middaeg | Open | The past is never where you think you left it

Aefenglom

i – Hazard at the Harbor

The way children are being made to work at factories had blessed his mouth with a taste that was most sour and only made fouler with each new factory he visited, finding more of the same, on his first week in Aefenglom. Now the murmurs about dissatisfaction of one employer caught his attention and a glint of evil could be found in his eyes as his lips curled into a nefarious smile. This could only end well.

Taking the quest to resolve the matter Bishop immediately started by introducing himself to the factory staff, positioning himself as someone who’ll help keep the peace and get the kids working, and started wandering around and only occasionally scolding the young slackers he finds – if it could be called that. “Barely a slap on the wrist”, according to some. The morning proceeded as normal but as the work neared lunch things started to take a turn.

Tools would go missing, a window suddenly fell, fist fights would break out over who called their mother what, and a couple of machines suddenly started to break while one was missing a bolt or two making it stop. No one knew what was happening but Bishop was always first on the scene to investigate…..and also unseen until those moments for anyone who was sharper than the rest.

Dorchacht

ii – Lady of the Lake (A)

“’Deceived by her lover who took her out to this lake and drowned her so that he can marry another woman’, huh? What the heck? These ghost stories are all the same. Booooring!“ He says after reading the quest details out loud. “It’s always some kind of curse or vengeful spirit, some person who was betrayed by the one they love. I guess that doesn’t change even in another world huh?”

Bishop sighed heavily as he and picked the quest off the board. “Well, it looks like it pays good money to harvest some pearls. Ah! If there are pearls there might be some clams! Uwaaa….” His eyes suddenly gain a childish light to them as he day dreams about fresh juicy clams to eat, which is apparent given how he’s drooling a bit.

Despite his relaxed and goofy demeanor, he’s perfectly aware he’s doing a high risk quest and this shows with how Bishop tightly gripped the katana at his hip, or the deep breaths he’s taking even as he feigned concern.

“Right! I’ll take this one then!” He declared before turning on his heel to head out, most likely to his death even if he says otherwise.

iii – Lady of the Lake (B)

It’s hard to tell if he had underestimated his quarry or if he overestimated his skills. ‘A ghost’ he thought. ‘I’ve dealt with hundreds if not thousands of those’ he thought. ‘This is no different’ he thought.

He was wrong, so very wrong.

On the shallows of the river he stood on shaky knees, bloodied, bruised, with blade in hand and his gun in the other. Circling him like a lion about to make its kill was the specter in question, ghastly and ethereal.

“Answer, assassin. Why did you leave them?” Her voice is unnatural and macabre as it cut the heavy silence between them. “Did you think you would spare them pain? Did you think you found your purpose?”

“SHUT UP!” He bellowed as he rushed forward, firing shots of focused brilliant azure flame. They do nothing but pass through the ghost, even Bishop stumbles through as he leapt and swung his blade. She didn’t even need to dodge, only retaliate as she whipped her hand and launched him to the shore. “Leave, murderer.” She warns, but he ignores it as he rises to his feet with barred teeth.

Perhaps you thought to undertake this quest too, or perhaps you just followed him, or maybe it’s just bad bloody luck, but here you stumble on this scene. An image of a soul lost and the madness of a lost soul.

First rule when it comes to hunting the supernatural: Never assume your target's behavior even if you've fought against many of the same type before.

Saori already had a bad feeling about how her partner would fare against this ghost based on the contradictory nature of his earlier attitude when they accepted the quest. If she hadn't noticed the tension in his behavior, she would've been offended by it.

At this point, she couldn't continue letting the Lady of the Lake brush Bishop off like a fly. She could almost taste the rage seeping through their Bond's feedback. The chimera goes over to him and squeezed his shoulder with her hand. "That's enough," she chided him. "You're getting nowhere with this. It's clear the only way to do this is to answer her questions or face rejection."

"Your friend here is wise, as one would expect from a goddess." The ghostly lady holds off from attacking with Saori so close to Bishop. Saori's grip tightens at the mention of her status, but she says nothing to her.

"Fuck. Off." Who that's directed is unknown but he shoves her hand away as he stomps past ready for another attack.

The ghost looked at him with hollow eyes, the same way a person might look at an usual bug.

"Then answer, murderer. When you slaughtered the trailblazer, her family, and companions, did you truly -" Bishop paled visibly paled at the question but his soul flew into a mix of unbridled rage, panic, anxiety, and bottomless fear. He lifted his gun and squeezed the trigger wildly, firing shot after shot after shot to drown out the voice he didn't want to hear. No one should have to hear that.

Saori's eyes widen as she is taken back by Bishop brushing her off then sudden burst of rage once again. While the ghost didn't react to the flurry of bullets being fired, Saori bit her lip as she tried to piece together a plan to de-escalate this trash fire of a mission. Forget getting a pearl, she needed to stop Bishop or risk both of them going berserk from the negative emotional feedback.

While the revelation of Bishop as someone who has killed didn't exactly phase her, the emotions unleashed when he lashed out did. She didn't have much time to dwell on what it could all mean. At some point, there had to be a pause to reload the gun. Her fox feet shifted to crouch low for the pounce in that moment.

She'll be sorely disappointed when she finds out it's a magic gun and reloading isn't going to be until he actually runs out of magic...Which isn't that far off.

The ghost retaliates once more but Bishop plants his feet and guard with his sword to endure the force to some degree, though that didn't stop the pebbles and twigs that scratched and bruised him, but it did not relent until he was once more blown away.

"Leave." She warns as he crawls on his hands and knees, struggling now to get on his feet. Enduring that attack was not wise and he should have known better. He lifted his magitech gun once more but when he fired, the fire had diminished by half. He's weakening.

"Oh for fuck's sakes..." She cursed under her breath. She would've liked to wait until he was much more tired but she wasn't sure if time was on her side. With Bishop so focused on the ghost, she leapt at him. She grabbed his right wrist, twisting it to direct his aim away from her but the grip was much stronger than her last grab, almost on the verge of breaking bone. He wouldn't have much time to react to the punch to the face she delivered with her left.

"I don't want to carry you back in a body bag, Bishop. Stop this. NOW."

"I doubt even you could get him to listen. Tell me. Why do you stay bonded to him?" The Lady stops her attack as she asks Saori the question.

"I...stay because I know he's in pain and he shouldn't have to face it alone. Not like how I did. True, I don't know all the full details and I'm not going to force him to spill it, but I want to be able to help in what little way I can. Or maybe it really is my need to watch over someone."

He grunted and intended to counter, but the fist to the nose was a good touch. He'd commend her if it didn't hurt so much.

The ghost heard her answer and for a moment she seems placated. "And what of you, assassin, will you take another innocent life?"

While Saori's honesty about her tolerance for Bishop's obvious bullshit and accurate assessment of his state as a person, he was putting his training to use and quietly recovered his katana and slowly raised it while keeping the tip and reflective edge from her view. He didn't appreciate her actions thus staining her sentiment. He wanted blood as red as his vision at the moment, or he did until the lady of the lake's next question.

Through their bond there was panic, anxiety, and pain enough to numb even the most hardened hearts. The pain that's crippled and pushed him for so long.

He felt sick but in a way this saved her because, just inches away from her neck was the tip of his blade ready to strike and pierce. He couldn't speak, couldn't breathe or think as the memories of his sins, all of the innocents he's taken. The blade quivered until finally being dropped and he gasped desperately for air.

As soon as he dropped the katana, Saori's tail swatted it away to get it further away from Bishop. She pries the gun out of the other hand and also tosses it away. Once he's disarmed, she can breathe a bit easier.

"Even after all this, will you still stay bonded with him?"

For a moment, there was nothing but her heavy breathing as the gears in her mind began to turn. On one hand, he could be a handful, but on the other, he was fun to be around and it was nice to have a friendly rivalry in the kitchen.

"Yes or as long as he'll have me as his partner. I never expected a bond to be smooth sailing so I'm ready to for whatever it throws at me. Even if that might require me knocking sense into my partner."

The ghost floated in place, seemingly placated by her honesty though the subject of the gesture wasn't listening or couldn't listen.

He's too deep into his anxiety and panic to do much else outside of forcing his throat to open to breathe, mostly with unsuccessful results. His attempts just made him shove Saori away and move a few paces then quickly falling to his knees.

"I-...I-!! Hurkk!!" He's unable to keep himself together from the stress and vomited bile and sick before him, turning a little paler because of it.

"Bishop," Saori rushed over to his side, despite the second rejection. Her hand on his back is much more gentler now. "Hang in there. This will pass. We should go. Can you stand?" Of course she probably could carry him with her chimera strength, but she wanted to give him the option first.

"So you stay out of compassion. Is this why you declined reincarnation and became a goddess?"

Saori doesn't look at the ghost. "For years I listened to gods and beasts alike constantly talk down on humanity. Sure, we've done our share of terrible and unforgivable things, but there's still something about it worth fighting for. I swore to give humanity a fighting chance until the end of my days because I am Saori Nakagawa first before Inari."

Saori's voice was muffled at best and his vision wasn't any better. Tears rolled down his face, large droplets of pain given form.

The ghost nodded in response to her answer and he stretched her hand to the lake, the fog and water clearing until a pearl shone near the shore. "You may take one pearl as proof of your honesty. The assassin cannot, not unless he faces the truth."

At the mention of his truth Bishop turned to the ghost, anger now turned to spite but mixed with fear. "Tell me, assassin. Will you kill another innocent?" His emotions spiked again, more panic, more fear, and this time he covered his ears as horrid voices started to play in his head. "I....I....don't want...to..."

Quietly, she stood up and politely bowed to the ghost. Perhaps when things quiet down, she would leave an offering of flowers. It may not appease the lady's soul to leaving the lake, but the dead shouldn't be forgotten.

"You have my thanks." She went to the water's edge and fished out the pearl. With the quest's objective secured, she returned back to her partner, sat next to him to rub his back. With all this rage, panic, fear and regret that was bottled up, she knew it was only a matter of time until it all crashed down on him.

"Bishop?" Carefully, she pulled one hand away from his ear, so he could listen. Or at least, she hoped her voice could reach him. "You won't have to while you're here. I'll do what I can to help you with that."

The ghost came closer when he answered, just hovering behind the two as Bishop wallowed in his darkness.

"You didn't want to, but that didn't stop you from killing them did it?"

The darkness swelled again, visions of violent red racing through his mind.

"...No."

This was....torture. His soul, already broken, was being ripped apart even further. His sobbing stopped but the tears didn't, but the grim truth that he's fought so hard to deny was swallowing him whole. The truth about his nature.

What made her decide to follow him into the factory? Probably good thing that she is with him as she recongize that glint from their first meeting. She already had more changes happened to her, more white scales as well as her emerald eyes started gaining a gold tint and silted.

"You are being a little more than obvious what you are planning." She goes to whisper up at him which came out like a sharp hiss. "They are just nestlings."

"Hmmm?" He feigned ignorance as he turned to her, walking along the second level of his latest but yet to be found sabotage.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." A beat. "No really. I have no idea what you are talking about." The hell she means by hatchling?

She just goes to let out a sigh and a small chuckle, shaking her head at his feigning ignorance.

"Lair~" She teases him a little. "The nestlings will be the ones who get into trouble the most. I can't heal so I won't be able to heal either you or anyone else."

From his sabotages. Just really Bishop. Stop.

"What? Why would they get in trouble for the misbehaving adults and shoddy construction?" Shoddy in the sense they're not Bishop-proof.

"That's managements responsibility." Just then there was a loud metal pop followed by someones cry of pain and the general commotion of an accident happening.

'The bloody hell just happend?!' 'A bolt just flew off the machine and pelted him in the noggin, sir!' Was the exchange that could be heard from the mens shouting. A bolt, usually secured with a nut, a nut that is in his pocket that is part of his next big sabotage.

She opens her mouth to respond to his question when the shouting and loud pop was heard.

Her wings instantly flared and poofed out before she forces to calm herself down again.

"Should we go to them or to the nestlings? If I understand this structures better I can try to wane a tale to the adults. It does seem to be very dangerous for both adults and nestlings afterall."

"Why?" He says going to the railing and leaning over just a bit to examine the situation. "He looks alright to me. Ah, but I suppose I should investigate. He says as if he were disappointed by the idea of it.

Regardless he walks past Leanne and towards the crowd, politely asking them to scoot over or gently pushing them aside as he examines the injured puca then to the machine in question.

"Looks like someone forcibly removed the nut from this lever mechanism. Anyone see any loose nuts, save the ones inside this mans head?" He already knew that though and this was just a distraction as he quickly took out the nut from his pocket and planted it on a nearby large turnskin.

Soon, the said turnskin finds the nut and the whole crowd erupted into bickering, cries of accusations, then shouting, taking of sides, and eventually someone throws a punch and the whole situation becomes...unmanageable. The perpetrator had taken a step back, leaning against the wall and watched his plans unfold.

Edited 2020-08-28 19:55 (UTC)

"Do it if only to not make yourself look suspicious. Plus, we don't need someone who has died or seriously injured." She responses and sighs. Bishop... Bishop is quite the handful.

She moves to follow him through the crowd and giggles a little at his joke. But then, it just goes from bad to worse to waaaaay worse! What? Just what is happening and what is going on?!

Leanne flares her wings and takes to the air in order to dodge a punch and moves at once to land next to Bishop.

"I take a guess that this is a part of your plan?" She goes to whisper towards him so that the others cannot hear her.

"Again, I have no idea what you are going on about." She is totally right about that.

The fight continued long enough for a mosh pit to form before the foreman came long , bellowing loudly to break up the crowd and drag the two brawlers with him to his office while also shouting at Bishop and Leanne to follow.

Once in, the shouting won't stop until the two were properly berated and their attention turned to Bishop and Leanne. A simple question, 'what happened by their account', a story Bishop retold accurately as if he saw it himself.

"One thing I did notice though, all the individuals that were nearly victimized by these accidents were all people who were also in favor for giving the children more rights or leniency. I also believe that turnskin there is of the more....unpopular folks according to the children." He points out as the eyes of the foreman and the puca lock on the turnskin. "Looks to me like someone is planning something rather sinister."

Clue. He's in the room and name starts with 'B' as in 'bastard'.

She only goes to give him a playful hip bump. She won't speak more as there was a small amount of entertainment happening in front of them.

Leanne simply follows behind Bishop into the foreman's office and nods to agree with Bishop's story. If she told it, she might accidentally let it slip his plan so she will just nod in agreement with her friend.

It was hard not to giggle at his latter words but then she goes to speak up. "This will be a bad look, the very people who were in favor of giving the nestlings more rights were the only ones injured in this place of work. It might be a plot to set up a conflict that won't go away easily. It would be est to find the instigate as quickly as possible to save face."

What she says honestly didn't matter to him, what did matter was that she was also brought into the office. That, was the real monkey wrench in his plans.

His original plan was to just get some time with the foreman which he was hoping would be after getting the testimonies of the two. Once alone he'd 'persuade' the foreman to give the kids more rights, after all Bishop had created more than enough evidence to prove foul play. The so called 'perpetrators' were all the foreman's loyal flunkies after all.

But Leanne doesn't strike him as the type to keep quiet about this, though it's clear that she's a little sharper than she looks.

Whatever the case, the foreman shakes his head and falls down into his chair and quickly suspended the turnskin and told the puca to go get treated while dismissing Bishop and Leanne and demanded that they fixed this. Outside, the true mastermind behind the accidents sighed. "Well that plan is shot to all hell. Now what's my next play..." He whispered to himself.

She watches everything going down and senses Bishop's disappointment. She moves a hand to idly brush his in order to give him stealth comfort.

The foreman seems to not quite take in her words to account and Bishop seems to be going further and further down the rabbit hole of semi-defeat.

Once they left the office and she heard that sigh, she frowns a little and looks up to him. "Hey, you did good. If anything, you did get some vengeance for the nestlings."

She goes to think for a moment. "Perhaps we can lay low, watch and then make a new plan. I can also see what I can do to encourage the foreman to our side."

Perhaps Leanne's encouragement would have lifted his spirits -

"Huh??? The heck are you going on about??? You're the reason my plan went to shit."

- if he weren't, well, who he is.

"Everything was all ready for me to put pressure on the foreman. Scouting the area, setting up targets, sabotaging the equipment, planting the evidence, all building up for the foreman to call me into his office. Alone. The last thing I needed was a witness. Which was you in this case."

She blinks before ruffling her wings.

"It wasn't my fault that the foreman decided to call me in as a witness. I did my best to cover your tracks and keep your plan going." She huffs and really wants to pinch his ear now.

"Not my fault that you didn't make a backup plan." ALL OF THE HUFFING NOW! And you know what, she is going to reach up and pinch the skin behind his ear now.

"Huuuhhh?? Covering MY tracks??? Who the hell said I needed covering?? I bribed the witnesses already!" The workers here were already a bit scummy and in need of a bit more coin so it wasn't that hard.

He started to swat her hand away when she went to try and pinch him, and would do so again if she tried to continue.

"I wouldn't have needed one if you didn't cling so close, waterbird."

"We just happened to be in the same building." She goes to protest. "Perhaps if you clued me in more with your plan I would have been able to carry it out better.... Jerk..."

Leanne stopped her attempt to pinch him when he swatted her hand away.

"It is always wise to have a backup plan, cause you can't always predict what would happen." And here her wings goes to droop a little. Jerk. "And you say that as if it was an insult."

He pouts and huffs in response. "I do have a back up, but I'd need to wait for nightfall." A beat. "And find a nice secluded spot."

Because what's a hitman's specialty? M U R D E R

"Although I suspect no one would be too happy for something like that to happen, and that plan is a bit too extreme now that I think about it. Maybe I could just maim him a bit..." And now he's forming a plan that's arguably worse.

[it's moments like this that wei wuxian misses his demonic cultivation. he knows he can't make the spirit obey, but a few notes trill from his black flute anyway. maybe he hopes to appease, maybe to distract. and not just the spirit.]

Bishop.

[he calls out to him after he lowers the instrument.]

What're you doing?

[ His eyes were focused only on the ghost while his mind played the image of her being banished before him while analyzing and planning his next attack, but the voice that called out to him registered something else in his head first. Not as Wei Wuxian, but as "target". He raised his guy towards the voice, finger on the trigger and eager to fire. ]

Leave. Now.

[ He clearly wasn't in the mood to negotiate or...be a normal human being. ]

[he knows what the weapon is, vaguely. enough to know the damage it could do if he hit him with it.

but first he'd have to hit him. suddenly all the puca's senses are working together. danger, his body whispers, one ear twitching. but he stays steady.]

Bishop, do you have any idea what you're fighting?

[ His eyes never waver and his arm is steady. ]

Depending on what you do, it'll be a ghost and soon to be dead puca.

[ It was no idle threat as he slightly lifts the katana in his other hand, though the ghost has different plans. ]

You'd kill an outsider over no-

[ Her words were interrupted once more as Bishop turned his gun towards her, firing a quick bolt of blue fire through her head which does nothing but silence her voice. ]

Shut. Up.

[ But that also meant another unanswered question, and he knows how that song and dance goes as the specter swings her hand and a powerful force strikes Bishop and send him flying off to the side. He rolls and recovered into crouching position, ready to strike again but the damage is weighing on him. ]

Open | The past is never where you think you left it

Open | Quests

Lady of the Lake B

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I - Hazard

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iii

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