One of her favorite songs was being sung by the crowd. Thalia swayed and bounced in her seat, humming along and providing more noise to irk Lavernius. Even still, she watched and listened intently as Faye gave her demonstration. "Neat!" Thalia was entranced during the entire process from the symbols the cutting of the cheese, and the control to just end it. This type of magic could have much more practical uses, but Faye had to have already been aware of that. "If I had that competence I would be a very lazy person," Thalia chuckled and clapped at the performance before eating some of the bread and cheese. Faye definitely seemed like the kind of person Thalia might want to get to know, but friends were always a liability to someone in her profession.

I was your friend.. once

A yawn surprised the woman as she sat back in her stool. Lavernius had things to do, as did Thalia. "As much fun as I'm sure it will be, I do have business to attend to this evening that I must prepare for." She stood up and looked at Lavernius, "I'm sure I'll see you later. I've got a tidy room upstairs at the end of the hall for the next couple of days. Your hair is going to be hard to miss." Thalia turned to Faye and thanked her again for tagging along. "I would very much like to do something like this with you again sometime." Her smile was sincere but perhaps a bit distant. She placed some coins on the bar to cover her portion, before picking her mug up and chugging the remnants.

I don't like them.

You don't like anyone.

"You guys are telling this to a person who literally got carried here." Faye smiled and laughed, glad her 'work' was appreciated. She seemed to be a little bummed out at Illaya suddenly wanting to leave however. " Awww...Well I'll tag along with Lavernius then...If he doesn't mind." The girl looked towards the man, to make sure the invitation wasn't addressed to her 'prettier friend' only.

When Illaya got up and was about to leave, so did Faye. When the woman turned around to face the exit, the mage raked down her money, and wrapped her arm around her, putting the coins back in Illaya's cloak lapel and kind of hugging her from behind. She took her sweet time while at it worth to mention, before she stepped back. "I got your tab...after all I'm the one who gets paid for messing around with golems and flying knives, while you have to actually work." That's what Faye assumed got Illaya to leave, getting ready and perhaps a little bit more sober before going to said work.

"I haven't yet decided where to stop for the time of the festival. Tha'anas temple sounds boring, sooo...Maybe here..." She smiled, shrugged and looked around. "Anyway, you know where to find me, I'll be by that tall mass of moving rocks." The girl joined her hands behind her back and hopped twice on her toes as if in anticipation for something. "So uh... yeah, see you next time." Faye gave Illaya a last smile and glance, before turning back to the counter, as she remembered to rub marks off the knife, and pay for food and drinks. Putting both money and the blade back on the counter, she faced Lavernius again. "Ready when you are."

Maybe here. Thalia nodded. "That would be lovely." She smiled and bowed at the woman's kindness while a bitter guilt ate at the back of her mind. Moments like these were the hard parts about the job, but they were necessary. She bid her pals farewell before seizing Faye's half drunken mug and carrying it upstairs with her.

Thalia made her way upstairs to her room, closing and locking the door behind her. She placed the mug on a desk and took her cloak off and threw it on the bed next to a royal blue dress with lighter sea-green accents. It was such a pretty dress. Thalia walked over and examined it as it lay on the bed. She would be perfect wearing such a gorgeous dress. Gods, why did that fucking bitch have to bleed all over it. She sighed, and then walked over to the chest of drawers where a fancy jewelry box sat in the center and in front of a mirror. A necklace sat in front of the box. A silver chain with silver and blue ornaments dangling from it. The blood would wash off of it easy enough. Thalia opened the jewelry box to reveal a gold ring and a few pairs of earrings. She pulled out the top portion of the jewelry box to reveal a hollow compartment beneath it. Inside were two bloodied fingers, with silver rings still on them. The blood would wash off of those too. The girl was perfect. About the same height and size as Thalia. She seemed to have a luxurious life not just from the dress she wore, but from the house she lived in. Thalia reached behind her back and pulled one of her daggers from it's hiding spot without making the slightest of sounds. The blade was curved, with markings engraved along the flat side of the blade known only to a few. The blood would wash off of that too, but she needed it to be there a little while longer. Gods, why did she have to give that cute little Thaa'nas girl her name. No good will come from any of it. It was all fake. In the end, seduction is as deadly a tool as any one of the many blades strapped to her body. But you actually liked this one, didn't you? Maybe, but it didn't matter. Thalia Valgeiros was a wolf living in a world of sheep. And this wolf was hungry.

The assassin opened one of the drawers and pulled out a book, The Hidden Blade. She walked over to the bed and laid down, opening the book and continuing a tradition to her trade.

"Oh I am at the end of the hall as well, I reserved a balcony room for myself." Lavernius gave Illaya a soft smile and as she got up, he reached out and touched her hand, grasping it softly. "Well the festival is still young, so hopefully we'll see each other again. Rest well, I hope you don't get sick." He let go of her hand as she left and finished his coffee. "Of course I don't mind, I'd love the company." He addressed Faye as he got up and waved to Joyce. "Put my meal and all of this on my tab." He looked over at Faye. "I can hardly be considered a gentleman if I let a young lady such as yourself to pay for this." He scooped up her coins and dropped it into her hands. "Now let's be off, we have a lot to see." He held his hand out as an invitation for her to take it.

Lavernius Mylarc & Faye Petralis, Plaza of the Monolith

Out in the plaza, Legionnaires began to rush towards someplace in the direction of the Izukani Quarter.

Atlas looked at his master's state before returning his previous position. Some drunkard had begun to punch the golem weakly.

"Hey..." the man said. "I..*hicc*.. don't like how you looked at me, you twisted elf machine." He delivered another drunken punch at the stone construct.

Lavernius and Faye could make out LEgionnaires taking their stations at the entrance to the Izukani Quarter, barring people from entering and leaving. Complaints of course were shouted.



Thalia Valgeiros, the Dancing Horseman

The sound of the commotion reached the assassin's ears, disturbing her read.

Noise. Noise means life. Life means suffering, Thalia. Silence them!



Marianna Laranis, Izukani Quarter - Stanky Leg Inn

"The basement door." Filian barked. "Take it down."

Powerful strikes on the door itself rocked the basement room until it finally gave way at the hinges and fell down the steps. At the doorway were two recognizable faces from Mari's smuggler team and in between them was Filian, his pupils dilated and with a glowing blue outline.

"Greetings, Heiress," Filian smiled wickedly. "Been searching for you."

"Oh my..." Lavernius looked at the commotion, "I wonder what the problem is. I'm going to go investigate, you're welcome to simply wait here, I shouldn't be away for long." Lavernius let go of Faye's hand and made his way to the guards and complaining denizens. Finding a woman who wasn't shouting like the rest but rather simply watching the situation unfold he approached her with a polite head nod. "Hello madam, may i bother you for some information about what's going on? What's with all the commotion and guards?"

Thalia flipped a page in her book, "They will die soon enough, by my hand or not it makes no difference."

The book wasn't particularly long, and Thalia was a quick reader. She was already halfway through the book when she stood up from the bed and walked to the window. A thought entered her head but she quickly pushed it down. One at a time, Thalia. One at a time, she had to tell herself. Besides, he probably didn't have much to learn from in his room.

She shrugged another thought off before unzipping and cautiously stepping out of her leather suit, taking care not to poke herself or trigger one of her blades. Removing her cloak and the dress from the bed, she folded them and placed them in a chair in the corner of her room. Thalia sprawled her bare body out across the bed, once more taking her book in her hands. "Now, let me finish my book."

"Pfff, yeah right..." Instead of staying, Faye once more climbed up the golem. "Stop, you really don't want him hitting you back..." She addressed the drunkard once at the top, and Atlas began to move forward. Obviously the Mage had no big trouble going through outraged crowd, people moving out of thumping automaton's way once it towered above them. Faye got trough the crowd and reached the guards, sitting atop of Atlas in cross legged position, her staff resting on her lap. "Faye Petralis, Tha'anas of Staff...what is happening here?" The woman introduced herself and asked, with all the superiority she could muster, trying to keep a straight face while at it.

As the door went down and the three men entered the room, Mari put up an award worthy performance, showing pure astonishment on her face as she glanced over her shoulder at Filian and the two men. She was careful to not look to the side, where Takeo was slowly creeping his way along the wall, nearing the man on the right.

"Filian. How come? Did you get the news?" she casually asked, subtlety extracting one of her throwing knives from her belt and palming the blade. Before either of the men could reply to her query, Mari spun around, throwing the blade straight towards the throat of the man standing by Filian's, on his right side. Simultaneously Takeo pounced forward towards the scoundrel on the other side of Filian, grabbing him by the chin and slicing his throat with a swift cut. Both men crumbled to the ground, spurting blood along the way down. Takeo stepped back, creating some distance between himself and the alienated Filian.

But as his companions fell, Filian simply grinned devilishly, unfazed by their death. Mari stepped forward, slowly extracting Sabi from its hilt.

"You better start talking, Filian." she menacingly stated with an enraged look.

Lavernius Mylarc & Faye Petralis, Plaza of the Monolith near the Izukani Quarter
Lavernius went ahead and looked for a possible person to ask, without much need to look any further, he settled for a woman who was simply watched from afar.

“I don’t mind,” she said with a smile. “And I don’t know really. The Legionnaires are at it again, it’s been like this for a bit now, ever since they first came. They say Ashtoreth has been trying to fish out some group from Salvation Point before the Emperor arrives.”

Faye on the other hand went with the more direct approach. She stopped in front of several Legionnaires and introduced herself then their lieutenant stepped up to face her.

“Lieutenant Reevus Gallahad,” the man replied with the same authority. “There is reason to believe that the group causing all the trouble in Salvation Point has been found in the Izukani Quarter. Lord Vysterious herself is attending to the matter. Now please, be on your way.”



Thalia Valgeiros, the Dancing Horseman
Thalia kept reading her book. Nothing much is happening within the Dancing Horseman save for the noise from below regarding drunkards. She could especially hear Joyse screaming her head off about some server mistaking an order.

On the chair where her suit was, seemed to be a shadow of a person staring blankly at Thalia’s undressed body, unmoving but breathing. Have they found out yet? Do you think they’d stare at you with the same cold, distant eyes?



Marianna Laranis, Izukani Quarter – The Stanky Leg Inn
Filian simply smiled. ¹

“I don’t need to explain,” the man said as he took a step forward, his face a maddening grin. “I’m just here to tell you that all that you’ve built is going to the drain again and right here and now, you will be arrested by Lord Ashtoreth Vysterious herself! Glorious!”

Just like that, the very sound of the Stanky Leg’s walls shook and the voice of Vysterious echoed in the walls.

“Marianna Laranis,” the Commander bellowed, her voice steady and cold. “You are hereby found guilty of your crimes and we are here to arrest you.”
Mari could hear the sound of the bootfalls enter the inn as the Legion entered the establishment.

“Reinforcements aren’t coming,” Filian said grimly. “The place is surrounded by the Legion and Thaa’nas alike. The Pale and the Pallor did want to see the last vestige of your House but decided that it didn’t matter. You don’t matter anymore. Good bye, Laranis. For good this time.”

Just like that, Filian fell to the ground, unconscious. Takeo rushed to the man’s side and felt for a pulse, he found none.

“What do you plan to do, Mari?” Reysa asked.

FOOTNOTES
¹ Marianna has known Filian Demrow for quite some time now and the way the man carries himself now is vastly different from his normal self.

"Do they expect an attack on the emperor? How sad that while some people see the festival as a time for joy and peace, others see it as simply an opportunity to inflict chaos into the world. But then again, as if they need an excuse to do what they do. Well I hope they catch them, would be a shame to cut the festival short." He hummed as he looked at the seething crowd before turning back with his hand outstretched. "Oh excuse my manners, my name is Lavernius Mylarc, may I be so bold to know your's and what you're here for?"

"Hmm...I see..." Faye dropped her tone immediately, and raised her head to look past the line of guards at the Izukani Quarter. "How serious of trouble are they if She takes care of that... Or do they just really want everything taken care of by the time the Emperor arrives?" The questions weren't directly addressed to the Lieutenant. The girl was just thinking out loud as she stared down one of the twisted alleyways cognitively. "Well anyway, good uh... good luck with that." Faye once more looked down and gave the Lieutenant a weak smile, before turning Atlas around. She began to search for Lavernius in the crowd.

Thalia shrugged her shoulders, hardly caring whether the person in the corner was real or not, "Typically when people find out, they don't actually find out. It's one thing to be a hired blade, it's another to be pretty little perfect me. Besides, even if they figured it out I'm going to be long gone before I ever have to worry about being judged by a Thaa'nas and a man with pretty hair." Even if they had been good company, something Thalia didn't have for some while. She was approaching the end of the book. It wasn't a particularly long book, and she was a quick reader. Reading was always something that Thalia enjoyed, and often spent quite a bit of her money on books. "So, do you have anything better to say to me or not? If that's all you've got you can go ahead and send the next one in, or save the spot for the new recruit tonight."

There was a dagger under her pillow just in case.

Mari stood silent and pensive, analyzing the situation and the best possible outcome to it. She instinctively glanced at the doorway, expecting the Legion soldiers to come into the War Room at any moment. But Mari was never one to sit around and wait for her doom to arrive. She dashed across the room, in front of a table on the far side. Without a moments hesitation she moved the table and raised the dirty rug, revealing under it a trap door. She cracked it open.

"Get in."

Without saying a single word both Reysa and Takeo made their way to the door and slid through it, first the woman then the man. Takeo glanced up at Mari, seeing that she was oddly not moving.

"Mari?"

The woman looked down at them, stone expression on her face.

"Find Hunter." she calmly said. And then in a moment, she shut the door, covering it back with the rug and sliding the table back where it was. Then, she simply stood up and walked over to the table, hopping on top of it and awaiting the arrival of the Legion cretins.