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Post by ARCTURUS DIA on Sept 2, 2013 16:49:40 GMT -8
Arcturus was unsure what bothered her more – being trapped in a far too small rental car while her truck was in the shop, or the fact she was about to have to put on her best acting face she'd worn in a long time to cover up something she intensely disapproved of. At this rate, however, especially after the incident a few days ago she'd been caught in, she couldn't deny there was some necessity behind it all. The more points in their favor at this point, the better. That didn't mean she liked the idea of having to string her source of elemental weaponry along.
So here she was, driving the short distance from the society headquarters to the antique shop where said person was, though not without a few profanities shouted at the car she was unused to and driving in a style that was very telling that she was used to a large vehicle. She made it in one piece, however, managed to hunt down a parking spot not terribly far from the shop, fished the very long and clunky case she'd managed to wedge into the bat seat of this piece of shit car, and after she'd managed to get it out and supported over one shoulder, she headed for the shop, ignoring the stares she got.
There was a typical ding as she opened the door, carefully maneuvering herself to ensure her cargo didn't knock anything out of place as she moved, picking her way through the less-than-wide isles, dark eyes sweeping the area to see if there were any other people here. Unfortunately she wasn't able to tell due to some of the high cabinets and hidden halls but it looked empty. She'd just have to word things carefully until she was sure. Could be an old lady ghosting around in there somewhere. She quietly lifted the section of counter that allowed to access behind it, letting herself in without a word.
She shifted the incredibly heavy case uncomfortably, shuffling a bit to get to the doorway that led to the back, sighing with relief as she finally managed to get through, catching sight of a shock of white hair bent over and half stuck in the front face of a large grandfather clock. She coughed once to get his attention, which ended up turning into a real cough from the slight waft of dust she kicked up. After she recovered, waving her hand in front of her face to scatter the particles, she finally spoke, voice wry “I see business is booming as usual.” There was a loud thud that followed as she carefully set her case down, propping one hand on top to ensure it wouldn't fall.
NOTE: Thread for Jess. Tag LUPUS. Dated May 10th. |
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LUPUS
UNKNOWN ENTITY
knowledge seeker
Posts: 22
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Post by LUPUS on Sept 2, 2013 18:26:33 GMT -8
To say that he knew Arcturus was coming was an understatement. He knew and was prepared, the book that rested on his work desk nearby told him as much. Although it was just a book covered in runes, it was fairly useful in Lupus role as watched. The rune room held the all seeing book, but he did have a smaller portable version. The main difference was the amount of information it could provide, it normally only worried about whatever Lupus wanted to know and nothing more. He had been working about the IS and of course the book had answered him with their intents and movement.
Lupus ignored Arc for a second, just getting this new piece into place. Once it was settled he pulled away from the inner workings of the clock, closed the door and smiled at it started to click once more. ”Thirty years, it has been sitting quietly in someone’s attic, forgotten and left to rot. Time is a funny thing Miss Dia, wait long enough and most things, even history will be forgotten.” He left the clock and walked over to a large cabinet, pulling out a very large weapon case. He was not a fan of making these weapons for the IS, but due to his own need of using them (Whether they knew it or not, his connection to them helped him keep track of their doings) he has to do what was needed to make them happy.
”As you requested, it is done." He placed the case on the counter and took a step away to tend to a whistling pot. ”Tea Miss Dia? I know you have a different reason for visiting other then just to pick up your order.” He poured them both a cup of tea and then took a seat at a small two person table. |
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Post by ARCTURUS DIA on Sept 3, 2013 4:37:11 GMT -8
The former military was never good with deciphering cryptic runaround crap but she'd somehow managed with Lupus – a miracles considering she valued hard facts and straightforward information. Luckily, she'd had time dealing with her far more mystifying family members in her training, or else the manner of speaking would be about as useful as speaking Hungarian at her – it would get you nowhere. She reacted on par with her usual reaction to it, silence and an expectant expression, thinking idly 'Yeah it'd be nice if time forgot it was supposed to give me lines under my eyes but we all know that ain't gonna happen', but refraining from saying it.
Arcturus did give him a surprised expression, however, she he said her big project was complete. “Holy shit really? I was just comin' to check on my baby, didn't expect her to be done.” She waited while he placed the case down, and with an expression akin to a kid at Christmas she moved to replace where he stood as he moved off, popping open the reinforced case to look at her now heavily modified MGL. It still looked mostly the same at a quick glance, beyond looking shinier, but then the faint glow that traced along the multiple chambers and the barrel kicked in and there was suddenly a massive difference. She gave a low, appreciative whistle, running her hand over the cool surface and the luminescence of the engravings placed into the surface now. “That is a thing of beauty. Would kill to test it but I know better than to waste it.”
She'd been too distracted to properly answer his question, but she finally manged to drag herself away, snapping the case shut and shuffling her extra one to prop against the counter near it as she walked over to where the white-haired man had sat, moving the second cup of the steaming liquid to the opposite side of the table he was at, snatching some sugar while she was at it before she took her seat. She was even good enough not to drown the tea in said sugar, and just bit a small amount it, but with slight remorse knowing that the fact every time she got tea her brain automatically decided it was sweet tea and she would end up horribly disappointed by the taste.
“Somewhat. Just wanted to check a couple things.” she replied to him as she swilled the cup in an attempt to mix the sugar in before taking a sip. By 'a couple things' she meant a few questions and observations unrelated to her real reason in hopes it would seem offhand. The big one that stood out to bring up first was fairly obvious, too. “Had a run-in with a thing that's not supposed to be awake. Expect you know about it by now. Anything I should know about that?” she asked, leaning back in her seat a bit, dark eyes fixed on him, expression unreadable.
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LUPUS
UNKNOWN ENTITY
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Posts: 22
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Post by LUPUS on Sept 3, 2013 22:39:21 GMT -8
Lupus left Arc along to enjoy her time with her modified weapon. It was the kind of relationship they had, Arc would come to him for enchanted bullets, invisible weapons, rune magic to make them easy to hide. It was part of his trade off with the IS, he do them favors and they left him alone, most of the time. Sadly history did have a way of repeating itself, there would always be the one leader of the IS that would brand Lupus a danger and try to get rid of him. Those days were always the most troubling for Lupus, forced to hide away for a generation or two until the IS calmed down and got leaders that thought more than they attacked. THis set of three was no different, he know what Giovanni thought about him, luckily there was a reason behind the society having three leaders. Arc and Komau did well to keep their trigger happy co-worker in check.
Lupus was sure it had something to do with the man’s pure lineage from the Fire Kingdom, they were well known for both their power and their need to prove themselves. Lupus could only imagine that Mr. Giovanni was taking after his ancestors fairly well. With Arc he found her fairly interesting as well, she was trigger happy as well, but seemed to do well to keep herself in check without help. She thought thing throw and was easier to speak with, and explain certain situations to. He always offered her tea, every visit making her try something different from a random part of the world. Even though half the time he knew she did not like the take she did well to suck it up, though if she ever took the time to ask for something else to drink, he would comply.
Getting her to the point was easy, all though she did not say bluntly what she wanted, but did work her way up to a unspoken question. Even though she did not ask, Lupus knew, she wanted details, names, powers, and location. He thought about his answer for a moment, he had visited Chaos just the day before, trying to keep from this small problem. ”Ah yes, nothing to worry about. Chaos as he has been called for the past hundreds of years, will not be of any trouble for you, at least for a while. Instead you should focus on more pressing matters.” He really did not give her much information, but unless she asked directly for it, this was just how Lupus was.
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Post by ARCTURUS DIA on Sept 4, 2013 17:23:33 GMT -8
“The fact he ripped the top of my truck off is damn pressin to me. And made me burn through half my water bullets.” she muttered, still bitter. It would take at least a week, if not a week and a half before her truck was fixed. She'd had at least one person give her incredulous look when she said she wanted it fixed when it would almost be easier to buy a new one, but that truck was only a few years old and goddammit she'd just gotten comfortable in it she didn't want to play the adjust game again. She took another sip of drink in her pause, deciding this tea wasn't too bad, it just wasn't, you know, what her brain associated with tea. 'And it needs more sugar' she deemed, but made no move to do such, instead fixing Lupus with a solemn expression. “It's my job to keep as many people alive through this as I can, so I hope 'not being any trouble' means he won't be feedin off people any more. If not, someone needs to take him to the vet and get 'im fixed.” she said, which also clearly said 'and if it has to be me then dammit so be it'.
She still couldn't figure out Lupus' motives, so conversations like this tended to be...delicate. Meaning she was absolutely terrible at them because that was the last thing she was. But thus far there'd be no signs of information leaks from his end and he kept helping her with her upgraded weaponry, so he wasn't double dealing at least, which put her on a ground where she had no issues with him. Unlike Giovanni, who she worried was so paranoid that one day he was see someone use a lighter and impale them with a sword before he stopped to check. Yeah. Sounded about right.
The society leader decided that, if she was going to broach the subject, now would be a good time – she'd accidentally afforded herself a good window from one of her former statements. She put on her best bullshitting face that was normally reserved for over-the-top stories meant to terrify newbies, attempting to adjust it into a nonchalant, smoothly laid out utter lie. She didn't care lying about trivial shit – in fact it could be fun – but this was serious, you know the 'hey Arc, you could potentially go mad from corruption by going through with this outrageous attack plan no pressure or anything' sort of serious...and it was difficult as hell.
“Speaking of my now severely depleted enchanted bullet stock, I had a question that a few people have asked me now that I don't rightly know the answer to. If I needed something that could pack a punch on short notice, is there any way to do something for fast if ridiculously unrefined enchanted ammo? Or even better yet something I could do myself so I don't have to barge in here and be like 'hey rush order, be my bullet bitch for the next 30 minutes'?” she asked, voice held at the steadiest tone she could manage, but to her ears it was almost painfully stilted...she hoped it was just because of how paranoid she was. Attempts at acting always sounded worse to your own ears. She held her eye contact, though, her expression straight and expectant, even while in the back of her mind all she heard was 'he's going to know, you're terrible at this and he always fucking knows.'
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LUPUS
UNKNOWN ENTITY
knowledge seeker
Posts: 22
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Post by LUPUS on Sept 16, 2013 7:21:11 GMT -8
Lupus stood from his chair and walked over to where his book was, picked it up and studied it. He stayed quiet for much longer than he was sure Arc was willing to take. He closed the book and sat it on the counter, he wanted to take what he was about to say very slowly. “Arc I’m going to first express my concern to this.. idea of yours. What you are asking is for a way to force corrupted energy into a bullet without it exploding.” He shook his head, of all the ideas he had heard from the IS this was surely to take the cake. He was made to promise his help to them, but he was starting to feel that the things the IS wanted him to do was bypassing what he had agreed with. Still it was not like he could say no, but the idea itself.. what were the IS planning this time? Even Lupus would not know the answer until he check on any information the Rune Room would offer him later. The book he had with him only gave him a play by play of what was happening now, or within the next few minutes.
Because he was free from time Lupus did not affect the book, causing things dealing with himself to be unclear. All Lupus could do was try to explain the risk in such a way that maybe even Arc would be convinced that the idea should be left alone. ”First of all it may be possible but to do it yourself would surely mean death. The process, although I wouldn’t know it fully would mean taking some essence from a naturally corrupted creature, placing a seal on what I gathered and then placing it into bullets that you can use.” He shook his head as Lupus started to pace to make and emphasis on the danger he was trying to convince Arc of.
”Of course that would nt be the worse part, I am out of the reach of corruption, but you, or anyone in the IS. Humans are not made to resist corruption. Even someone with a strong mind will be eater away over time. It is like a poison that enters your body and feast on every sadness, anger, it will feed until it takes over. Short interactions with the corruption would not be a problem, but long exposure would.” He took a break to let what he said sink in, took a seat and picked up his tea cup. Whatever the IS had planned was something big, something that could tip the balance, were they really prepared to do such a thing?
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Post by ARCTURUS DIA on Sept 17, 2013 12:52:11 GMT -8
God fucking dammit of course he knew and was going to lecture her. She rolled her eyes as soon as he began to speak, but did at least wait until he was done with his lecture before she shot a response out. “Believe me, I'm well the fuck aware how dangerous this is, but I wasn't afforded a ton of options.” she responded, tone bitter despite her attempt to restrain it. The fact she was even allowing herself to be used as such a tool was a sign how dedicated she was to her society, really – how many people could say they were willing to risk turning into a shadow-crazed ghoul that would have to be killed in an attempt to stem the flow of awakenings? Not many. And yet almost none of them besides the other leaders and a few choice agents – most of whom would still be left in the dark – would ever know.
She listened more carefully to his next part, however, eyes narrowed as he explained what was needed, which she was disappointed it wasn't just 'get me an item to use as fuel', or something, because that could have been done within a matter of hours. No, of course she had to go kill something else. However, it didn't hurt to let him know they had other means at their disposal, too, if that would help to push it along. “I can get something – hell, I can get a few things – to use if they'd help. I had a dig into our archives and found a few things that probably shouldn't even be allowed to be looked at, let alone recovered. I don't know if those would help but...I'm a little pressed for time. Giovanni is going to do something massively stupid and I'm going to have several hundred more problems if I don't step on the gas a little. So whatever the hell turns this into a rush job, that'd be great.”
In a show of her frustration, she sighed loudly, pushing the hair that hung loose from her tied hair back roughly, leaning forward on her elbows and staring into the cup of tea she hadn't touched since she'd started talking. She hadn't expected Lupus to offer to help, she'd been fully prepared to risk making these herself, so she supposed she should be grateful for the offer of help...which, she was, but...he was telling her what she already knew, lecturing her like her parents used to about how she was getting into things she didn't understand when she did, in fact, understand. She wasn't a stupid, rash kid – she hadn't been since she was what, fifteen, sixteen? She half-listened to his further advice against what she planned to do, and as soon as he was done, she took a long, preparing breath, and looked back up, her eyes and expression reflecting her resolve as she responded in a low, rigid tone.
“Look I know I don't strike people as the brightest crayon in the box when it comes to thinking ahead, but I ain't stupid. I know. I know exactly what the hell was just shoved off on me. But if I don't do it, a hell of a lot more people will die, and by fuck that's not happening in my jurisdiction. I've set this up in the most carefully planned way I can, and I know if just one thing goes wrong, it all goes to hell. You're singin' a song I already know the words to.” she responded, her tone having lost whatever vigor it had, turning to a flat, hard determination to match her set expression. She wasn't the shouting drill instructor or the back-sassing co-worker at this point – she was the commanding officer who had to choose between saving fifty civilians or one comrade.
“So just tell me if I'm on my own or not.”
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LUPUS
UNKNOWN ENTITY
knowledge seeker
Posts: 22
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Post by LUPUS on Sept 21, 2013 13:01:40 GMT -8
His warning were getting them nowhere, but Lupus was just please with the fact that he had tried. The IS were surely a group that had survived generations, but at this rate he wasn’t so sure that would be the case for long.Arc made her points and Lupus was forced to listen to them, not no force, he knew better. If whatever the IS had planned was something that Arc was willing to risk her life for, then the most he could do was respect her wishes. Even if that meant doing something that he was sure would mess with the balance he had worked so carefully in keeping. ”I’ll take you.” He couldn’t believe he was even agreeing to this, but if he did not at least help with this first step then knowing Arc she would just do something that would be considered very stupid.
”I will take you to the creature you can extract some essence from, but the method will be left you you. I’d say it will not be easy and then the method you use for the bullets will be even harder, and then to fight the corruption. You have a world of trouble in front of your, Miss. Dia I hope you are prepared for it all.” Yes lupus would help her with location and directions, but the hard work would be left to Arc. At least then if things went wrong, the blame would not fall on him. Lupus was willing to help Arc and the other leaders, but there was only so much he could personally do for them.
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Post by ARCTURUS DIA on Sept 23, 2013 15:07:46 GMT -8
She listened to his advice, knowing that anything that wasn't combat and 'kill the thing' wasn't her forte and inded, this would be hard. She didn't want to go it alone either, even with the sensitive subject matter. You didn't do something like this alone, it was dumb. Especially when it was something that wasn't her strong point. And with Komau and Giovanni busy with their own preparations, that limited her choices...
'Oh fucking hell...'. She knew who to take. That didn't meant she liked it, though.
“I think I know where I can get a little help.” she said reluctantly, cringing a bit at the idea. “Who yes, sadly they would be willing to help and in fact would probably jump at the chance. They may know better than I do on how to handle this, as well. Give me some time to round them up, and get them a few supplies. May take me a few hours.” she added, slowly pushing herself up from the table, still dreading what she was about to go do. There were only two people at the headquarters, besides the other consuls, that she could entrust to the information...and neither of them were people she wanted to entrust to anything, just because she was worried what they would do. She didn't think they'd tell anyone...she thought they'd make a bigger mess than what they already had. But going in to something like this without backup...? Bad idea.
She got up and moved to the counter, where the two large weapon cases were, but only picked up the shorter, bulkier one Lupus had handed to her when she arrived, lifting her arm to support it over her shoulder. She turned to face the man with eyes narrowed, expression a mix between concern and scrutiny, and she reached out and patted the much longer case that was nearby. “This is what I'll be using for the bullets, if there's any way to...I dunno, safeguard it, I'm gonna leave it here. Plus I don't think it'll fit in that piece of crap car I'm forced to use with this in there too.” she stated, shrugging the shoulder the grenade launcher was slung over. 'Note to self, rent a truck as well, I don't feel like letting Mirach sit in my lap.' she added mentally, patting the top of the sniper's case one more time before heading towards the door.
She paused halfway there, glancing back at Lupus briefly, before slowly expressed “Thanks for helpin'.”, which was the least she could give him for it. She knew he didn't want to but...well, she was going to do it with or without help, she had little choice if she didn't want the entire city to be pulled down by an angel pissed off by Giovanni. And with that, she spun on her heel and strode out, shoulder squared as she took a long breath.
Time to call the family.
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LUPUS
UNKNOWN ENTITY
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Posts: 22
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Post by LUPUS on Sept 24, 2013 20:14:46 GMT -8
Lupus was at least pleased that Arc seemed to be listening to him. She was allowing him to give his input and was even willing to follow a bit of it. Lupus did not know who Arc would be bringing to help but with a few guesses was at least sure it probably had nothing to do with the other leaders and would have to be someone that she trusted. Lupus knew the Dia family fairly well, understood how they named their children and why they did it. The family had a good sense of loyalty and Lupus was sure that at least one of the people Arc would be brings had a chance of being a Dia. Who knew, maybe he would get to run into a name that he had heard before? The passing thought gave him a chance to remember a bit of forgotten history, maybe he could share a story or two later.
A few hours was fine with him, in fact Lupus had a feeling that Arc would want to get things done quickly. She seemed to be in a rush, which worried the man a bit. A rush could cause accidents if a person became reckless, he hoped that she really understood what she was getting into. ”Very well, we can meet in the alleyway of that one tea shop, you should know the one I speak of.” It was probably a good idea of they did not meet in his shop, although a chance encounter was fine, bring any IS member to him should only be done in a need-to-know basis. Arc pulled out the weapon that she wanted to use for these new bullets that he would have her make. Corruption was a hard element to fight, even with the right ruins he could only put so much protection on the weapon. If anything he would at least make it so the thing did not melt or explode from use.
”I will see what I can do, until we meet again miss Dia.” He had a few things that he needed to due before the trip. Placement tracking, gathering of information. Lupus would make sure to be ready by the meeting time. When Arc thanked him he tipped his head in acknowledgment, hopefully things would go without a hitch.
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