Eidolon's Chains

(Second Character!)

Name: Ash(ley) Audrey Hayes

Age: 26

Description of appearance: Short (natural colored) red hair along with blue eyes and light skin. She is somewhat slender and has muscles. She tends to wear comfortable and practical clothing (jeans, hiking boots, etc.)

Alliance: Witnesses

Personality: Tough and often weary of strangers. She takes life and her job seriously, though she can be humorous and fun to people she know even in a bad situation. She doesn’t care what people think about her either.

Job class: Hunter.

Abilities and weaponry: She normally has a knife on hand, though she currently also has a Springfield HS2000.

Character background: Ash grew up around guns and often got to practice shooting. She was also raised on an acre of land, so her family often got cows and chickens and such. She moved out at 19, going to an apartment until she got a stable job and finally managed to afford her own house. She considered several jobs throughout her childhood, including Police work, Veterinarian, a doctor, and several others, until finally focusing her life on hunting and sometimes side jobs when money gets low. She was never married and currently is not in a relationship. She is somewhat rebellious and argues, though she isn’t as rebellious as she was as a child and teenager. She was hired to find out why people are disappearing.

Theme Song: Bad Reputation – Joan Jett

EDIT:

Ash Hayes -- Witnesses

Ash pulled into the basic parking lot area outside of the gift shop, hearing the pebbles crunch underneath her tires. She parked her jeep at one of the corners before stepping out and pulling a wool lined coat on. She had been hired by the family of one of the many people who disappeared on the mountain trail to find out what happened to him. She partially zipped the coat before turning and walking away from the car and gift shop, towards where the hiking trail was. The original sign beside the trail was covered by a poster, which read:

"HIKING TRAIL CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE."

A small locked gate stretched across the beginning of the trail, along with the neon yellow tape tied from the gate to different trees, at the sides of the trail. Ash skirted around the gate before ducking under the tape and proceeding to walk down the path. It was a somewhat long hike - up the mountain, and the sun was beginning to sink behind the far off hills and trees, darkening the path. She veered off the path, continuing higher up the mountain instead of looping back to the gift shop. She cast weary glances around every now and then, before hearing something ahead. She quietly squeezed through some bushes, seeing a man standing at the edge of the mountain. Not far was a fire and a few tents. Ash took a few small steps forward before speaking, her voice echoing across the cliffs.

"Don't fall." She said, her voice slightly chiding.

"Hello little girl, Andera likes company but so many people just seem to vanish when they come here. So I am here alone." Came the reply. Ash slipped her arms into the unzipped area of her coat, fingering her gun with one hand.

"The trail is locked down, you know. You shouldn't be here."

"But really, I do nothing wrong. People been so kind to me. But they're two faced, leaving Andera. I had a quest I'm sure, but Andera leg is mangled. Doctor, does it have to taken off?" She gave him a quizzical look before speaking again.

"Where do you come from?"

"Andera would point to his armour since he can't remember where and why he came. But people are so nice, shame they all seem to vanish." She paused before speaking again, slowly.

"Do you need help finding your way back to the trail?" Ash asked.

"But, surely you are tired after long walk up, and maybe you can help Andera find these people who were nice to him." Ash paused once more, thinking.

I could get him to the police or to a mental hospital if I can get him to the city.

"Maybe they went into the city?" She suggested.

"I would so like to see my home again... but my leg, come closer and look at it doctor."
Andera said. Ash hesitated, keeping one hand on the gun in her coat as she approached him.

"And how did you injure it?" She asked.

The man mumbled something as she walked towards him before saying, "Andera can't remember, so much nice people came up here first, why did they stop?"

"Because the trail was shut down. And I'm not a doctor, so you know." She said, stopping in her tracks.

"But they were so nice to Andera." He said.

"But was Andrea nice to them?" Ash challenged, surveying him quickly.

Danya, Black Mages

So much for blending in. Her hand nearly rose to rub her eyes, but she resisted and blinked instead. Touching one's face overly much was a sign of someone who didn't have it all together, and if they were going after the eidolon, damn straight, she had it together. No way was she going to get traded out on this mission. Not a chance. Still, she glanced back at their table as they left. So. No coffee. No discussion. No planning done. They were flying more or less blind here.

Fair enough, they had a briefing before jumping through the portal, but it was more than a few steps shy of thorough, and with more than a few holes in the information provided. Like, how to blend in with the local crowd. If they couldn't avoid causing a scene while ordering coffee, how on earth were they supposed to bring in the eidolon without throwing the planet several degrees off its axis? Granted, keeping a low profile wasn't high priority, but things might go smoother for them if they didn't call attention to themselves. Even if the locals could do nothing, word might spread to the eidolon, and the loss of the element of surprise would be... unwelcomed.

As for a starting point for the search, the best their locators had been able to do was to say that this city or town or whatever it was, was relatively close-ish to where they thought the eidolon might be. The entire situation was a jumbled, disorganized, inefficient mess. Her eyes flicked to the new arrival. Case in point. She exhaled through her nose and caught up with Amanda.

"Perhaps somewhere more private than a coffee shop is in order," Danya suggested.

Amanda barely glanced at her. "I could have told you that," she sniffed, "Though I would rather just go in there and get over and done with, rather than hiding like normal people."

Danya shrugged. "I was thinking something more along the lines of a hotel room. Somewhere where we could get organized without disturbing waitresses," she glanced over at Jackie, then added, "and somewhere where we could make sure we have all of our team in order this time."

"I don't see why we can't just take one of these houses or something," She said, jerking her head towards one of the many roadside houses. "Who cares about the people inside? They wouldn't be able to talk."

Danya inclined her head. "Plausible," her lips twisting, she continued, "Assuming the neighbors don't hear or friends on the street don't notice us breaking in. I assume we've got a spell for that?"

Amanda scowled. "Insolent child. I would have killed them all." She huffed, drawing herself up the best she could. "Fine, go get your hotel room. But I am not organizing it."

Danya gave a small smile of respect, and again inclined her head. "More than fair enough," she agreed before falling back to the others.

Killing the entire town. Effective, but probably more trouble than it was worth. Like Jackie, but without the effective part. She closed her eyes for a moment, then backtracked. Not Jackie. The people who had sent Jackie, and sent Jackie on his own instead of with the group. The people who had failed to understand what they were doing before they did it. Still, she looked over the newcomer. He was definitely on the younger side of things. She probably wasn't any older when she had first joined the Black Mages. But there was the key difference. This boy couldn't have been with them more than half a year. What in the soul's name was he doing here, on this mission?

She shook her head slightly and, bringing herself back to the current situation, told Lorcan, Jackie, and Chashina to keep their eyes peeled for a hotel.

Claren

“So what’s up with you, Jason boy.”

Unlike Refina, Claren didn’t bother to shake him free. There was something rather pleasant that she had discovered over the years when she played along with guys like Jason. After all, he is rather decent looking despite his rather clingy behavior.

“Oh nothing, just wondering if you want to hang out with me once we’ve captured the eidolon.”

Jason wrapped her arms around her waist from behind and pulled her close. Immediately, Jason was overwhelmed with her aroma, the smell of burnt cigars and dirt. Out of impulse, Jason stroked the side of Claren’s arm and felt the hardness of her muscle tone.

“Well that depends. What do you have in mind?” She turned around and gave him a slight wink. Meanwhile, Refina was eavesdropping and gave a slight chuckle as she knew that Claren was messing with him.

Jason hesitated to reply. He kind of regretted pulling her up close now. She was more manly and rough compared to the girls that Jason usually hits on. What he liked about the girls that he usually flirts with down at the local bar was how soft their skin was, their pretty face, their slender bodies and their pleasant smell. This one however made Jason uneasy. It was like he was trying to ask a girly man out.

Maybe she isn’t that bad. I mean she is kind of pretty I guess. Might as well give her a chance. I haven’t gotten a catch in over a month now.

“...Well how about we try to get to know each other better.”

A thought struck Jason. He might not know of Claren personally, but he does know through gossip that Claren hasn’t been to the human world before. However, he has. He smiled deviously at this sudden development.

Man what were you thinking girl. Who would join a mission like this without having been to the human world before? Although that is kind of cute...

“I know that you haven’t been to the human world before so I’m thinking about showing you around. Unless of course you want that bookworm Refina to be your guide.”

Suddenly, Claren stood rooted to the floor. Jason had a point. She would totally be lost without some sort of guidance. But of all of the people in the party, he had to depend on him for guidance?

I guess I can try to put up with him. Either way, I'll just smash him if he decides to do anything funny.

Jason

"So," said Jason, "What do you think? Will you let me be your guide?"

Claren nodded and Jason smiled happily. Guide, he thought. That'll give us a lot of bonding time. Even though Claren wasn't the prettiest girl ever, she was still nice, and Jason thought that he could eventually give her a makeover. He gestured towards the stairs.

"Come on," he said, up there.

"Why?" Claren asked. "We need to get going so we don't stray too far behind with the rest of the group."

"Don't worry, honey," he said. "We've got time. Lots of time."

Andera, Royal Guard

'Hark how she assumes, Andera wouldn't hurt anyone!'

The stupid girl countered 'What if Andera did, but Andera doesn't realize it?'

I waited a bit, watching the sun with aggressive ease, she seemed uncomforable, but eventually they all come to Andera and Andera wins them all.

'You're not Andera friend!'

The fleshy buxon girl commented back to me 'Are you sure of that?'

'Then come to Andera and prove it.'

Harley touched her head. Stupid spell. This headache was going to last forever. Ugh. She couldn't let the others see her like this. Tracking them down could wait. The headache couldn't.

People continued to chatter around her. A conversation about a boy, plans for a party, argument between a couple. She wanted them all to shut up. Silence - that was what she needed. Pure, golden silence.

Wasn't there a quiet place in the human world?

She squinted. Her vision was still a bit blurry and the world slid from left to right, but she could vaguely make out the word library painted on a building.

Library, huh? She didn't know about this world, but back in hers libraries were boring, soundless places. Soundless. She could almost feel her headache disappearing at the thought.

Before she knew it, she was elbowing her way through the crowd with only one goal in mind: the library.

Maya, Royal Guards, edited.

She was walking with Refina as they happened to chance upon Claren and Jason. There was no doubt that Claren was playing him up.

Maya sighed. She felt lost and tired ever since she stepped on Earth. She gestured to Refina that she was going to look around the library.

She walked around rows of books. She noticed the older looking books were covered in strong hard-bound leather. She fingered them as she walked between rows of books that were begging her to open them and read. She wondered if there were any books that concealed information on the world beyond. Probably not. She looked around at the humans. Most of them were reading as well as talking quite animatedly. And there were a few others typing away on the computers. Computers fascinated her.

She picked up a magazine which promised a map of the town.
"Maya, what are you looking at?" asked Refina from behind.
"Just a map. We need a place to stay, right? I'm looking for something that's just okay. No too outrageous, that is."
They sat at an empty table and pored over the map. They had found a good place, not far from the library.
"Should we go check it out?" Maya asked Refina in a hushed voice.
"No. Let's tell Captain Delrey. Afterall, it has to be his decision," reasoned Refina.

They walked around pretending to be regular readers as they quietly descended down the stairs to the basement.
Jason and Claren were joined by Captain Delrey. There wasn't much talk going on, but Maya sensed everyone was thinking seriously.

She cleared her throat. "Sir?"
Delrey nodded.
"Sir, Refina and I, we were looking at places to stay and we found a Hotel Param which is not far from here. We were wondering if, it is okay with you."
"Well. Let's do that. We're not going to gain much here. And I want everyone to report any sudden fluctuations in the magical energy levels," Delrey replied, his voice a rich baritone, as he held gazes with each one of them.
Maya looked at her ring. Its yellow stone had a faint orange glow, not really perceptible unless you looked for it. She knew it would turn a vivid gold if it detected magical energies.
He paused at Maya the last, and said, "Maya, I need you to be extra cautious. Report to me immediately if you find the animals and plants reacting strangely to the magical level fluctuations."
"Yes Sir," Maya said, feeling a little important.

Amanda walked slightly behind the rest of her group, chewing on her lip lightly. She was finally given a position of leadership, or as close as you could get to leading a group of black mages. It had been years of being the right-hand or the back-seat voice, and she wasn't totally sure of her authority yet. Danya troubled her, and she was keeping a close eye on her. The group was searching for a hotel, troublesome business as far as Amanda was concerned, she would have rather just taken over a household. However, she knew this was not a point to test out her authority on.
"There." Lorcan pointed out an inn, a cheap looking number with florescent lights. Chashina frowned. "It looks...dirty."
Lorcan grunted. "It's a hotel."
Danya shook her head. "Thin walls, we would be overheard. Keep looking."
Amanda cleared her throat. "We'll go to the one ahead." She had spotted it a minute before, a large pink number, clean and tidy looking. Something cleaner than the streets they were walking in, anyway.
Danya looked at where Amanda pointed, and nodded once, her mouth contorted in a small respectful smile. Amanda narrowed her eyes suspiciously, wondering why the young, ambitious warlock was being so compliant. Lorcan grunted approval.
"Danya, you book us in. I'll be watching."

Jackie - Black Mages

Jackie looked around the hotel room. Already he was feeling slightly homesick, and slightly dizzy from this place. Everything here was different.

Danya kicked her feet up on one of the beds and rested with her arms above her head.

Lorcan sat on the end. There was something about him that drew Jackie in. Whenever he got close enough he heard a sound a little like a sinister lullaby. There was a child in Lorcan's life, one that seemed neither dead or alive. It made no sense, and he knew better than to pry.

Instead he started to count the freckle-like dust marks on the wall, letting each number chime loudly in his mind to drown out the other sounds.

'If you're going to be here, you need to at least pay attention.' Amanda broke him from his daze.

'Sorry.' He muttered.

'Is this your first time in the human world?' Cashina asked. Jackie nodded. 'It's a lot to take in, but you'll get used to it.'

'The food here tastes funny.' He scrunched his nose remembering the bitter tasted of "Creamedcoffee." 'And what's Intinet?'

'Internet.' Danya said, an amused tone in her voice. 'It's something they use to communicate with each other and find information.'

'Why not just talk to each other?'

'Because they get lazy in the human world, and do everything electronically.'

'Is that why they're obsessed with Hotels? Because they're too lazy to walk home?' The others looked at him oddly. 'I saw a girl in that cafe, she had about twenty book-like things with her when she walked in, all about hotels. Thinking about it, she didn't seem to happy with any. Perhaps she was a little dim, I couldn't read her at all...' He fell quiet when he realised the atmosphere in the room was sharp enough to cut bread.

The attention was making him feel odd, and some one's mind was singing; 'Idiot.'

Maria, Witness, Unknown, 5:58PM:

Arianna wanted me round at her place. Hmm, alright then, I might as well go visit her. I watched the sun sink below the horizon and looked down at the note again, rereading her address. Well, wasn’t she in a fancy part of town, I thought sarcastically.

“Oh, shut up, Maria,” I muttered to myself and turned a corner. “Where is 54?”

I looked up to check the street sign, frowning when the street lights didn’t come on. “Weird,” I said, looking up and down the street. I ran across the road and started walking down the street again.

It was empty and dark, like most streets are at night. The emptiness unnerved me. Where are all the people? I thought as I glanced back over my shoulder. Clearly not here, Maria.

I told myself to shut again. I could swear I was going crazy.

I checked the address again and then shoved the note into the back pocket of my jeans. I had memorised it now so I no longer needed the note.

Suddenly, I spotted the right address and hesitated. Should I? Shouldn’t I? “Oh, just shut yourself up already, Maria,” I told myself and pushed open the gate.

The house was painted dark blue with curtains across the windows so I couldn’t really see in and the place was in complete darkness which was a little, um, not normal? Yeah. That’s weird, I thought, looking from one window to the next.

I slowly approached the dark, silent building and placed a foot on the first step which creaked loudly. I winced and rushed up the steps and across the porch to the front door.

“You better be here, Arianna,” I muttered as I rang the doorbell.

Silence greeted me as I peeked through the window beside the front door. Silence and darkness, why is that always creepy? I thought sourly as I rang the doorbell again. And what the heck? Is this even her place?

Apparently not, I thought as no one answered. I turned away and went to sit down on the front steps, head in my hands while stared off across the street.

“This is crazy,” I muttered. “I’m alone, in a cold, dark and empty street. What am I thinking?”

I jumped when a car rounded the corner and drove past. The street fell silent again as the car turned another corner at the far end of the street.

“Why did I even come here in the first place?” I muttered. “Oh right, because you and Arianna were planning on sneaking into the school to steal something!”

Yep, that was sarcasm, I thought, glaring at the house across the street. That house was in darkness too. Well, this is weird. I raised my head and looked around again. Almost every house on the street was in darkness. What was going on here?

Danya, Black Mages. Hotel. 5:52pm

Good bed.

The room had two of them and a cot. The cot was assumed, not requested. Not four minutes after they had filed into the room, a bellhop came knocking, carrying a folded cot in his arms. When asked (or demanded of, as the case may be) what he was doing, he mentioned hotel policy and left.

The moment the cot entered the room, the question changed from who got the bed with three people, to who got the cot. Not that anyone had asked yet. Currently, they were wallowing in the politely awkward pause following Jackie’s questionnaire regarding the human world. After a moment, Amanda cleared her throat.

“The Eidolon should be somewhere in the area,” she said, “she has on her person an item that the Royal Guards are using to track her. Our own people have—”

“Wasn’t this in the briefing?” Cheshina interrupted. Danya and Lorcan raised their eyebrows at her as one, and Amanda gave her a glare that could freeze blood.

”Excuse me?” She asked. Cheshina quickly realized her mistake and began backtracking.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean any disresp—”

“If you ever interrupt me like that again, I will kill you.”

Just don’t kill her now, Danya prayed, we may need her later. Thinking also of the mess that would result, both literally and figuratively if there were witnesses, she winced. Kill her later if you need to, just don’t kill her now.

“I saw a poster for a play in the coffee shop window,” Jackie stated, attempting to break the tension. Danya raised her eyebrows but otherwise didn’t change her position on the bed. Inwardly, she let out her breath. Change of topic. Wise choice. When he didn’t continue, Danya pursed her lips. Change of topic was no good if no one followed it.

“What’s your point?” she asked after a moment of silence. Jackie shrugged.

“The play was for the high school. I figured if the Eidolon looks young and is trying to blend in…”

“She’d be in the school,” Lorcan finished for him, watching him. Jackie nodded.

“Exactly.”

Cheshina looked like she was about to say something, but after a quick look at Amanda, she decided against it.

“Then the high school is our first stop,” Amanda said.

“How much will tickets cost?” Lorcan began to ask, but Amanda gave him a cold look.

“Who said anything about buying tickets?” she countered, “If she’s in the play, we’ll grab her before she goes on stage. We can be out of this slum world by tomorrow.”

“Witnesses,” Danya reminded her.

“Who said anything about witnesses?” she flipped back. Danya shrugged and consented the point. And it was a valid point. If they had the Eidolon in custody, they hardly needed to worry about a slaughter drawing attention to their group. Really, the local humans didn’t matter in any significant way other than that they might alert the Eidolon to their presence. When you got down to it, the only reason they were all five of them cramped in a single room rather than sharing a house was because slaughtering an entire family and any witnesses might call the eidolon’s attention to them. Then the Eidolon would jump town and they’d need to go back through the portal to report their failure.

Not going to happen.

“The play isn’t tonight,” Jackie added. “They have a showing tomorrow morning at ten, though. Students and staff only.”

“We can search the campus while we wait,” Cheshina remarked.

Good plan. Efficient, worth the effort… still. Something about that seemed too easy. The Eidolon was a master of disguise. She had over a century of experience under her belt. It was just… too easy. A play put on by the local high school… it was the most obvious place to look for a youthful master of disguise.

“We don’t know how young she is,” Cheshina stated. “There were also posters for a university. We might… check there too.” She hesitated at the end, looking at Amanda for either approval or a sign that her life was about to end prematurely. Amanda gave neither.

Aimee, the eidolon. Bus stop (from the bay to downtown city central ). 5:55 PM

Aimee believed that whatever happened at the coffee shop was sabotage by the Black Mages. The greatest fear that most entertainers have was when you make a fatal mistake during a show, right in front of thousands of people. Aimee’s fear however was when some nobodies come and ruin your performance; all of those weeks of hard work and preparation gone in just a few seconds.

A sudden tear rolled down the side of her scarred face as she thought about what would happen if she failed to unleash the demons onto Lindblum. She channeled all of her remaining strength that her injured body had left, clenched her fists and punched the glass walls of the bus stop. The two teen couples that were waiting there suddenly stopped what they were doing and stared at her. If Aimee was actually an old granny trying to make her way back home instead of an old soul inhabiting the body of a cute, young girl, then the two couples would have thought that she was crazy. Instead, she was just another girl that got dumped by her boyfriend to them.

After wiping away her tears with an elaborate looking handkerchief, she slumped down onto the seat, defeated. She had used so much of her magic from just simply escaping from the Royal Guards back in Lindblum castle with the artifact that any confrontation with either the Royal Guards or the Black Mages now would surely lead to her arrest. The best situation for her now is to go to that hotel, rest up and mend her injuries as much as possible. No heading down to some 5 star restaurants or night club as that’ll probably be where the Royal Guards and Black Mages would be since they have a copy of her profile.

Before the eidolon had the chance to reapply her makeup, her cellphone started ringing.

“...H-hello,” she answered, trying to act calm and happy. “This is Aimee, can I help you?”

“Hey Aimee, this is Julie from the college here. You are one of the hosts for the show right?”

“Yea that’s me.”

“You’re scheduled for a morning matinee for the staff and students at 10 am tomorrow and at 6 pm for the actual show right?”

“Yea that seems right.”

“Alright, just confirming the times. Both the morning matinee and evening show will take place in the main hall. It shouldn’t be too hard to find since it’s at the center of the school. Feel free to help yourself to the refreshments in the staff room. You’ll have to sign in to reception at 8:30 am tomorrow. There, two head students will be there to help prepare the sound equipment and stage props.”

“I’ll try to sign in by then.”

“OK. Well see you tomorrow. Have a good night.”

“Bye,” muttered Aimee and she hung up.

The show itself might seem like nothing compared to the magical shows that she has done over the years, but it is a show nevertheless. If anything, the eidolon planned to use this show to redeem herself for panicking like that back at the cafe shop and to hone in on her skills before her Grand Performance.

I should talk with Maria and Arianna during lunch on how they plan to get the thermite.

As the eidolon was lost in thought, the bus to the city had already arrived, picked up the couple and left right away for the city central.

“Wait!” Yelled Aimee with her arms out-stretched.

Damn human public transport these days. They’re so fast.

The eidolon waited with her arms crossed and head down as though in meditation, for the next bus wasn’t due for another hour. In her mind, she replayed over and over again of how the show for tomorrow will go.

Just thinking about it made had her smile happily at herself.

Lorcan; Black Mages; Hotel; 5:56

They had two rooms of course. The only two left, a welcome coincidence. It did however mean that one of the three women was going to be sleeping on a cot but Lorcan intended to be far from them before that discussion broke out. He wasn't tired but it was late and weariness made for a good excuse.

"The day has been long," Lorcan observed carefully. By this subtlety he hoped to convince the others of their own tiredness. He thought it was safer to make them think the idea had been their own than to suggest it was time to sleep. These were not people he could give orders to and normally he wouldn't care for such things except... it grew late. Circa had always been afraid of the dark.

"I suppose it has," Chashina admitted. Danya pursed her lips firmly together and Lorcan caught her eyes straying to the beds. He was sitting on one. He'd thought to make himself comfortable for the discussion but now he smoothly stood to relinquish his place.

"Perhaps we ought to retire and give you ladies some space?" Lorcan suggested. He hoped he did not sound too eager but the women were clearly occupied with their own interests. Jackie and Lorcan made their way to their own room. As they rounded the corner, Lorcan considered his options. He wondered anxiously if Jackie could follow his thoughts while he concentrated on filling his head with a buzz of humming. Perhaps he could say he had something to do or wait for Jackie to fall asleep... yes. That would be best. Wait for the boy to fall asleep.

"I'm taking this bed," Lorcan said, his eyes darting to the one by the window. "These hotels get so stuffy at night." He frowned as he said this and lifted the latch. He didn't wait for any consent but slid the window open and leaned his head out to take a deep breath of air. "That's better."

"It's a cold night," Jackie noted quietly. Lorcan tried not to let his shoulders stiffen. He'd had to bring her, Circa couldn't be left at home, she needed caring for. And she was afraid of the dark.

"Perhaps we can't afford to be comfortable."

"Perhaps."

Jackie - Black Mages - App 6:30

Which ever way he lent, it hurt. It wasn't like sleeping on a mattress, or a floor, but rather like trying to get comfy on a bramble patch. In the end he settled with lying on his stomach, flicking through a deck of cards. Memorising cards was always a good distraction, even if his record was thirteen on a fluke.

All he got from Lorcans mind was a purposeful buzz. He would have said thank you, but somehow it still felt like prying.

'Hey Lorcan...' He said. It was easier to talk one on one, especially without the girls around. 'There's a small show in the morning, before the big one in the evening. But they're both the same show, right?' Lorcan nodded. 'What if we go to the morning so we can find out how it runs, and then in the evening, we'll know what's going on. Won't we stand a better chance?'

'Sounds like a good idea. You should let the others know tomorrow.' Jackie nodded and sniffled. Not the answer he was hoping for. 'Of course we still need to find out who she is exactly.'

'She's got curly blonde hair.'

'You've seen her?'

'There was a girl in the coffee shop, the one with all the papers on hotels, the one I mentioned earlier. I think that was her, maybe, maybe not.' He sighed. 'Reading her mind was like headbutting stone.'

Lorcan smirked. 'I guess that gives us something to work on. If you tried to read her mind again, would you be able to tell it's her?'

'Not really. It's the same feeling with people who are strong willed or overly optimistic...' He found his eyes drifting and his vision of the cards splitting in two. He lowered his chin onto the mattress and carried on flipping the cards until his breathing slowed and he wasn't even memorising them anymore.

'You should tell the girls what you know, and run through that plan.'

'I was-' he yawned and tipped his head without even noticing. 'Hoping you would back me up in case they try to bite me or something.'

He'd slipped out of consciousness before hearing Lorcans reply.

Andera, Royal Guard

Watching her come over tentatively, he savoured the smell of her sweet flesh. Taking a mask on he proposed, 'Come sit down by Andera, lun... I mean girl.'

She did a double take before uncocking her rifle and firing at him, a wave of drowsiness hit Andera, and he couldn't stay up, his armour suddenly felt weighted and cumbersome, the cliff span and he grew dizzy. Flailing about he tried to grab her but failed falling to the ground painfully.

Through his drugged up haze he heard her say, 'This isn't good... surely he really wasn't going to do that, was he?'

Then his eyes slammed shut and nothing more was heard.

He dreamt of flying.