patrolled, moving to and fro with various items, such as tea, documents, and cleaning tools, in hand.
one man down a wing's entrance lit up at the sight of the players' arrival. and quickly, he moved down the hall he was guarding, vanishing out of sight into another room. night had little clue what that movement was for, but instead turned to the entity who'd uncloaked herself after the while of rain.
still pouting, still unamused. the woman wanted nothing more than to continue staring, still, hopelessly mesmerized by the gleam and lack thereof on her construct's expression, hair only slightly untidied from before.
Koga hadn't really considered the fact that DAY might not be able to communicate with the NPCs directly. A fact that, when stated, seemed both unbelievably strange, and yet also incredibly obvious. Koga made a peculiar face for a moment as he ruminated on that fact, wondering what might make the inner mechanisms of the machine they called Aincrad worked in that respect, before realizing he was giving himself a headache and stopping altogether.
The party walked along the cobble and flagstones, NIGHT and DAY benefiting from their shared warmth, whilst Koga was relegated to the cold. Okami, for his part, was unfortunate enough to have to endure rain soaked fur. The sudden realization that the canine would be tracking in water, mud and dirt into the estate made the blood drain from Koga's face. A crass man, sure, but even he had some sense of decorum. Oh, well, it couldn't be helped. He wasn't about to leave his companion out in the rain, and he'd happily fight anyone who tried to tell him otherwise.
Soon enough, they'd all come upon the grand door, NIGHT taking hold of the knocker and banging on the door thrice. At first, there was no answer, beckoning another set of harsh, booming knocks before the door finally swung open to reveal rotund, severe, elderly lady.
And boy was she rude.
The old hag had almost slammed the door in their faces before either could even get a word out. NIGHT, a little quicker on her feet than Koga, interjected and, despite stumbling over her words like a fool, somehow managed to convince the old lady to let them in, though she did not seem happy about it.
Koga followed the other two in, politely nodding towards the woman (and only out of politeness) as he passed. Okami trailed in after him, the sound of water dripping onto wooden floors following the audible sound of a sneer as the woman's gaze followed Koga's mutt. Sucked to be her.
Koga pulled his hood down as the old woman shouldered her way past him, and beckoned for them to follow her: "Come with me." Leading them down one of the halls, she stopped in front of a plain (or at least what passed for plain in this building) looking mahogany door. Knocking quietly, she waited until a sultry, feminine voice called from within: "Enter!"
The woman turned and gestured for them to wait a moment before opening the door and striding into the firelit room. Striding over to a chair whose back faced them, the woman bent over slightly to whisper something into it's occupants ear before turning back to retrieve the players. "Come, quickly now. And don't sit down anywhere, you," she added poking Koga in the chest. "You'll ruin the upholstery." And with that, she slammed the door behind them.
Now standing in the rooms entryway, it was revealed to be a small study. A large rug thrown in the center of the room, a desk sitting in front of the windows, facing the door, behind which a rather large and rough looking man in uniform stood, stone faced and unmoving. A fireplace cast long shadows across the floors, granting just enough light to read from the many books that lined the shelves that circled them all around. And finally, the chair in which their mystery woman sat, who had a matching companion beside it. Across from the two chairs, a sofa and a coffee table, the same dark wood as the desk, sitting between them all.
The woman in the chair rose and turned smiling. Dark, stormy blue eyes drifted over DAY, NIGHT, and then the smile soured as her gaze fell on Koga. "And just what are you supposed to be?" the woman asked incredulously, giving him a disgusted look. "Are you her guard? Oh, perhaps a stable boy. Well, whatever you are, you are in poor attire for an important meeting such as this."
'...What?...'
"Ah, but you, my dear. Clearly, you know how one must present themselves. What a lovely garment, a uh...track suit? If I recall correctly? I hear they are all the rage in Braso," she said, striding over to NIGHT confidently, taking a hand in hers and gently bringing it to her lips to kiss it before continuing. "I am President Brienne of Ordsea. Might I ask your name?"
"Hi, yeah, Koga. Here to help with your extremist problem?" Koga interjected, crossing his arms, upset at the differing caliber of greeting the two had received.
"I wasn't speaking to you," the president replied with a smug smile.
day was still visibly disgruntled. and night found it difficult to make amends. what little time they had in the foyer was taken away as the party followed the attendant that allowed them inside. down the halls, towards a room; a knock, and someone called them inside.
and fast work, it seemed. the trio shifted into the study as they were told, day seemingly unbothered by the instructions, though her expression seemed sullen. and with a wrap of her hand around her neck, night was only anxious by the orders given -- quests up till now had always seemed out of the players' own volition to abide, not so much being maneuvered by another's will. it felt like being punished in school all over again, and that had been years ago.
at least she wasn't terribly worse for wear. koga was still soaking, and it was apparent to everyone. the construct noted a look of suspicion once what seemed like the head of affairs had rose from her seat. it only faded when the entity had to turn away, trying her best not to look amused as his equipment was mocked for the occasion.
the player, on the other hand, was a little too stunned at their environment's awareness. after all, could the man be blamed? it was raining outside, and they had no shelter on the way in. so--
... sorry?
two blinks, a lowered chin and a point towards herself. and apparently, the host seemed to feel confident about her assessment, because the moment she started approaching the player, night felt herself unable to move. a little too shaky for being put on the spot.
it did not help in any way that she felt her fingers be unraveled in the other's palm. lips pressed to the back of her hand, and now the player was terribly, terribly confused. what was it -- a mix between elation at the greeting, for the grandeur of it all? paired with some sort of horror, because she hadn't expected the goddamn president of wherever this was to have decided such an intimate move for some strange visitors from out of town.
if anything, at least it helped night remember her name. out of respect, it repeated in her mind. it ate away at her voice.
dear god, night wished brienne was.
and from further in the room, the gemini was only now studying the scene with a slight half-smirk and agitated interest.
"night," the player clarified, after a heartbeat too long for the room to sit in silence. "my name's night. we-- uh... we've come from srona and dagan to seek for your help, on behalf of alchemist percival...?"
it was only at the loosening of brienne's grip, that hand tucked into dress pants pockets that night was able to find herself a little more relaxed. just a tad. her thumb and index wrapped around her wrist, toying with it, the woman trying hard not to fluster.
"continue."
"right, so..."
at this moment, the player started to realize she'd completely forgotten the events that had occurred the previous day. not particularly because they hadn't been captivating, nor memorable, but because night couldn't distract herself from the strangeness of that greeting from before. and also, lack of practice -- day was the one who prompted of speech at the front door earlier, and by sheer luck they'd made it through the entrance. now, the woman simply froze up, and under the scrutiny of a warm, attentive gaze, so too did her words die out.
someone, help this useless lesbian.
it was by miracle that the entity spoke up beside her, whispering the words into night's ear. and the player jumped to attention at the commentary, finally finding herself capable.
"--right! so at dagan, there'd been this group of farmers that had been caved in while trying to expand territory. and at srona, percival thought that someone had set fire to one of the medicinal outposts. because foul play had been suspected, we're here to--"
and almost as though on cue to disrupt her explanation, there was a sudden growing noise from beyond the room. day was first to perk at the sounds, pulling herself away from night's ear. clueless, the player turned her head to follow. "huh? what's up...?"
To say NIGHT was visibly discomforted by the President's rather forward greetings (at least towards her, in Koga's case, backwards might've described it better), would be an understatement. The woman could hardly string together a coherent thought. A look of pain fell over the man as he listened to NIGHT attempt to explain why they were here. And even more pain when the President seemed entirely unbothered by NIGHT's lackluster efforts. Well, nice to see that feminism was alive and well somewhere, Koga supposed.
The man's silent torture would only go on for so long though, as before NIGHT could actually explain why they were here, a loud clatter and clamor sounded from outside the door. A ruckus that slowly drew the attention of all those present. At first, Koga looked towards the President and her bodyguard for answers, but they both seemed as confused as he did. It wasn't until the bodyguard reached for his weapon that Koga realized something was amiss. "Extremist problem," Koga summarized as he turned towards the door, his hands moving towards his own weapon. "Here to help."
"I did not address you!" the President reminded him, to which both Koga and her bodyguard rolled their eyes. "Miss President," he chided gruffly. This time it was the President's turn to roll her eyes. "Yes, yes, extremists," she said, a tad annoyed. "War-mongers, I would venture to guess they're here for some very important documents," the dark haired woman explained as she strode over to her desk and opened a drawer, pulling out a rather hefty looking dagger, one that looked more fit for battle than ornamentation. "They're secured in various hidden lock boxes and safes around the estate. Here," she pulled a document from the drawer, a sheet of paper that she handed very specifically to NIGHT. "This is a map of the grounds. I ask you, both of you," stern eyes shot over to Koga before drifting back to NIGHT, "find these documents, and keep them from the militants hands. Should they fall into their hands, this whole continent may suffer for it." The woman took a deep breath as shouting became clearer beyond the door. "If I may, I have one last, odd, request." She calmly looked between the two players now, for the moment, the two were no different from her. "Do not harm any of the trespassers. They maybe terrorists, but they are still my people."
the request wasn't odd. in fact, it was that point that night understood the most. "yes ma'am." and as she joined koga's side to pour over the map, so too did day follow suit behind her, an invisible presence to the altercations before.
one look at the paper, only moments after night had unveiled it to the other player, and there was already a gleam caught in the construct's eyes, form relaxed looking the plan over.
"so, they're hidden across the mansion," night started. her fingers were tracing out the different wings of the mansion, while connecting the indicators for stairs up and down the two floors. different rooms were penned with their purpose in cursive, the player wondered where to begin the search for the documents given only the layout of the home. "but how should we go about looking for them? figure out where the best places to hide some documents would be, and head over?"
"well, that's one way to go about it," the entity commented, calm. then, gaze raised to the players, she grinned, palm lifted in solidarity. "though here's also another suggestion: why not take the opportunity to explore the home a little? just go where you feel like going, and we should be able to pick up on clues about the documents' whereabouts from there."
night tilted her head. if this was a proposal from the one the party believed knew the most about their quest, then perhaps it was a solid idea to follow through upon. "if you think that'll be efficient. sure, i wouldn't mind."
and so day clapped her hands together.
"great!"
without realizing it, night had seen the map handed off to her passed into koga's hands, and hadn't the time to object before the construct took her player's wrist into her hands. "here -- i'm feeling generous despite the slights from earlier, and i'd say you'll need this more than we do. i've got the map memorized at first glance, after all." day gestured to her temple for emphasis, with a smirk.
she turned to start towards the door, pulling night along with her. "and, just so we don't overlap in where we're about to go, i think night and i should head up towards the master bedroom first."
"w--what?!"
the construct shrugged nonchalantly, giving either player no quarter not space for interjection. a turn of the knob on the door, and the route to the hallway was open.
"oh, don't worry. i'm sure there'll be plenty of spaces to look around for documents in there. and we'll make sure to be extra thorough, too. given the size of this estate, i'm sure we'll be taking a while..."
as night failed to stammer out a retaliation, half-dragged out the room, day shot an index to koga from over her shoulder. "so you get free reign of the rest of the house. okay? okay~ glad we got that sorted out. bye bye~!"
the door slammed shut behind the two women. and, with racing steps, they caused a brief commotion as the system trotted its victim towards the stairs.
"we're supposed to be here on a mission!"
"this is part of the mission, night! it's almost like you don't trust me!"
"well, when you'd put it that way, earlier..."
With their objective assigned the party split up and...wait...what? Koga stared at NIGHT and DAY as they...or really, just the one, exited the room, heading straight for the Master Bedroom, their intentions made perfectly clear.
"You have got to be fucking kidding me..." Koga said, visibly deflating, his shoulders slumping forward as Okami let out a low whine beside him. Signing the man returned his gaze to President Brienne and nodded. "We'll get it done, ma'am," he assured her before turning and exiting the room, careful to close it quietly behind him before unrolling the map and examining it.
"Alright, I think the armory is a good place to start..." Koga said quietly to Okami before gesturing for his familiar to take the lead for them. Quietly, the two tread the floor, stepping heel to toe as lightly as possible, making no noise. Not even a single one of Okami's claws clicked on the wood floors as he carefully stalked forward, his keen sense of smell assisting the pair in avoiding any trouble they might run into.
For the first leg of their search, it was going well so far. The door to the armory creaked open quietly, and Koga peered into it. Sure that it was empty, the pair stepped within and began to search. First the chests. To say the search was short would have been no exaggeration. Within one of the large steel chests, the small rectangle of metal sat, dull and grey. The man reached out to pick it up when-
"Take a look in there!"
"aw, c'mon! it was just a joke!"
"yeah, as if!" night shook her head as she continued walking. "none of what you said could even be remotely taken as a joke. people laugh at jokes, day, and none of us seem to be humored there and then!"
a chuckle from the entity, and she leaned backwards, turning to face night with her tongue stuck out for a moment. "well, it was funny to me. really, you should've seen the look on both your faces."
"... you..."
another giggle from the construct. the player growled in response, but didn't continue from there. after all, day's words from earlier had to be in a jest, right? they had to be, night reasoned, continuing in silence, trying her best not to burn up at the implications from earlier.
it would be in poor etiquette to leave someone alone to work distributed as a group. she wasn't the type of person to ditch her efforts in a project, as little as she may have been able to contribute to it. and the glances she passed to her other as they headed up the stairs, with invaders still missing from the household on their path, seemed to be asking, querying if that was the case to her companion.
the construct, on the other hand, seemed none the worse for wear. amusement in her steps, hands locked behind her back and intention wrapped secretly behind a cool smile. it was only when they were in front of the bedroom's entrance -- a large double-sized door before them -- that the entity started to speak up. her fingers wrapped around the brass knob, still.
"for the record, i really was joking."
and night sighed in relief, throwing out what little unwarranted disappointed she had in her system out with that exhale. once the women were allowed inside, day was the one to close the door behind them.
the door was locked with a small but subtle click.
night whipped around quickly, surprise across her image paired with eyes of wariness and discontent. her mirror, calm, merely leaned against the back of the door, arms folded, a grin on her face as she settled in comfortably. noticing the player's demeanor, however, day immediately mirrored her other's shock, leaning on the knob with the side of her elbow. "huh? what's wrong?"
"why'd you lock us in?"
"the bandits. if i don't stand guard, you can't search the room in peace, can you?"
reluctantly, the woman dropped her guard. a shifted, dithered gaze -- night scanned the room with a vague gesturing with her hands, as though trying to pass off the fact she'd known the antics of her opposition all the while. day merely scoffed at the sight, unmoving.
"aww. what, did you really want it that badly?"
"no, and shut up, and stand guard like you're supposed to."
"ooo-kay~"
the player rolled her eyes, still struggling with where to start. perhaps the bedside table? it was the most obvious place to begin her search, after all, and night thought it best to eliminate all standard possibilities first. surely they weren't being kept in an open drawer, like someone using the password 'password' within an important administration facility.
her voice squeaked as she began to ask, trying not to think about the implications as she worked. "why'd you bring me here, anyway?"
and she'd half expected a response that would underline her desires once again. instead, day's voice was spoken with clarity from behind her back, just as night noticed something unusual about the empty drawer she was looking into. "oh--that. well, if you can believe this; apparently, you're more likely to find the documents you were looking for here. statistically or otherwise, what with people storing important stuff in their private quarters."
an index finger shifted into a dark, semi-circular indent at the front edge of the drawer's bottom board. minor, but not unnoticeable, and the player lifted up the wooden cover to unveil a secret compartment underneath.
"... and i'm the one speaking from experience over here."
night pulled out the pages from the not-even-secure lockbox, a small stackful, held together with a steel paper clamp. she raised it closer to her face for analysis, before showing it off to her assistant. day hummed thoughtfully at the sight of them.
a quick bump of her side against the wood, and it withdrew back into the desk. the papers, too, were stashed away safely in her inventory, before the player turned to the entity. "now, what were you saying again? i didn't catch that."
"oh, it's nothing." day blinked twice as her other started to saunter over. "i didn't think you'd find it that quickly, though..."
"well, neither did i, but if that's how the cookie crumbles..."
"Take a look in there!" their captain said.
"Yes sir, great and powerful captain sir!" the two replied back, saluting, and holding their position until their captain rolled his eyes and walked away, before the two stuck their tongues out at him and turned to investigate the room the man had just indicated.
A crashing sound came from behind the great wooden doors as Bozho and Glebu approached. The sounds gave the two pause, as they looked at each other and gulped in unison. Were there guards behind those doors? If so, how many? Was this the end of the great chronicales of Bozho the Great and Glebu the Less Great? (No, we said it was Glebu the Very Great, and Bozho the Meh) But their stories had only just begun!
The two men tightened their grip around their hatchets, nodded to each other and then charged the unleashed their great and mighty war cries (well, anyone in the vicinity might've thought them young maidens, screaming in fright, but allow the two heroes their glories). They charged the door, prepared to face whatever devils they found on the other side. Their bodies crashed into the wood, forcing the doors wide open, where within they were met with armor and weapons. No, no one was holding the weapons or wearing the armor. Just armor and weapons. "It's...an armory..." Bozho said, confused.
"Yes, it's an armory, I have eyes bozo!"
"You idiot, I'm wondering why an empty armory was making spooky sounds!...N-not that I was spooked, but one less courageous than I might've been."
"Ohhhhh, yeaaaaah...Hmm, I wonder what did make that sound..." Glebu replied, scratching his head with the blunt of his his hatchet.
"Well I don't know, maybe we should look around?!"
"Oh yeah, that's a good idea," Glebu replied, earning himself a groan of annoyance from Bozho, before starting down on of the long aisles of armor and weapons.
The man's eyes swept back and forth, inspecting each piece of equipment, looking for whatever intruder might've caused the ruckus (wait, weren't they the intruders?), looking for anything out of place. Armor. Sword. Axe. Bow. Tail. Lockbox.
Wait, tail!?
The man whirled back around to inspect the furred tail that hung between the legs of one of the pieces of armor, kneeling down to trace it to it's origin. Between the legs, up, up, all the way, stemming from the armor's butt.
"Heh. Someone likes to have fun while they're fighting," Glebu chuckled to himself.
"Glebu! Are you done over there!?"
"Eh? Oh, yeah! Nothing over here Bozho! Musta just been the wind!"
"Great, then let's go report back to Captain Turdicus that we didn't find any lockboxes in here!"
"Alright Bozho!"
"so we should probably head out," night decided. day hummed at the prompt, and tilted her head, eyes closed, considering.
"well, from what i remember, there are a few more rooms this way. the library seems to be closest."
papers stashed away in a library? it only made sense, like finding a needle in a haystack. the player nodded at the analysis. "right, that works for me."
and so day's hand was set on the door knob. there was a moment of expectation for her wrist to have turned it open, until her other shifted instead, her index pressed to pursed lips. from calmness, night furrowed her brows, alert. "what's wrong?"
"they're here. a couple of them."
to have whispered at such low volumes, the player had to have shifted towards her doppel closer, enough for them to only be a few centimeters apart. not that the distance mattered. night was much more keen on trying to decipher what nuance was occurring in their backdrop as their progress was halted in face of the new obstacle. and the woman seethed at hearing their heavy footsteps.
"you four stand guard here. and the three of you, follow me. we'll take the other side."
a resounding chorus of "ayes" followed. and despite both the duo's annoyances, day was the one to let out an audible 'tch'. blue eyes looked into lavender hues, the two women pulling away, and the construct bit her lower lip.
"we need another way out," night hummed thoughtfully, glancing around the room for another set of doors. two of them were present; one on the opposite side of the entrance, and another perpendicular to the main entry.
her mirror paused, leaning harder on the door knob. "you go look."
the first door had been to a private washroom; convenience and elegance wrapped up in one sanitary area. ("well, not there," her other had chided under a breath.) when night quietly pushed open the second door, her eyes met warm light of the corridors outside the room. a clear view of the invaders lined up in a row, taking instructions unclear from a far distance. and the player quickly slipped back inside, allowing the wood to shut behind her with a gentle click.
she strode over to day. "they're occupied that way."
"great. we could use a distraction."
"not if we make it out fast and quiet enough."
the entity hummed, eyes drifting towards the bed and resting there for a solid few seconds. then, she rose from the door, shaking her head.
"no, i have a better idea. and if i'm right about this -- we should be able to distract most of them for the rest of our searches here."
night tilted her head, brows furrowed. she hated it when day had ideas -- because they'd always seemed bad. implausible. unnecessary.
but when the construct pleaded -- or, at least, the player swore she pleaded through those oceanic doe eyes of hers in the dim light -- she couldn't help but cave in and sighed. "okay, sure. what do you need?"
day turned to gesture to the wood behind her, with a bright smile, mischief apparent. "barricade this door for me."
and so they worked together to move the furniture in the room, movements quiet, sound dampened on the carpeted floor. "fancy," night had remarked once, in hushed tones as they'd built their makeshift blockade. though a part of her hadn't let up the thought that there was something devious about the plan that day hadn't told her about yet. she eyed the construct as they got the final pieces together, in no more than a few minutes.
"there...!"
the one allowance of a sparked tone from day was paired with a shifting of footsteps towards their position. boots on marbled flooring. and night wondered if they'd already been found out.
"no, that's perfect," the entity decided, grin now turning evil, and in her hands she summoned a familiar crystal she'd only seen in--
-- ... wait.
it took all her effort for night to slam both her palms against her lips, trying not to say anything aloud that would give away her surprise. stern, concerned eyes shot to day as the entity seemed to prance towards the blockade, finding that little make-shift cubby that didn't have as much matter in the way of their wall. a weakness constructed out of purpose. the woman set the crystal down upon that bookshelf holding it in place, and then activated it with a tap of the menu on the recording.
immediately, she skipped over to night with the gesture -- and intent -- to leave.
"day," the player uttered, under her breath as they snuck to the back door of the room, the latter reluctantly being pulled along by the other, "you are an absolute asshole and i hate you. i hate you so much right now."
"oh, i know."
and the only saving grace in day's favour was that -- "you're lucky no player's ever going to hear that."
"except you?" the construct commented, turning to face night as they were crouched by the crack of the door, observing the start of the commotion outside. "well. i was asking for it, too, wasn't i?"
because what noises were on that crystal were meant for private use. a humiliation technique, curried in the duo's favour, after a long and arduous early morning of toil and trouble. fresh -- embarrassingly so -- from earlier that day.
and night bathed in a royal flush as she heard the cries to rally attention from the other side of the wing, the sound of her own voice in a demeaning manner echo in the room only the duo was in, audio seeping through the cracks.
"gods, not even one night and you're coming back for more already? and you had the gall to get a separate room -- don't you know how to keep quiet, honey?"
"n-no... no and i don't wanna-- mmffh!--"
so it was no surprise when the formation was broken, the troops under scrutiny distracted to discuss the commotion from afar, their leader of the hour having left them to handle the shouts and hammerings of the door to their current room. if not to listen, then to barge in for custody, for answers. and in that slip of time, day was first to move; lucky her, being imperceptible to onlookers. the door to another room -- "this way's the conference," she'd explained in a rush before she'd left -- opened with nary a sound.
it was only at the closing of the two entrances, on account of night's careful mannerisms, that any of the guards had begun to catch on that something was amiss, head turned to the direction of the side-hallway.
The two bandits slowly made their way out of the armory, and when the latch of the door finally clicked shut, Koga let out a long held breath, and pulled off the heavy plate helmet he'd donned as disguise. "Fuck, I thought those two idiots would never leave," the man said to himself before he head the sound of Okami's whines echoing from the suit of armor across from him. "I'm comin' bud, just hold on a sec," the man said as he pulled off the (slightly too large) pieces of armor and set them aside as gently as he could, careful to not make any sounds.
After freeing Okami from the confines of the armor, the wolf leapt around and growled menacingly at the plates of metal, making his distaste for the suit quite apparent. "Yeah, I know, sorry, but there was nowhere else I could put you," Koga hissed quietly. "I'm surprised that one guy didn't figure out you were in there..." Koga supposed the bandit's intelligence must've dropped a point or ten since the last update. "C'mon, let's go."
The two crept out of the armory and made their way to the next nearest location on the map, the workshop. Treading carefully across the hall the pair had just made it to the door when-
'What the fuck.'
Koga looked in direction of where the voices were coming from, and saw a cluster of bandits all huddled around each other, with their ears pressed to the door, paying such fervent attention to whatever was going on on the other side, that not a one noticed the player and his familiar standing there in plain view.
Koga shook his head. Whatever, he still needed to find documents.
Creeping into the workshop, Koga was pleased to find it entirely empty. The scent of sawdust, oils, and various other crafting materials filled the air here, a scent of nostalgia for the man. But he didn't have time to stand here and reminisce. "Okami, watch the door," he ordered as he began to walk around and search through the drawers and cupboards for their lockbox.
Koga's search, however, did not last more than a couple of opened drawers, for as he stood, his eyes caught sight of an ornately carved box with a lock on the front. The man looked at the object skeptically. "No way..." and yet, it was. Score two for Koga.
hidden away in that side corridor, it reasoned why there was little ambient light to brighten the room. though adjacent to a wide set of windows, the ongoing storm outside hadn't helped their atmosphere plenty, and it was here that the temperature of the household had fallen since their leave from the master bedroom. a chill ran down night's spine, and she huddled closer into her jacket. draped in all but the coolest hues, the conference room was nearly entirely dipped black.
night couldn't help but stare at the rain upon her entry. a quick turn of her head left, and she'd discover a set of filing cabinets and shelves of different trophies, accomplishments and photographs. on her right, the space stretched out in an elongated manner, with light from the hall seeping through the door's crack at the other entrance set towards the back. to fill the space, there was a large wooden table, ornamented with metals of different kinds, etched with designs too complicated -- and too dim, in this lighting -- for her eyes to make out easily.
chalkboards to the walls. but the player was more concerned with where her secondary was fleeting towards. almost as though her pause at the entrance they came in from had been anticipated, day had scurried over to the diagonal opposite of the woman, eyes bright and shifting about the vicinity. almost as though they rejected the shadows, from the looks of it. night couldn't help but follow along.
for at the far end of the room was a desk -- likely meant for show rather than an actual work station, but still a business structure nonetheless. reminiscent of an office space back in reality; it sat upon a raised platforms, tiny stairs to help one reach its elevation in layers before it, and night ascended them just as day stood quiet at its base. the entity turned towards the window, too, just as the woman was searching.
a silence sat in the room, only punctured on occasion by the muted steps from night, and the jostling of furniture as she looked over the suspect spot on the scene. and the struggle with a locked drawer by the desk's side indicated a secret, a purpose. it drew the duo's attention, gazes meeting in the dark, knowing.
the player glanced away first, because of the recording crystal, gods dammit.
"i think it's in here," she finally managed to murmur, just as the construct finally rounded the desk to reach behind night, a hand set on the table's surface as she leaned. and the former tapped on the metal surface of the lock on the drawer. "just need a key."
"check the ones below?"
they didn't budge either. or rather, no handles were to be found on them. and night pulled away from the setup, perplexed. a hand met her lips, as she considered her next course of action. what then, if they were stuck here?
"can you pick the lock?"
day huffed, a dissatisfied look shot the player's way. "you know if i do, it's bound to not be there when you open it."
night rolled her eyes. "okay, fine."
and the two remained, thinking, still for a time. when the player finally decided upon resting for contemplation, the entity gave the table's wooden surface two rasps before ducking underneath it with a hum.
"uh-- day...? what are you..."
"aha."
from underneath the desk, the construct had crouched, thumbing a loose piece of something that sounded like paper at the edge of the table. she gave night a grin, only barely hidden away by shadows. "found something. you might want to pull it out yourself."
night obliged, two fingers scratching at the wood as gently as she could. loose. the tape that was holding whatever she had touched peeled off cleanly, and in her hands was a small rusted key.
the room hadn't needed any light after all. sunshine from the one entity, the all-smiles. "genius!"
"i'll say."
a click and a turn, the key slotted into the drawer lock. this time, the documents they were looking for were situated in an ornate steel box as originally expected. its lid opened with only a gentle force. with a palm moved over the rolled scroll, tied with a light ribbon, the documents were safely kept in night's inventory. three more awaited them -- though not counting koga's own collection.
In the dim light shining through the windows, Koga searched through the kitchen, cabinet by cabinet, shelf by shelf. But just what was it that made the man think that there was a lockbox full of evidently important documents hidden in the kitchen of all places? Well, truthfully, he did not. But he was hungry. How long had it been since they'd had breakfast? The moon was already out, for god's sake and all Koga had had today was a cup of coffee. The man needed fuel.
And so, the man rummaged through the cupboards looking for something edible and a bit more appetizing than watercress crackers. Honestly, why did every cabinet have these stupid crackers? Sighing as he shut the doors on another cracker-filled cupboard, the man turned to moved towards the other end of the kitchen when the sound of a door creaking on it's hinged caught Koga's attention. Dropping down low immediately, the man hid himself behind the kitchen's island. "Hey, Bohzo, think we'll find any chicken in here? Or maybe pork?"
just one more, they'd figured, before checking in. through the way they came from, despite knowing the dangers of it. upon first peer into the corridor, night noticed the stationed group missing; a clatter from the opposite direction drew her attention as to why.
because instead of listening in from the other side of the bedroom, two of the personnel were trying to barge in from the door the duo had left through earlier. and night thanked her lucky stars she'd remembered to hit the lock before she closed it, if only to buy them some time. that left the question of where the rest of the invaders went, and a brief quiet stride down towards the main hall was enough to see why. beside the growing crowd, their commander was distracted by the cautious bandits. a growl and yelling -- either their leader had a short temper, or he was desperate to try and right his troops back in order.
night wasn't planning on staying around to find out which, nor hear more of what was being played in the room. she sighed, flush still present, a thumb to her locks as the golden bolt whisked past her and pushed herself through the door to another room. this one was dark, that glass door, sat opposing the library on the far side of the wing, and night stepped through it, hoping the shadows would save them from being noticed by the (extremely disorganized) patrol.
so dark, it was hard to see. and the player considered investing into night vision the moment her eyes were awash with void. it was warm, humid -- sort of reminded her of the climate back home. and all night could hear were the sounds of her other giggling as a faint ambience of running water accented those steps. day's noise only died down once a few seconds had passed, and the player hadn't moved.
"oh, you really can't see in here, can you?"
"not really," she responded, taking a few hesitant steps forward. part of her was expecting the edge of her foot to knock over something in her amble. she flinched at the sudden grasp on her wrist, the gemini's blue eyes suddenly caught in the midst of her empty vision. a tug, and night was pulled along.
"well, you should've told me." night didn't have the chance to respond. "hey, did you know they have a fountain here?"
as they moved, there were drifting lights that caught her attention, too. luminosity of golden hues, fading in and out as she approached. so too did they swarm around day as they moved, the player's eyes distracted, steps following her doppel absent mindedly. their lights were enough for the woman to finally see, albeit her vision fading periodically, and she strained to catch a glimpse of the picture before her. a few moments passed before she pieced together the image of the fountain that day had left her in front of, her secondary reveling in the view.
"this... is a garden."
"yeah. a green house, to be exact."
how night hadn't pieced together the qualities... well, she could blame the darkness, for one.
"and there's one in every room, right?" her front was turned towards day, the only reliable source of guidance the gemini's own two eyes. and she sensed a nod from the construct before considering her options.
"now, where would the lock box be...?"
a dangerous answer to pursue for the entity, but innocent a question to pose as day ruminated upon it. and night took a few steps forward, eyes upon the water -- at least, she was certain it was there, given the reflections of the lights behind her. without warning, she stuck her head in there, hoping the game would've aided her vision in the dark when paired with liquids.
it did, but the lockbox wasn't there, no matter how much she strained herself.
"night? --what are you doing...?"
the player nearly toppled inwards, day dragging her out of the fountain by the back of her collar on her shirt. if she'd sputtered, it was in light of having been pulled from her search early before she was certain it wasn't in where she figured the most obvious place for their treasure to be at. all she could do was wipe her face down with a towel summoned from her inventory, realizing her foolishness just as she rubbed at her eyes, dazed, while her mirror tried not to giggle.
"shut up."
"why in the world would they keep it in there? the papers would get soggy!"
"yeah, i'm pretty sure that's not how it works..."
under scrutiny of the doppel, night watched those eyes disappear and then reform. there was a fold of cloth in the mean while, before she felt something warm shoved towards her front.
"huh? what?"
"here. your shirt's all wet. you can have my cloak for the time being."
night had wanted to protest, but day had already turned to examine more of the room. the faint glow of a light revealed nothing more than a hand wave as the construct drifted off elsewhere.
in the relative quiet, the player changed into her new attire. left on her own, she was hesitant to start moving, and found herself examining the lights instead. there seemed to be more gathered in some locations than others. being careful, she inched herself towards the spots with more bright indicators than others, until she found the familiar glow of day's sights again.
"it's a straight path from where you're at. c'mere!"
the entity was crouched at a corner of the room; a grip upon night's own wrist when she got close only directed her towards something intricate, cold and smooth. she didn't have to guess to know it was the lock box, as it had felt prior before, and ere long she was searching its exterior for the method of unlocking the container. a simple button press after some fumbling, and it clicked open.
"however in the world did you find it?" despite night's distress, she was thankful it was her other that had made the search as easy as it had been. the document retrieved, she stored it in her inventory before pulling up her menus.
"the same way you did, most likely. though, it just so happens that i got to it first because i could see in the dark, unlike a certain someone."
the player quietly rolled her eyes, drumming text into the message to be sent to her friend.
<u><span>to: koga</span></u>
night: got 3 here
night: wbu?
'These two idiots again?' Koga thought to himself as he and Okami crept around the kitchen island, staying on the other side of the men's footsteps.
"Hell if I know, Glebu," Bohzo replied as he marched forward, running a lazy hand across the countertop, then placing his weapon a top it and hoisting himself up on it and seating his fat rump upon it. "Maybe they have some some fruit in one of them cabinets."
"Why the hell would they be keeping fruit in a cabinet?"
"I dunno. These gover'ment types are all weird. Just go look, wouldya?"
"Do it yourself fattie."
"Fattie!?" Blebu shouted back, "You're the one who wanted meat! I, being the healthy person that I am, asked for fruit."
The self-righteous tone made Koga roll his eyes as he pressed his back against the cabinets, praying that the idiot wouldn't decide to peer over the counter.
Ding!
The notification ping rang out, and Koga almost swore aloud, biting his tongue only a moment before he breathed aloud words.
"Well, whaddya know, Bohzo! They do have fruit in here!"
"Great! I'm hungry, give 'em here."
Thank God the notification sound wasn't universal.
The sound of rummaging through more cabinets, and Koga felt safe enough for a moment to peek his head over the counter. The two bandits had their backs turned. Now was the time to make an exit.
Quietly, he and Okami crawled to the door and gently opened it, slipping out and shutting it behind them. The man didn't breathe a sigh of relief until they'd made it some way down the hall away from the two. "Fuck, that was too close," Koga muttered quietly before opening his messenger and replying to NIGHT.
got 2
meet at the study
koga
so to the study they went.
when the duo had emerged from the greenhouse, it appeared as though their immediate threats had vanished. no traces of their appearance had been left -- hell, if anything, night was thankful the recording had already been halted the moment they were completed with their tasks. down the stairs they went, the player keeping a grimace on despite day's apparent ignorance to the matter, and they were upon the first floor once more.
the study was a small walk away. still, there remained the concern of being caught by patrols or scouts from the terrorist group. round the corners, night had her back up to a wall, yet found the hallways devoid of an opposing force. how strange. and day awaited the player's instructions, despite the occasional exchange ("what in the world are you looking for?" / "shhh.").
"you know, there's no one else around here any more," day finally announced, as though it needed to be spelled out for the woman travelling by her side.
night's shoulders finally sank, stepping down the red carpet towards the study. "you could've told me that sooner."
"i figured..."
in between words, there was a long pause.
the construct suddenly came to a stop, the player still pacing forward. and it was this abrupt halt that caused night to slow, too, turning back around to check on her secondary.
"what is it?"
"--"
a hand grabbed night's shoulder. day pulled the player, tossing her to the ground. that cinch, a vice grip, burned against the woman's skin, almost as though it was strength the former would've used in combat. night hit the floor, back against the carpet, as a swish of steel pulled white light from thin air.
so too did a bandit emerge from the scaffolding, folding outwards head pointed towards the ground, before dropping downwards, scooping himself from the tumble safely. a dagger unsheathed, gripped backwards in his hands as he held it out. a threat, he hissed, eyes upon the tip of day's spear.
"frankly, none of that was supposed to happen." his gaze travelled up to the construct, brows furrowed. behind day, night was slowly picking herself up. "and i'm a little offended that your assistant here's got the bulk of it figured out. can i at least ask for a fair fight, player to enemy?"
"some nerve," the gemini returned, breathy. "you tried to pull an ambush and then ask for a fair fight. no, no way -- you're staying here until we know what's to be done with you."
the bandit shrugged, half-grinning. "all the more reason not to deny my request."
"and i thought," night whined, trying to draw oathkeeper out with a few jousts of her hand by her side. "there weren't any more of these guys...?"
an unexpected "no," was returned, from day to the player. shadowed sights were granted to the woman, and night blinked, curious, off-guard. "there weren't. but whatever you do, night, don't look."
As Koga neared the hallway to the President's study, the sounds of chatter reached his ears. Was that...a bandit? And DAY? NIGHT must've been with her. The man went to reach for his sword as he broke into a run, pausing only when he recalled the President's request to not harm any of the bandits. The man swore inwardly as Okami bounded alongside him. Maybe there was a quest failure condition around killing some number of bandits, and if that was the case, Koga was not exactly looking forward to having to sneak around this whole mansion again.
Rounding corner, the man spotted his two compatriots, facing off with some thug brandishing a knife. "Hey!" Koga called out to the man. "C'mon man, just give it up, you're out nu-"
The door to the study suddenly broke off it's hinges, careening across the hall and slamming into the bandit, flattening the man against the wall with a sickening cracking sound. Though the door remained embedded in the opposite wall, the red fragments bleeding out from the edges and floating skyward told the tale of the thug's fate. From the doorway itself, the bodyguard from before thudded into the hallway, dusting his hands off with a dismissive "Hmph."
"What in the fuck?..." Note to self, essential NPCs might be stupidly over leveled.
"Gaston!" the President's voice called from within the study before she too appeared in the doorway. "I thought I said not to harm anyone!"
"Well, maybe he shouldn't have been standing there," the man replied with a shrug. Koga's eyes flicked over to NIGHT and DAY down the hall with a confused look on his face. "Do we uh...?" he asked pointing towards the two disgruntled NPCs.
"koga?"
night recognized the voice of her friend as she was starting to turn away as ordered. the bandit wheeled around, shocked at the appearance of yet another player in his midst. and just as day and whirled around, almost in time to slam her palm into the woman's gaze --
-- she hadn't meant to look. neither did she get to see.
there was the thunderous breaking of wood. the crack. the heavy slam of something slammed against the wall. then the shimmer of a familiar sound, cardinal's relinquish of a figure in their midst, and all night could've seen was darkness.
she hadn't figured who exactly had been removed, until process of elimination from the entities around her clued the answer in. all the while, day had muttered to the player, latter still shaking, hand gripped upon familiar, porcelain skin -- "it's scripted this time. it's scripted. none of them had meant for it to happen, but it's scripted. none of it's..."
the construct removed her hand from the player, and night cracked open her eyes to see the damage. it took her a few moments to adjust to what had happened, during which the president must've called them into their study. the bodyguard -- familiar, yet she hadn't recognized a voice to the figure -- huffed and started back inside. all she did was follow him in, sucking in a shallow breath, day clung onto her arm.
right. the execution was meant to happen. and they had a delivery to make, first and foremost, so they should focus on that instead.
upon a nearby desk, night laid down the documents she'd obtained from earlier, before turning to koga, expecting him to spawn his own set as well.
Koga looked at DAY, shaking and muttering to herself, with a hint of both confusion and concern. They wiped out mobs on a daily basis. Why did this seem to bother her so much? It wasn't like it was any different from any other time they killed a bandit or thug out on one of the floors. Sure, maybe this guy could hold a conversation a bit better but Koga still doubted the guy had the same level of cognitive function as DAY or even Gabrandr.
Well, hopefully NIGHT would take of her companion later. This wasn't really any of Koga's business anyways.
Koga followed the women into the study, while the body guard moved to the door, still plastered against the wall and began to peel the wood from stone. Risking a glance back, Koga was surprised that the body hadn't actually completely disintegrating like he'd expected. Instead, it was still there, all in one piece, albeit a tad flatter than before...strange...probably had something to do with the quest...
Turning his attention back to the matter at hand, Koga summoned his collection of documents and placed them onto the pile of papers NIGHT had started and looked back at the President. "Welp, that's all of them. Just like you asked."
Brienne simply stood there and glared at the man with her arms crossed. Koga rolled his eyes. "Right, right," he muttered before stepping aside so that the President could speak to the only worth person in their party.
"Thank you for your assistance," the President said to NIGHT with a honeyed smile. "It seems that the bandits, save for their one unfortunate friend there, have disappeared into the night." Brienne collected the documents neatly together before spiriting them away into one of the drawers of her desk. "Rest assured, we will investigate tonight's events thoroughly. With any luck, we'll be able to track down the perpetrators and ensure that they answer for their crimes." Was treason not punishable by death in Ordsea? Why the hell did they spend so much time sneaking around...
"That might not be necessary ma'am," the bodyguard said, suddenly appearing in the empty doorframe. "That one had a tattoo on his arm. Sword and shield."
the tattoo hadn't meant anything to the players, but it clearly did to president brienne. her question came after a hum. "so did you happen to recognize him? ...or, at least, what remained of him."
the bodyguard snorted and shook his head.
at the players' confused stares, it was their host who responded, her aid pacing over to her side. "apologies. my ward here comes from braso -- the mark of a sword and shield being one of the signifiers that one might be from that region. though i suppose you might already be familiar with their culture...?"
she turned to night as her voice trailed, though the player shook her head, figure still tense. "oh? have you... not actually been, then? though i suppose with how their garments usually cover most of one's arms..."
brienne glanced to her guard for a moment, stare lingering, before turning back to the party. "then i hope i could at least persuade you to head over and introduce yourselves to commander fudral. it would be easier to uncover the identities of those behind the attack today if he, perhaps, had a register of proven warriors with that mark."
night only returned a nod, barely acknowledged by the president once she started to walk towards her desk, her bodyguard unmoving. she returned a minute later with a plain envelope in hand, taken from a drawer, a wax seal in red stamped upon it. the player received it with two hands.
"you should be able to hand this to someone at his office in targok for such an arrangement."
her thumb grazed the surface of the wax, the woman distracted by the craft of the letter they were to deliver. a forced, "got it," under a whisper, before night remembered to show the slightest bit of courtesy with a bow.
Koga stood back and listened to the conversation. The mystery only seemed to grow thicker. A mysterious tattooed sigil, and a country of warriors. How did this all tie together? Koga surely didn't know. And he surely was not smart enough to figure it out (or at least not without more pieces of the puzzle to fit together). But still, it was a lead. Despite that, the whole quest was getting stranger by the second. How did any of this tie into that secret phrase they were told to obtain? Were these two separate plots, or simply threads that tied together. Koga didn't know, and it was giving him a headache.
President Brienne handed NIGHT a small envelope and recommended that they head to the Targok office in Brasso and speak to Commander Fudral. "We'll do that," Koga said with a nod, before turning towards the door. Pausing before leaving, Koga stopped and said, "Oh, by the way, we've been looking for a....secret phrase or something like that. We were told you might know something about that?"