[System]
Age: 18
Class: Tactition
Weapons: Killing Edge, Elthunder tome, Elixir

Fighting Style: Direct and agressive, uses every trick in the book to win no matter how low.

Personality: Gaius acts upbeat and is quick to laugh. It seems like nothing fazes him. He is very smart and is considered an upcoming tactical genius. However, he is be stubborn and prideful. Gaius is also hardworking and practical. He's skilled at deception and a good liar. Despite his young age, he acts much more mature. He always does what he thinks needs done and screw the consequences. He does not always get along well with others and prefers to spend most of his time alone, studying tactics and philosophy.

History: Born in Bravura and raised in a moderatly wealthy family, Gaius's childhood was mostly normal. Execpt his father, who also was a great tactician, trained him in tactics, swordsmanship, and magic from a very young age. Now that he is old enough to fight, he volunteered to be the official tactician of the Reclamers. This mission is Gaius's first solo stint as a tactition. He was recommeded by his father to the king when the group was being first formed. The king, remembering Gaius's father's talant and skill, quickly gave his approval.

Rational: Gaius wants to follow in his father's footsteps and become a great tactition, and the only way to learn is to get field experiance.

Appearance: He has black hair and green eyes, very tall (6'9") with sharp features and wearing a tactition's outfit.

The lightest sleeper of the group.

(This has been updated. I want to reveal more of his personality as the rp progresses, so the details here are a little sparse.)

Name: Lilith Merdox
Age: 25
Class: Mercanary
Weapons: Steel sword Concoction
Fighting Style: Swift and elegant, yet simple with no wasted movement.

Personality: Lilith's personality is both complex and simple. She fights for money and she does not care about who is paying her or what they want her to do, once it is done and she is paid thats as far as her loyalty goes. Although once she accepts she will not go back on her word even if she will die otherwise. To other people, she is cold, and often rude. But beneath that hard, cold extirior, she is not as heartless as she would acts. She does care a lot about others and sometimes she will go out of her way to help someone in need, even if it could be disastrous for her. She has a soft spot for childern and is known to keep candy on her to give out to them. She has no sense of humor, although she grasps sarcasam and uses it often.

History:
 Lilith was born in Augur to a very poor family. Her father was an abusive drunk and her mother often very sick. They lived in two room shack with little clothing and blankets to ward off the biting cold seasons. Her father beat her often and the other kids made fun of her and threw stuff at her. Dispite this, Lilith never lost hope that one day everthing will turn out all right. Her mother was a good storyteller and often told her tales of kings, knights, and heros of old. Lilith loves to lisen to those tales, and her favorate was the Tales of the Sheperds where a band of corageous men, led by the dashing and Noble Prince Chrom took on a dark dragon and saved the world. She also liked exploring the woods, and she was there almost every day.
 As she grew up, she taught herself how to fight and trained day after day. She also learned to deal with both physical and emotional pain. The other kids soon learned to be wary of her, after she single handedly beat a large group of boys that made fun of her. She also stood up to her father more often. One day when she was fifteen, she wandered farther in the forest then she had ever gone before, she was suddenly surounded by bandits. They captured her then, bound, blindfolded and gagged her. They took her back to her father, and she learned that her father had sold her to the slavers for a very large sum of money. She was taken away. But, as the slavers were traveling a mercanary band called Silver Falcon, hired by the crown to hunt slavers, found that group. They slavers fought rather than give up. The band killed the slavers and freed her. One of the mercanaries , a kind pacifist named Marcon found Lilith and decided to take her in. She lived with the band for many years and they taught her all about the arts of war. Several years later she decided to leave the band and go off as a freelance mercanary where she built a formidable reputation as a very reliable merc. She never forgot about her mother, and she sends half her earnings to her to pay for medican, treatments and so she can live in comfort.

Rationale: Lilith joined the Reclaimers because it pays really really well.

Appearance:

Lilith is very tall for a girl at 5'10". She has fair brown hair and stormy grey eyes. She is known to almost always wearing her armor, no one has ever seen her without it and she refuses to explain why.

[User]
Hugh – Basilmeron Castle Stables

Hugh thought of Jeanne as he passed the convoy to meet the first horse. Her offhanded personality, quick wit, and obvious charisma made her already seem like a larger-than-life figure in his mind. Though perhaps plain to some, the charming thief struck Hugh as more than commonly attractive; there was something about a girl with dimples that never failed to catch his attention. While reaching out a hand for the horse to sniff and get to know him by, Hugh also posited that it was more than the woman herself that fascinated him—it was the archetype she represented. One who committed petty injustices in the name of justice, who vowed to uphold morals whilst behaving immorally...Hugh pictured such a paradigm as intriguingly unrealistic. Such an outlook belonged in the contemporary world as much as a shadow-skulker belonged in open combat. It was the stuff of folk tales and plays. Then again, if an actor could be a knight, perhaps a thief could be a hero.

Leading the first horse toward the convoy, Hugh carefully backed the good-natured animal into position and then attempted to strap him in. Unfortunately, the instant that the knight let go of the creature's reins, it shifted out of place just enough to make attaching the leather straps about as possible as spitting into the wind. Once more Hugh tried before he sighed in amused annoyance. He patted the horse on the head and left it behind, retracing his steps back toward the courtyard.

A few steps into the plaza, he shouted out, "Hey, can someone lend me a hand with the horses? Darned thing's got stage fright, won't stay still long enough to be hitched." While speaking, he plucked out a strand of hay that had magnetized to his scarf and flicked it onto the cobblestones.

Sanguin – Basilmeron Castle Courtyard

Some seconds passed with Sanguin's reddened eyes resting on Gaius's face. Her mouth was poised half-open as if the language had abandoned her just as she began to speak. The nearly seven-foot tactician loomed above her, more like a statue than a person, and intimidating even to a seasoned fighter. Finally, the young woman found her tongue.

"I'm...Sanguin. Pleasure for me too, or whatever." She stifled a yawn, trying not to appear unimpressed when truly fatigue was the cause. "Tactician, huh? That means you use magic...and fight with a sword, huh? All I've got is a sword."

At that moment, a burly man appeared at her side and draped an arm over her shoulder. His coming hadn't been stealthy, for the sheer size and heft of his axe meant that its scraping over the cobblestone could be heard by pretty much everyone, but it seemed Sanguin hadn't been aware. Affixing him with a befuddled expression, as if to say, what's this guy doing here?, Sanguin did little as Ronin began to speak. "Don't belittle yourself, wolf maiden! Yours may be the sword that carries us to victory!" He cast a rueful glance at his own oversized weapon. "As for me, I doubt I'll even be carrying my weapon..." in a flash, his wide, brash grin had returned. "Nevertheless, you can count on Ronin to fight by your side!"

Out of everything said so far, Ronin's declaration seemed to cheer Sanguin up a little. Apparently not minding him leaning on her, she made an approving noise; clearly, fortitude spoke more clearly to her than typical niceties. "Not bad. Hell of an axe, though. Sure you can swing it?"

Ronin burst out into laughter. "Can I swing it! Hah! Can you get a load of this?" He asked Gaius as he nudged an impassive Sanguin. "Sang doesn't think I can swing it."

[Assistant]
Syrena Sinclair - Basilmeron Castle Courtyard

The man seemed to pay no mind to Syrena's demeanor and instead seated himself on the ground quite comfortably, crossing his legs underneath him. He introduced himself as Nickolas. That was a name that wouldn't come easily to Syrena's lips. He proclaimed himself a patron of all magics. Which Syrena took to mean dark mage, it would explain the strangeness of him. Of course that would mean that he could command both shadow magic and anima magic, the darkness and the elements.

Though as Syrena understood it he couldn't master light magic. Since Syrena's sphere of influence was limited solely to fire magic (bad things happened when she tried to use other tombs) she'd not paid all that much attention to the arch mage while he was explaining the complexities of arcane classification. Something about dark and light cancelling each other out. A mage couldn't be capable of welding both at once without undergoing serious and life threatening consequences.

Regardless Syrena didn't trust dark magic users. It was not that there was anything inherently evil in shadow magic itself, it was merely a force like all the rest but it seemed to her from the limited contact she'd had with a few dark mages that had visited the court that there was something strange about those that used that branch of magic.

Tentatively Syrena sat down next to Nickolas. Or Nicki, that would be much easier to say. She didn't really trust him but neither did she have a reason to distrust him and he'd gone threw the effort of speaking to her, something many others wouldn't bother with. Then the topic of conversation turned from Nicki to Syrena herself. She didn't exactly have that much of a story but he started with the simple things her class.

Maybe Nicki had some sort of sense about magic or else he'd recognized the symbols on her tome but he snapped his finger naming her class as anima mage of the fire variety. As he snapped his fingers a small glowing red flame leaped up between them. Syrena stared at it transfixed. "F-f-fire." she muttered staring deep into it's depths. It was like it was calling out to her.

Some instinct inside Syrena bid her touch the flame. She reached out her hand, it felt as though she was in a dream. The moment her skin made contact with the flame it shifted. Blue shot threw it, corrupting and converting it into Syrena's wild flames. It burned white hot and grew to the size of a fist. "N-n-n-no, no, n-no." Syrena stuttered staring at it.

Remembering Brother Malachi's advise she slowed her breathing. I control the fire. The fire doesn't control me. Syrena breathed in deeply then slammed her hand onto the cover of Arma Infernum. The ball of blue fire died in a blaze of sparks. "I-I-I'm s-s-s-so s-s-sorry. I j-just. I'm s-sorry."

[User]
 The young woman seemed intimidated by Gaius. She stared at him for a few solid seconds as she seemed to be searching for words. When she did speak, Gaius immediately realized that she was tired, not just sleepy, but bone weary tired. Before He could answer her strange question he was interrupted by a exuberant axman.

 Gaius raised his eyebrows at the loud and large axman that was leaning on the girl.  What was her name again?  He thought. The axman continued with his boisterous tirade, ending in a half sarcastic question. Gaius's smartass reflexes kicked in, and before he knew it, he was shooting off at the mouth. "My grandmother could swing that axe, but you probably can't." Mentally he kicked himself for not thinking. Ugh, I am trying to win their trust, not their anger. Gaius heard in the background the man who had made a speech at the beginning, something about horses?

Lilith Merdox

 Lilith fixed the loud intruder with a hard eyed, caustic, dangerous, shut-up-or-die, glare. "You...are interrupting our conversation." She spat. "Get lost." She turned her gaze back to the Kuur, as if dismissing the pirate as anything of importance. Her expression softened. "What do you mean people out here?" She asked Kuur more gently this time.

 The women was obviously easily intimidated and painfully shy. Lilith immediately wanted to help her. For some reason Kuur reminded Lilith of herself, from many years ago. Lilith shoved that painful memory away, Its no good to dwell on what is passed. "So where are you from?" She asked Kuur.


[System]
Race: Human

Appearance:

Personality: On the surface, Alexius is amicable, charismatic, and down to earth when talking to most people in public which makes him impressionable and likeable to most who meet him in passing or witness him. He exudes a confident aura that begets his perceived ability to keep control over a situation even if utter pandemonium is set to break loose, and his capacity for empathy is remarked as boundless.

In truth, while Alexius is all of those things, his bright exterior hides a schemer and manipulator of Byzantine depths. Very self-interested despite his mostly appearing to be selfless work, he leads a very two-faced persona to those who know him well. He takes relish in playing the long game when it comes to seeing his plans and maneuvers come to fruition rather than quick and brutal plots. An opportunist with a lot of patience, Alexius hides his calculating and ambitious interior beneath a mask of a persona that claims to hold the interests of others first.

Despite all this, he is mostly honest to his friends and allies who have done by him, in these particularly unsettled times, he merely views himself as in being realistic rather than malicious.

Bio: Alexius Commenus was born the son of Inquisitor Stefanos Commenus, member of the Ordo Chronos aboard the Errant Cohort fleet, where he has spent most of his life like others born to members of the Ordo, grooming to take over their elder's position and carry on their new objective to help mankind survive in this new age of strife.

Once many millennia ago, the Ordo Chronos was an Ordo Minoris of the Imperial Inquisition devoted to investigating and understanding the effects of time manipulation on the Warp, endeavours which led to the entire Ordo's mysterious disappearance. Now since their reappearance, strangely coinciding with the rapid decline of the galaxy's conditions, they returned to a shattered Imperium and chaotic galaxy. Keeping themselves hidden especially from their former over-arching organization, its original members used their (at the time) still formidable standing as Inquisitors to re-acquaint themselves with their time period, and began deliberating over what course of action they should take in light of recent events. Many disagreed over specifics, but all agreed that they could not stand idly by while the Imperium crumbled and humanity was slowly consumed by this "New Devourer" and the platitude of other foes that had arose, resurgent. To this end, they worked quickly to utilize their still formidable status to overtake command of the nearest Imperial Battlefleet, Thanatos, to use for their own ends.

Sending out calls on all frequencies to Imperial vessels and worlds, they called out their intent: to leave in search of a place to gather humanity and re-organize the crumbling Imperium once again. Many did not heed their calls at first, but more and more would over the centuries as the fleet, berift of long-distance Warp travel, slowly cruised from system to system. The Ordo's members passed on their positions, titles, knowledge, and skills to either direct or adopted descendants as they died, keeping the inner command circle within the fleet alive so as to keep the fleet from disintegrating and on course with their self-appointed mission.

Some systems they found were peaceful and would remain there for a time, most were in various states of chaos and war with some foe or another. Though the fleet on occasion took part in some battles, it mostly kept to itself, continuing on its course, keeping up its calls, and growingly larger with each system it went through.

By Alexius' time, many changes had occurred within the Ordo and within the fleet. For one thing, Radicalism had become the dominant ideology for the first time within the Ordo's members, which had staunchly been mostly Puritan for ages, but had slowly begun to become more and more radical as time wore on and circumstances became more dire. Such circumstances were the ever-present problem of maintaining and supplying the now enormous fleet as it traversed massive expanses of space, the light of the Astronomicon long-since dead and nobody crazy enough to jump into the Warp. Many among them knew the advantages Xenos and their technology could lend to their struggle, or understood the pragmatism behind the need to not having any scruples about raiding and plundering worlds of any kind resources for the survival of the fleet. The Puritan bloc had always staunchly opposed such ideas, keeping to the old Imperial values of faith, perseverance, and trust in humanity alone to overcome any obstacle. Cynicism grew like a tree within such an atmosphere over time though, and Alexius now saw his opportunity to not only gain power for himself within the Ordo, but to take the fleet into a whole new direction.

The old master of the Ordo had died, and it was now left to the surviving members to choose a successor from amongst themselves. Although all members of the Ordo had equal say, the Master was often the one in the position to make the final call on matters and was the public singular voice of the Fleet's administration, so choosing the right one was key. Alexius, though he was young by Ordo member standards, and had only recently obtained the position of Inquisitor from his father's passing, had developed a very powerful oratory rhetoric and capacity for debate and speechcraft. He practically danced circles around many of the Puritans with how he argued their beliefs were obsolete and not only hurting the Fleet and its denizens, but the very Ordo itself through their stagnation. His persuasiveness was such that he managed to pull off a victory, and became the youngest Master of the Ordo Chronos in its history.

With the power of the fleet effectively his and most of the Ordo behind him, Alexius wasted no time, he began effecting new fleet-wide policies towards the treatment of Xenos and Xenos tech, as well as the study of some of the previously "forbidden" subjects under past administrations. The Puritans raised an uproar, but Ordo and even popular support among the need for change within the fleet was so great that they were forced to quell their rage, though talk of civil war was abound within the ships. To this end, Alexius "arranged" the removal of many of his more chief detractors, not immediately, and never so boldly as to pronounce open warfare, but slowly, over years and years when most people wouldn't care to notice for connections, there was an exploded reactor here, an apparent suicide via overdose there, a death on diplomatic mission there, one by one, Alexius slowly removed his opponents all while appearing completely grief-stricken by their sudden deaths. And with each one, he got bolder and bolder with his plans. By that time, those that still remained who doubted his rule were cowed into silence and bitter submission.

Eventually, Xenos were allowed to enter the fleet just as much as any humans so long as their abided by the laws of the Ordo, kept the peace, and contributed to the betterment of the fleet as a whole in whatever way they could. The fleet also became more active in systems they arrived in, picking and choosing targets to aid, targets to plunder, and targets to avoid and coordinated on a massive scale to get the most out of systems they could before cutting their losses and moving on. With the help of the combined genius of various human and alien minds, and through these new pragmatic policies the fleet gained a fresh wind of vitalizing energy, though their quest for a new home was still not closer to fruition.

Then came the Cohort's arrival in Gregori Imperium space. Unlike almost all the previous systems they had entered over the decades, which were either lifeless or in some state of hostility, this one was one which seemed to have a semblance of order to it, and that changed the whole picture for Alexius, the Ordo, and the Errant Cohort.

Forces: The Errant Cohort, a rag-tag fleet of ships gathered from dozens of different systems which the Cohort has passed through over the centuries it has drifted through space. Though at its base is a set of Imperial Naval Vessels that once went under the name Battlefleet Thanatos, its numbers also include numerous civilian and trader vessels, and several notable Xenos ships, 200 make up the fleet, half of which are outfitted for battle. The Battleship Wandering Chronos is Alexius' mobile home and is the largest vessel in the fleet. Hard estimates on the numbers of people, both Human and Xenos, that populate the fleet are dicy, but it is estimated that there are several billion souls that call the fleet home. Millions stand ready as troops and battle-ready vessels from so many far flung nooks of the galaxy, though their lack of uniformity does in many cases lead to a lack of discipline or order which the Ordo Chronos seeks to keep a handle on.

The Ordo Chronos, effectively having become Alexius' Lieutenants since he became Master of the small Ordo, they work to instill his will upon the Fleet and to carry out his wishes. Twenty make up the Ordo's current official membership as Inquisitors or Lord Inquisitors not counting Master Alexius, with almost all of them having Interrogator apprentices (but they have no say in the direction of the Ordo).

Allegiance to Gregori: Currently, the two are partners and their forces allied under Gregori's banner, though their partnership remains mostly untested. The two have equal respect and wariness of each other and their capabilities, having overcome obstacles of equal calibre to become leaders in their own rights. Neither truly trust each other yet, but common interests and goals which they can both compliment help make the relations more stable.

Personal equipment:
-A Lamark Thousander Model Revolver
-Three Digital Weapons Rings (Needle, Flamer, and Las)
-Emperor's Tarot Deck
-Force Sword
-Carapace armour

[User]
Inquisitor Alexius stood back, watching the others who had followed in their fleets enter and watch the Emperor lay out the transmission and his thoughts on the matter. He silently steepled his fingers and paced over to the window to peer out at the embattled Forge-World. After arranging his thoughts and seeing that Amastov had finished reading the data slate Lord Corbec had handed him, he gave his views on the matter.

"The Magos Dominus must think we're fools, or his age and augmentations have removed something of his practical senses if he thinks only ten armed men are an adequate escort for an Emperor in the heart of a Forge-Moon, no disrespect to the abilities of our forces, but not even the best tactician among us would disagree that serving up the majority of our commanders and leaders up, basically on a platter just begging for us to be taken captive is a ridiculous notion.

He desires leverage, assurances that we are not here to harm him and his machines, but most of all that we're not here to take the power and authority he and his people have away. If he cannot obtain it through negotiation, he will obtain it with hostages.

I do not believe it wise to have the Emperor himself at risk to becoming a hostage, unless his Imperial Majesty is adamant about going. But I wouldn't, not until our forces have established a beach head and would be ready to move in the event of treachery. Last I checked, his forces were the ones on the verge of losing their world, we come to assist them, if they did not see that by the fact we haven't already begun bombarding the Moon and blew their attackers' fleet into scrap, then something must be up with their logic engines.

Just my thoughts on the matter, in any case I volunteer to be the fifth candidate, since they made no mention of a representative of the Imperial Inquisition among the delegation."

[Assistant]
As Gabriel listened to the transmission from the Magos he couldn't help but grimace. The amount of leadership that would be one place would be crippling if someone managed to get to them. But on the other hand the Imperium needed this Forge Moon which would mean going along with what the Magos wanted. Add Chaos into the mix and it made this situation even more dangerous. When Gabriel heard the suggestion of deploying troops he already had thoughts of how he would accomplish it, but there were complications in the way.

"My Emperor, as much as I would want to deploy our soldiers down onto the Forge Moon we will not be able to. Not until the Magos gives us permission. If he is anything like the Magi of the Old Imperium then he will not take to kindly to us landing troops on his planet without his permission. As unfortunate as it is we may have to go along with the Magos's request. If we do I volunteer to go down as the military coordinator."

As Gabriel spoke an aide came in and delivered a datapad to him. As he read through it he scowled.

"My Emperor. I have found the location of Captain Lattore. He is currently down on the surface of the Forge Moon with most of his chapter. Also of note Lord Karthis decided to transmit a message to the Chaos fleet on all vox channels, giving up any hope of surprise that we might have had. Both were done without any orders. I would recommend that both be disciplined after the Forge Moon has been taken."

[User]
Inquisitor Alexius turned to Lord Corbec as he relayed the locations of Captain Lattore's forces and those of Lord Karthis, a man who he had yet to meet, but had heard of his Hulk's reception by Emperor Gregori.

"Fret not about such matters Lord-Militant, this whole operation is a test for the Relictor Chapter in the eyes of the Inquisition. At present, I do fault the Captain for forgoing the chain of command, but applaud his efforts to not giving the Archenemy an easy time adjusting to our entrance. The reason as to why, we shall have to obtain from him after, in the meantime, we should make the most of his entrance. Any further insult to the Magos cannot be helped in that regard, Lattore's brothers are giving their lives to take back his Forge-World as we speak, if the Tech-Priests prefer to have their own Skitarii and who knows what else they have within their forces take the wounds for them, he's more than welcome to tell us.

As for Lord Karthis, indeed one could see his actions as either exceedingly foolish at best, or outright treacherous at worst. Considering our current relation to him, I favour the former explanation, but indeed, there shall be a reckoning once we've concluded our operations here."


[System]
The Mundane
Age:
 16

Sanctum City:
 Norba

Description:
 Crystal stands at 5 feet 7 inches and weighs 143 pounds. She has above-average musculature, built from good genes and rather extreme physical training. She has black hair usually tied in twintails and hazel eyes that seem to pierce through what they look at. She tends to be slouched somewhat when she's not taking something seriously, which is most of the time.

Personality:
 Crystal is a mixed-bag of personality traits, according to the psychologist she visits on a monthly basis. She is not shy, but is quiet and keeps to herself. She is not outgoing, but can become overexcited by the things she enjoys. She is usually calm, and often confident, but the times when she's not she tends to reach the other extreme of hyperactive or pessimistic, respectively. She tends to spend her free time drawing or reading, often both being based around manga, though she also enjoys drawing more realistic styles as well. She is also almost always preoccupied with writing stories to go with her art.
 Crystal has the bad habits of chewing gum and, strangely, blowing air up from her mouth towards her forehead, usually messing up her bangs. She has the affliction of obsessive compulsive disorder, though with her medication one would never know it. When she is unable to take them, however, she becomes a nervous wreck and her habits explode in severity.

Background:
 Crystal von Caelestis is a part of the extended family of the Jupiter family of the Duodecim. That is to say, she is a cousin of the heir to the family. Or rather, she would be if her uncle had a child. As it stands, she and her cousins are all later in line than a nonexistent relative for purposes of succession. Once her uncle marries and has children, they will be the next generation of the Jupiter family line. As such, she was raised in a very noble-esque environment in which she was given great freedom to pursue her interests while also being taught and trained at a higher level than most. She is skilled in the arts not because she wished to be, but because she must be in order to properly represent the Caelestis family. She is in good physical shape and skilled with weapons not because she has passion for it, but because she must be able to defend herself and others if necessary.
 She only recently discovered that she has access to magic, and was very quickly enrolled in Nova Lux Academy. As such, she feels rushed and out of place.

The Magical

Armgaus Name:
 Frozen Blue Sapphire

Gladius:

Parma:

Elementum:
 Ice

Elementum Abilities:
 Crystal can both form ice from nowhere and remove heat from an area, causing coldness to form. She is able to freeze things with a touch, or with some effort do so without physical contact. While she cannot do things like throwing spears of ice telepathically, she can certainly create them in such a way as to pierce a target without needing to be moved. Her ability to remove heat from an area usually manifests as control of the temperature surrounding her, and a distaste of heat means that she often uses this trick when she is able to use magic at all to help keep her cooled off. Somewhat strangely, her magic has minor purifying properties; freezing water with her magic will also remove most impurities from it.

[User]
---

"Ngaaaaaaaaah~"

Whatever uncomfortable silence may have manifested between the five strangers was unceremoniously broken, as the far-and-away tallest of their number languidly streeeeeeetched her arms and back towards the roof, scraping the sky that much more before she blissfully sank in to the leather cushioning of the nearest seat. A face framed by evergreen locks bore a plainly relieved smile upon soft features, and after a moment one emerald eye popped open, taking stock of affairs.

For a girl like Selma Rosmarie, travel was an entirely alien prospect. Her family were settlers, rooted to their chosen homes, and deeply connected to the land they called theirs— that had not changed even in the wake of their century-old exile from Germany, as it was known in the old world. They maintained the homesteading spirit, preferring to nurture and cultivate where others might move to greener pastures. To them, it was a rare thing to even leave the agricultural districts of Hasta. To take to the skies to cross an entire continent? Unheard of. Leaving home was all too daunting. Her world had been so small before, and now...

The ride on the airship was a wondrous thing, really. To be so high up that landscapes stopped being scenic, and instead all melded into an endless canvas of woodland, steppe, meadow and mountain below had to have been every bit as magical as she and her four companions were. Even in spite of the obscuring Nox clouds, there was no way she hadn't clung to her viewport for two... eh, probably three hours, watching the earth roll by beneath her, paired with her best source of entertainment— an eclectic mix of musics piped out from her phone and into her ears. A non-insignificant number of them were far more heavy on screaming guitar than you would really expect to accompany such a gorgeous backdrop, but playlists unfortunately still eluded her. It spoke to the Concordia's luxuriant construction that the freely dancing giantess hadn't garnered any noise complaints during her portion of the trans-Eurasian flight.

That she had been made aware of, anyway. Must be some sturdy walls and flooring!

Flooring...

Whew.

All that was nice. But... It was also ethereal. In a way that didn't quite sit right with her, once the wonderment of flight had petered out some. Having worked upon soil and stone her whole life, she had to admit: it didn't feel right to not be standing on terra firma. When she had busted a move or two, it was one thing. A light, feathery step was good when you were carried by a fun rhythm. When you were walking, though? Or standing, or sitting? Or doing anything else? It was wrong to have that underlying sense of nothing beneath you. She had been reassured multiple times that she wouldn't fall through, and had definitely put the floorboards through their paces before she'd stopped to think about the matter, but she could still feel it. A nagging in the back of her head, saying "Selma, Selma, what in the Hellma?" whenever she shifted her weight and felt not the world, but a few layers of wood and steel beneath her heels.

Even stepping into the rail car, another artificial mode of transport, still had its connection to the ground. It just went through an extra medium or two in the track, rather than the airship's total removal.

She wondered. Did the other girls have the same problem? A few of them looked pretty classy, compared to a bumpkin like her, anyway, so she didn't regard it as too out there if they had been on an airship ride or two before... Was it as amazing for them, or had the sight of the world sliding by turned out to be something you could grow accustomed to? A routine occurrence? Was there anyone for whom uprooting and rocking over half the world's span could be normal?

These kinda questions didn't get answered just by rolling them down the cliffs of the mind until they hopefully hit an answer. Selma could see that much clearly, even without the naturally high vantage point. May as well find out. Hadn't had a chance until now, so best get striking while the iron's hot!

"Hallo!" she called to the rest of the assembled magical girl initiates, transitioning her remaining outstretched arm into a chipper wave at the wrist and putting on her best friendly smile. "I'm Selma! Anybody need help with any luggage? I don't know much about trains, but I'm sure I can lift whatever you need me to, so don't be shy!"

Her grin drew a little wider as she flexed her bicep in jest, but her words and intent were sincere all the same. If anyone looked to be struggling, or would just appreciate the hand, all they needed to do was take her up on it. No sense being cold to the people she was gonna fight alongside, right?

[Assistant]
April 8th, 117AV

"Congratulations!!"

"Huh? What? Why... huh?"

"Surprise, Chie!"
"We kinda sprung this on her out of nowhere..."
"Don't worry, the teacher said we could use the classroom!"
"Hey, come sit! This is your farewell party!"

"Farewell party? I didn't think it was that important..."

"Quit the modesty already Chie! It's Nova Lux you're going to! Nova Lux!"
"I don't really want her to go, though..."
"I know, right? I don't like goodbyes."
"Come on, everyone... keep a smile on! I don't want to see Chie go either, but we should support her, right?"

"..."

"Hey, Chie, try these! I baked them myself!"
"Oooooh... why have I never gotten some?!"
"These are farewell cookies. You come to my house enough as-is."
"...Huh? Hey, Chie, is something wrong?"

"No... no, nothing at all. Thank you, everyone."

---

---

---

The dim light coming out the screen of Chie's phone was more than enough to see with for the darkened night sky which surrounded her. It wasn't pitch-black by any means- the abundance of night lighting at both the dock and scattered through the vast city below made sure of this- but the artificiality of it all didn't comfort her any. Anticipation, nerves, fear, longing... the emotions Chie felt were complex, compounded by her incessant staring at the minutes counting down. Her escort was a rather tall, serious man and had made for a poor company. Not that Chie had tried particularly hard to strike up a conversation, but most any of her questions were answered swiftly and with no hope for a followup. She was left with nothing to entertain herself, save for the act of slowly watching time tick and tick by.

It felt strange. She wasn't particularly bound to her home, but now that it was almost time to leave...

"Ah!"

Chie's thoughts were broken as she heard the airship dock. Naturally, it was at the station where she'd been (im)patiently waiting. She looked back up at her escort who, after a bit of hushed chatter with his earpiece, told her to wait just a little longer. It wasn't long before three girls were escorted off the airship by a slew of military personnel. Chie thought to ask some more questions, but before a word could escape her lips her escort had already begun explaining. He informed her that the airship would not be used to make the rest of the journey. Instead, she and the other three would be lead to a railcar which would be making the rest of the trip in its stead.

It hardly took any time for the five to get settled, but a silence hung over them nevertheless. It was quite the... interesting group. Out of the four, Chie figured she looked the most ordinary, but maybe each of the other girls thought much the same about themselves. One girl had hair unlike everybody else's, vibrant and colourful. But even more than the colour, what stood out how well-maintained it was. It looked like it'd give the feeling of silk were you to touch it. Another one was more modest. Her hair was fashioned in twintails and what stood out most about the her was just how fidgety she seemed. She'd been fiddling with something, or otherwise had been nervously twitching her legs or fingers, all the way from the airship to here. As for the last one, well...

"Hallo!"

The last didn't take too long to make herself known. She introduced herself as Selma, no family name given, and was a taller woman than Chie could have imagined possible. It was no secret that the people of Calcaria were shorter than some of the more western-laid city city states, but Chie hadn't even seen a man as tall as Selma. The girl seemed nice and friendly enough, but the difference in height was going to leave Chie uncomfortable for a while longer. Selma had introduced herself, however, so it wouldn't do to not respond in kind.

"My name is Masuzu Chie. I don't need help with my luggage, but I hope we can all get along from this point forwards."

Chie waited to hear the names of the other three.

[User]
Crystal sat in her room on the Concordia listening to music from her phone. Rather, she was skipping songs almost constantly trying to find ones that fit her mood. Skip, skip, skip, listen, skip, listen, listen, skip. She ignored the passing scenery out of a fear of heights because she couldn't exactly draw it while it was moving by so quickly. This fidgeting with her phone went on for the entire time she was there until finally the ship landed in Calcaria. She continued sitting in her area until someone came along to bring her out of the ship. She grabbed her luggage, a simple briefcase, a backpack, and a travel bag, and headed out the ship to the docks.

She turned down her music so she could hear and was taken along with the other three girls to a rail car, which they all went inside to wait to move on. Thinking back, she couldn't remember being in Calcaria before in her life. Supposedly she had been to several of the other cities when she was extremely young, but she only remembered two other than her home of Norba, those being Bellanum and Drusa, the three of which were very different than the small bit of Calcaria she could see while moving from the ship to the tracks where she was now. Looking around she saw that the other girls didn't seem to have much in common. There was an amazon woman, or so it seemed to Crystal, a plain looking girl who was eyeing the rest of them, and a girl with colorful hair who seemed a bit too stoic for her liking. She gently turned her mouth up and blew air at her bangs, causing them to float for a moment, before closing her eyes and reaching to turn her music back up. That is, before one of the other girls spoke up.

"Hallo!" the tallest girl spoke up. Her name was apparently Selma, and she offered help with luggage. Were Crystal not as strong as she was, she may have even taken the girl up on that offer, but it was simple enough to carry for her. Besides, it would be wrong for a semi-noble to ask a commoner for something like that. It was part of her job to protect the common person, not make them work for her, even if they offered to do so.

The plain looking girl, Chie, responded saying that she hoped the four of them could get along. Crystal sat quietly for a moment before taking out a pack of gum sticks and putting one in her mouth, holding the pack out for the others. "Thanks for the offer, but I'm fine. Anyone want some gum? It's regular bubblegum flavored, so hopefully nobody dislikes that." Crystal paused a moment. "Anyway, my name's Crystal. Pleasure to meet you all." She just hoped that her voice didn't betray her nervousness at the whole situation. It wasn't the other girls that were the problem, it was the nagging thought that she had forgotten something and the general anxiety of moving to a new place that had her on edge.


[System]
Title: Oni Princess | Oni King
Age: Young, by comparison
Gender: Female
Allegiance: Demons of Hell | Yomi Plane
Race: Oni
Personality: Being the representative of the Yomi Plane, Suyi acts with clear intentions and rarely does an action of her without thought put into it. Despite being prideful the Oni goes to great lengths for her kin and is not afraid to get herself dirty. As refined as she tries to be however, it seems to be a common thing that Oni usually act rather wild and dark but still with passion. Though, as long as Suyi doesn't get drunk everything is alright.

Since she lost her parents the Oni is also out for revenge and would do nearly anything to attain enough power to do so.

History:
There was once a mortal woman and a powerful demon who fell madly in love with each other - hoping to close the bridge created between the two factions. Without much success however, the mortal woman soon saw herself an outcast while the demon, unyielding through his love, had to crave a new home for the two, sheltering his lover from the harsh environment of the Demon Realm.

This was how the Yomi Plane came into existence - their children being the first beings that would soon be titled Oni. Despite retaining a lot of standard demonic traits from their First Father, the Oni's culture and social behaviour was ultimately decided by their First Mother, making the Yomi realm look like something out of a human fairy-tale.

Because of this, and them being no pureblood demons, Oni's were usually looked down upon, ultimately living a secluded life in their self-created monarchic Paradise.

With human-blood inside them, the average life-span of an Oni was a lot lower compared to the standard demon, leading to a lot of inbreeding and variations between themselves before ultimately becoming what they were today: Nearly human-looking with, usually, two horns on their head.

Suyiketsu herself was born as the heir of the Yomi Plane. Without any siblings to compete against and under the protection of the Oon Barrier, her parents education was rather considerate and thoughtful. Of course, no peace lasted eternal, and Suyiketsu suddenly found herself at wits end as a metal-winged angel single-handedly crushed her own little paradise and killed her parents... . Thus, her quest for revenge and honour began.

Powers:
Oni Horns
The power of a Oni is directly tied to the size and amount of horns they posses. With their First Father, Yomi, also being called the Many Horned Devil, most Oni nowadays have two horns. Rumours have it that way older generations were able to transform into more-horned variant, greatly amplifying their power.

Being an incredible prideful folk, the horns are also the source of protection against mind-fuckery abilities, making it hard to impossible to subside even a two-horned specimen.

The Horn of an Oni is extremely sturdy and a highly sought after material in the creation of protective gear.

Oni Power
Somehow, something the Oni seem to be famous for is their strength. While increased physical attributes in comparison to a non-techno-human are superior, what really stands out is their strength, even amongst their demon brethren.

Oni Vitality
Another trait Oni posses are their regeneration, able to withstand immense amounts of suffering. Sadly, however, the power of this ability fluctuates even more than others with the amount of horns they posses, making a two-horned variant take two weeks to regrow an entire limb.

Oni Mystic
The Oni horns are full of magical energy! While their main use is to amplify traveling between this plane and others through special portals and their own blood, it isn't too uncommon that various mystics of the Oni species are fearsome magicians. Suyiketsu, however, did not receive any proper training in such arts so far.

Weapons:
The Key Of Creation: Fate
Supposed to be one of the Seven Keys of Creation that the Oni, Urias the Butcher, had taken from the Angel's a long time ago. Supposed to alter Fate itself, the Key simply became a family heirloom.

Whatever it is just a legend or the truth, the Key, in form of a blade, is simply a reliable weapon that never seems to lose its Edge.

Equipment:
The Key Of Creation: Neuanfang
Supposed to be one of the Seven Keys of Creation that the Oni, Urias the Butcher, had taken from the Angel's a long time ago. Supposed to alter existence itself, the Key simply became a family heirloom.

The pendant was returned to their rightful owners in the recent attack against the Yomi Plane.

Other:
Themesong viewer discretion is advised!!!
Themesong family friendly version!

Random Trivia:
#1 Oni's fighting power is increased by alcohl. Despite that, however, Suyi refuses to drink
#2 The death of their First Father, Yomi, was never confirmed. Nowadays he is worshiped as a deity.
#3 No matter how many Oni Portals, a special arrangement of stones that allow travel between different Planes, are destroyed, somehow there always seem to appear more!
#4 Despite the word 'Pureblood' being kind of prideful and thus, fitting an Oni, it is commonly used as a sarcastic remarks considering their mixed blood with humans.
#5 The Oon Barrier was a protective measure created by Urias to ensure that nobody could ever trespass into the Yomi plane through their own means.
#6 Rumours have it that the giant forests and mountains inside Yomi are still inhabited by elder Oni, some of them being able to call the First Father their grandpa.
#7 Despite her parents deaths making Suyi the new Oni King, she is still just a princess until the coming-of-age ceremony.
#8 Oni are true masters at making tea.
#9 The Yomi plane is not only protected by the Oni but also the numerous mythical creatures usually living in seclusion.

[User]
Azaezel
Uninterrupted, Azaezel managed to finish his summoning. Multiple layers of magic rings collapsed downwards, until the final two became one and the entire circle glowed a bright, golden color. "Come forth! Lion of the heavens! I summon thee, Zodiac Leo!" Azaezel finished and from the glowing circle a figure formed, falling down. With every meter it dropped it grew in shape, until it almost hit the ground. Two still glowing wings unfurled themselves and the golden shape began to become physical. With burning wings and a mane of gold the Celestial flew over the battlefield. Until it found, at random, its prey. Landing in the middle of the big group of lesser demons it already crushed several under its legs. With a deafening roar the massive lion began its onslaught upon the demon horde. Fiery wings flapped away the demons trying to mount it, and the periodic lift off made sure that those who managed to crawl on its back swiftly fell to their death.

Azaezel, watching how his summon tore through the demon horde couldn't help to crack a final smile. They had lost, sure, but his lion would claim the lives of many demons. Even if they came back, they would forever fear the painful dead he gave them. And with that, he was satisfied enough. He descended back to his troops. "We leave." Was the only thing he said, before all shapes turned into pure light again. Pale pillars engulfed the forming orbs of bright golden light and lifted them up. The angelic mages had done what they could.

[Assistant]
Krinsa sighed lightly as the Oni let down her guard slightly. Really, it would have been bad to have a fight between demons on this Machina vessel. Then the Oni asked if Krinsa was looking for the superweapon as well. . . Well, whatever it was suppose to be. Superweapon, artifact. . . Well, it didn't matter. Krinsa didn't especially pledge herself to the demons out of Loyalty or anything so if they failed to get this thing, then, well, whatever. Still, she'd try where she could. Then, however, a somewhat familiar voice came over the intercom of the vessel. . . Orders, orders, orders. Really now. . . "It's your lucky day now, isn't it human?" Krinsa had to ask almost jokingly to the human the Oni held hostage. "So then, our target is the cargo hold? Hmm, not that I know exactly where that is. . ."

It was around then that the turrets in the surrounding areas hummed back to life. Krinsa turned quickly to one that was close to behind her. It started firing at the woman as she quickly aimed both guns at the emplacements and fired, quickly exploding the device. . . Not before recieving a few shots to her arm, near up by her shoulder. One embedded itself inside, but the others nicked her barely. "We should move, Horned-One."

[User]
"Attention all Sleeper Agents and Demons inside this fortress, the Prize is being held on the Cargo Hold, on the ship's lowest levels. All of you who remain loyal to the Armies of Darkness, converge there immediately and assist in crushing the remaining Machina resistance. Don't kill any humans on the way, I repeat, don't kill any humans on the way there. Round them like the cattle they are and force them to the Cargo Hold as well. Spread chaos through the enemy, force them to think if they are shooting friend or foe, if you can do this, victory is ours..."

Well, that were some clear orders right there. Even if the black-winged Demon - whatever her name may be - refused to cooperate, Suyi at least now knew where to go. Not to mention, she still had the hostage that could lead the way.

"...!" It was then that suddenly, despite any chitchat they may have had, some defense system sprang back to life. "Get down!" Giving the Combat Pilot a push to the ground to get him out of harms way Suyi made herself ready to destroy the petty defense turret, alas, before she could even reach it the Nameless Winged One already took care of it - not without eating some damage herself though.

"Good Job. Are you alright?" Suyiketsu simply replied before helping the Combat Pilot up. "Urgh...my head, it's not l-" - "Shut up and show us the way, you heard it yourself, no harm shall come to you." The Pilot went silent for a second, maybe pondering once more if he was a hero or a coward, before finally nodding. "Alright, we have to get through that door first!" He pointed forward. By now, not only were the turrets a problem but also some automated security doors.

"Tzch." Pushing the Combat Pilot forward she simply stopped in front of the pathetic door. Despite not being aware that the hull of the Elicitor she punched herself through was already damaged, the interior was way weaker by default, allowing her remarkable strength to make way after just a few punches.

"There we go." The Oni Princess said after she made a small hole through the door that she simply widened by tearing it further apart. "Give me a moment." Not done yet, the horned-one gave the door a bit more treatment until she was capable of ripping out a small tile of it - just to deform it enough to make a sort of shield with a makeshift grabbing part.

"You take care of the turrets, use that to defend yourself if needed, Nameless One." Ultimately, it was up to the gun-wielding Demon if she decided to make use of it or not - Suyiketsu didn't care either way. If the turrets weren't strong enough to penetrate their own fortress interior walls then her life was probably not at risk anyways. "Now, let's go." With those words, they would surely make haste towards the cargo bay, considerably slowed down by the defenses.


[System]
Age: 17
Gender: Male
Appearance: Standing at an unimposing 5'9" with his scruffy brown hair, most people probably wouldn't peg Daichi as anything more than a background character. His clothing is fairly unassuming, as well; in that regard, he's fairly difficult to pick out in a crowd... So long as you choose to ignore the fact that he's almost always wearing a sports visor with a picture of some sort of anime character on it, regardless of the time, season, or weather. Nobody's really sure how big his collection is, but he's never worn the same one twice over the course of a year... If that means anything.
Personality: A relatively laid-back and lax individual, Daichi's never really worried much about his life as a whole. It wasn't as if everything was served to him on a silver platter, but his family's history and seemingly limitless resources have allowed him to breeze through a lot of things in life without much trouble. Of course, that also meant that he's had to step up and take responsibility for many of the goings-on of the town. In a sense, he's been kind of pushed into taking up his family mantle and lead the clan for the future. He is by no means a leader of any sort and doesn't necessarily have the courage to face danger head-on, but he's resolved to step up to it...
Eventually.
Profession: High School Student
Abilities: Has the ability to create clouds of fog, which can then be subsequently used to generate electricity. This electricity can't be controlled, but it can be amplified or diminished and can be restricted to certain areas within the clouds, if at all. He cannot amplify a charge to a point to where it can effectively mimic an actual lightning strike, though; the worst he can really only give humans are second degree burns and temporary paralysis for about ten seconds. This is done in short bursts within the fog itself, and not by means of continuous shocks to the body. Of course, prolonged exposure will damage and eventually kill, but...
History: Serving as the heir to the Kawamoto clan, Daichi's upbringing has been one of careful balance. While he has been given a fair amount of freedom growing up, Daichi has also been more or less forced to be acquainted with every family- past, present, and future- that lives in the town. It's been drilled into his head that he'll have to be a community leader in the future, but for now he's fine with just doing his job as it stands and relaxing while he still can.
Other: Allowance? What's an allowance? The only money he's allowed to spend is what he earns, which means youmu hunting is essentially his part-time job.

[User]
Ah, that made things much more understandable to him. After all, if she had moved here with little fanfare (if any), then it'd be obvious that he wouldn't know her... And, well, neither would anyone else, for that matter. Her commentary provided the little insight that he'd need to start a conversation up, which was... Well, good enough to start.

"Oh, you're from Tokyo, huh?" he asked, taking a bite out of his rice before continuing. "It's a nice place, or so I hear. But... Yeah, I guess that with more people, each one kinda matters less."

Shrugging, he turned up to look for Reiko's response, only to see her staring right at him, though seemingly lost in thought. Strange. Was it because of what she had said earlier?

"Er... About your last statement, though... I dunno what to say, honestly. There's all that stuff going around about how people grow up differently in different places, so... I guess?"

Well, he was only a high school student; there wasn't really much reason for him to ponder these sort of philosophical quandaries in the end, after all...

[Assistant]
"Yes, I'm. I used to study at Tokyo University, but I moved here because of certain issues. I don't want to bother you with the history of my life, though. I'm sure a kid of your age has much more to worry about." Reiko replied to Daichi's inquire about her origins, before moving to the matters of Tokyo. "As for Tokyo, I can't negate that it's one of the most convenient places in the world to live, but... I guess that you'll only be able to form your own opinion on it if you move to there." She sighed wistfully before continuing "For me, it's a place that'll forever be linked to false promises, a future that was not meant to be."

However, when Reiko noticed how her expression was making Daich stiff, she gave him a genuinely beautiful smile, like she always did when she tried to reassure her younger sister that all was well "I guess that you are right, Kawamoto-san, there's no use in dwelling on these topics right now. I'll leave the philosophy to the lecture halls."

Then, Reiko drank some of her café-au-laite, before asking Daichi "But, enough about me and Tokyo. Tell me about this city and yourself, I got here only a week ago and the only other place that I know other than this shopping arcade is the University that I'll be attending after the vacations end. I'm specially interested in the kind of summer festivals that you have on smaller cities like this one, if you know something about they, please tell me."

[User]
Sitting to himself with a few bowls stacked on top of each other, Kouta was probably on his fourth or fifth helping which he was ravenously attacking and stuffing down his throat with reckless abandon; his feet resting on a guitar case that was sat on the ground.

As he did so, he looked about to see whoever was talking and focused in on some kid talking to an older woman. He also noticed some other people not too far away, but decided that it wasn't worth it to investigate any further and set down his bowl on top of his little stack when he noticed that there was no more food to shovel into his esophagus. Kouta reached into his pocket and lightly plopped a bill into the bowl at the top of the stack to pay for the hearty meal that he'd just consumed.

Almost immediately after he'd set down his bowl, Kouta felt drowsiness begin to set in. He blinked his eyes and bobbed his head, attempting to fight off the sleep. He reached down, cracking open his guitar case half-way, and slipped out a small white pillow which he set on the table in front of him. After closing his case, he then rested his head on the pillow lightly and placed his arms underneath it. His breathing slowed and it was quite easy to tell at that point that he was most definitely asleep.

[Assistant]
Reiko's shift of topic away from her own own problems certainly made the mood a lot easier for Daichi to deal with; it was a bit too early in the day to counsel someone... ESPECIALLY someone new to the town.

"A week, huh? Well, the town's got what it needs, which is probably just the bare minimum in your case." he stated, temporarily lapsing into thought as he went through the layout of it all inside of his head. "We've got... Well, lots of suburban housing, a library, a few banks here and there, a lot of restaurants... Well, to be blunt, we've got what we need here to keep the place afloat. Sure, we might not have the newest of luxuries, but what we don't have in stores we can usually import. Thank goodness for the advent of the internet."

Downing the rest of his meal, Daichi clasped his hands and let out a quick 「ごちそうさまでした」 and moving it to the side to continue on with his generalization of his hometown.

"The place is pretty small, though, so it shouldn't take too long to take every location to heart. I mean, if there's any location that you need to know of, you can ask pretty much anyone here. Pretty much."

Tossing a sidelong glance at the girl who, for once in her life, seemed to take the kindness of others in, Daichi shrugged and wrote it off as an unusual phenomenon before continuing.

"Yeah. That aside, the festivals here are a pretty big deal; the entire town gets involved to set it all up, and everyone has fun time and time again. If I recall correctly, Tanabata's around the corner... And it's as much of a big deal here as it is pretty much everywhere else in Japan, so look forward to it. We've got some other smaller things on the side, but those aren't really... Consistent. So... Yeah, if there's anything else you were curious about, just ask. My dad's the de facto community coordinator of the place, and I'm supposed to take his place in the future, so I tend to know this stuff. Kinda have to."

As he finished his statement, Daichi noticed, out of the corner of his eye, the narcoleptic glutton who tended to, well... Sleep in class, if nothing else. And, as expected, he was fast asleep in the middle of the food court.

Figures.

"...One moment, please." Daichi said, excusing himself from the table for a moment before walking over to Kouta's side and firmly grabbing his left shoulder with his right hand.

"Hey. I know that it's, like, almost ten in the morning, man, but sleeping here in the open's gonna get you in trouble." Daichi sighed, shaking his head. "Like, we know you can't help it, but at least do it somewhere that isn't gonna steal a seat from other groups that might want it."

With that said, Daichi let go and returned to his seat from earlier, the one next to Reiko.

"Sorry 'bout that. He tends to do that... Enough. Narcolepsy's kinda... His thing, I guess. I'm usually the one next to him in class, so the whole 'waking him up' thing kinda got stuck with me. Force of habit."

[User] "I-indeed." With a deft and practiced twist of the hand that was entirely at odds with her nervous fac and body language, Sakie spun the plate and then flicked it easily in a snap wrist motion so that the spinning container flew towards a nearby table. Following it was a folded napkin as well as the porcelain spoon which rested flat side down on the cloth. All this with most minimum of noise and not a grain of rice out of place. If anything, this seemingly flashy move aerated the settled rice one last time while it was in motion so that the aroma burst out in a concentrated puff once again, the heat from the inside of the dish rising freely. "One sample of seafood fried rice. I h-hope it is to your liking." The Suniyama heir stated, bowing down to her newest customer.

[Assistant]
"..."

Well, this girl seemed to have some strange sense of style in terms of how she served her food... whatever. It smelled pretty good, regardless, and Kumiko sat down as it was set at the table. Unfortunately, this motion lead to her overstuffed duffle bag bumping into the side of the table rather awkwardly. Given how full it was, it did not take much for the strained zipper to start slipping... and with that familiar noise, the bag unzipped about halfway just as Kumiko set it down. There was a rustling as the bag fell open, ofuda spilling out onto the floor, freed from their overcrowded prison. For a moment, the black-haired girl sat there in disbelief and frustration. She'd spent her morning stuffing them all in there, and now they just came bursting out...?

"... Damn it."

Kneeling down off of her seat, Kumiko began the task of trying to gather up all the ofuda quickly, before someone came and started asking her about them or whatever.

[User]
Reiko observed quietly as the teenagers around her went by with their carefree lives, sometimes spending a few extra moments to analyze the most interesting looking ones, like the stuttering girl that was work on the food stall right over the courtyard, or the gruff one who she offered a free sample as well as the large bag stuffed of more papers than even most PhD candidates carry around. Or, Daichi's own way of dealing with his narcolepsy afflicted friend and the boy who would be as bold-faced as to sleep on a public space in the middle of the morning.

When Daichi returned from his small errand, he would notice a faint smile on Reiko's face, a nostalgic one, almost as if the young woman was already reminiscing on the days of her own adolescence. When the boy talked to her, Reiko answered in as much gentle a voice as she possible could make "Thank you, Kawamoto-san, this city really seems like it'll do me good. A place where children can be this carefree certainly is a good place to live."

"What do you say of me paying the favor back by paying a drink for you, then?" Reiko asked calmly as evaluated Daichi's reaction "As long as you don't mind having me as company for some more time, and... coffee, because I don't think that you are above 18 yet." she called a waitress to get her another cup of café-au-laite and whatever was it that Daichi might want to drink.

[Assistant]
The familiar feel of a hand grasping his shoulder caused Kouta to quickly be thrust from his sleep and back into the waking world, where he was greeted by the words of that one kid from school. Guy had a point, no need to be taking up space that other people could be using. With his head still laid down onto the pillow, Kouta mumbled out a muffled "Sorry," and pushed himself up off of the pillow.

He mumbled to himself, most likely trying to memorize something, as he took the pillow and shoved it back into the case he was resting his feet on. Kouta then slipped into the strap on the case and fastened it to his back so that it wasn't hanging loosely. He then uttered a yawn that shook his frame slightly and stretched before looking about awkwardly trying to figure out what he should do with his time. Deciding that he might just want to relax and watch passersby, he just kind of shuffled out of the way and looked about.

[User]
Daichi let out a small laugh at Reiko's comment, amused at how she still saw the people around them as... Children. It was a long time since he'd heard that directed at him, but it wasn't as if it was insulting or anything. Heck, if she was happy here, then there wasn't any reason for him to worry about her getting possessed by a Youmu or anything. Less work for him.

"No problem, no problem. Though... I guess that we're all kinda quirky, in our own way. Doesn't mean we're still children, though."

The offer of a drink, though... That caught him off guard.

"N-no thanks, I couldn't bother you with such trivialities. I'd be fine without a drink, but thanks for the offer." he declined, waving the waitress away as she hesitated to take his order. "But yes, you're correct, I'm not yet 18. 17, though; doesn't mean I like the taste or smell of alcohol any better. And, let's be real here: it's the middle of the morning; what kind of person drinks at this time of day?"


[System]
Age: 20

Appearance:

Years in the Academy: 7

Ancestors: TaskMaster is his Uncle. X-23(Laura Kinney) is his mother. He does not know his father due to the man dying when he was young; however, this man is the link to TaskMaster.

Photographic Reflexes = Alex has the ability of Photographic Reflexes. He wasn't born with this ability but due to his healing factor his uncle, TaskMaster, took him and began testing on him. TaskMaster tested to see if he could implant his own ability within the boy, and it worked. Alex now can copy any physical action that his body could naturally do. However, due to not naturally being born with this ability Alex can 'forget' how to do the move if he doesn't work to ingrain it into his muscle memory.

Superhuman Longevity = Just like most with a healing factor Alex also has a superhuman level of longevity. This causes him to just like Wolverine and X-23 from whom he has DNA of to age slower during his young adult years and further on.

Regenerative Healing Factor = Alex has a very strong healing factor due to having DNA of Wolverine and X-23. When TaskMaster did tests on the young boy he did something to increase the power at which Alex's body and mind can recover. It has not been attempted, but before TaskMaster escaped he mentioned that he believed that Alex had a better healing factor than Wolverine.

Animalistic Instincts = Similar to Wolverine and X-23 Alex has heightened senses in the form of various animals. He has faster reflexes, stronger sense of smell, better eyesight, and an innate sense of incoming danger. Alex has yet to train these senses to their peak potential so as of right now they feel more of a nuisance until he fully understands what he is sensing.

Hyper Speed = The only ability that Alex can call his own is his speed. Not quite the levels of those such as Quicksilver, but still faster than the average human if only a few MPH's higher. TaskMaster estimated that if he trained his speed that Alex could quite possibly reach Mach 1, but so far Alex has maxed out at 48 MPH.

A side note is that Alex is fairly intelligent. This is primarily because TaskMaster drilled various lessons into the boy's mind. He learned a lot and retain nearly all of it.

Bio: At a young age Alex's life began fairly normal. His father died when he was young so he only knew of his mother Laura as his family. At the time he didn't even know her link to Wolverine or about her powers. Once his abilities started to show themselves she told him everything. It was a lot for a seven year old to take in, but it caused him to have a strong desire to help people.

Unfortunately, within the next year TaskMaster showed up. Still using the name Tony Masters he told the young Alex that he was the young boys uncle having been the brother of his dead father, the last person that had been living who knew Taskmaster's true identity. When Laura found out TaskMaster had shown up she forbid Alex to interact with him. Unfortunately, there was nothing either could do to stop TaskMaster from following out his plans.

The man kidnapped Alex and took him to an old Weapon X facility. There he performed various tests on Alex implanting DNA in him and altering the already preexisting DNA. He taught the boy various things and began attempting to brainwash him. This was very difficult due to the boys healing factor. It took nearly three years, but Laura along with a few other superheroes eventually found the location where TaskMaster had been hiding the boy. TaskMaster had been outside the facility when the heroes showed up and therefore got away.

All of this harshly affected the young boy. A close watch was kept on him after he and his mother moved to Xavier's School in order to keep him safe. Eventually Alex got sick of being stuck in the same place and he tried to run away. He was easily caught by Wolverine who came up with a compromise of placing him in the Avengers Academy. Laura was scared to part ways with her son when TaskMaster was still at large, but she realized that he should be safe with the Avengers close by rather than him continuously trying to run away. Alex only agreed as long as they kept his identity as secret as possible which was agreed to.

Family/Relationships?: friends and family, romantic interests, etc. optional!

Weapons: Since TaskMaster planned on working alongside Alex and rebuilding his crime syndicate he used his leftover connections to get Alex a Vibranium-Adamantium alloy Ninjato and a small collapsible Kendo Stick.

Personality: To most Alex appears cold and standoffish, but those who know him well realize he is just a quiet guy. He can seem rude but that is only because he is very direct and rarely lets bias change how he deals with things unless he REALLY dislikes someone like his uncle. He is fiercely loyal and if someone hurts or wrongs someone he cares about he will defend them, but he rarely defends himself. He really wants to help others but doesn't feel as if he will be any real help.

Other: Has an overbearing desire for revenge against TaskMaster.

[User]
Being called out on his inactivity caused Ben to shy away, back to his timid self. He stayed quiet throughout the lecture, not once piping up. He never once considered being part of a team before. Perhaps that was why he was sitting back. He knew that the team would handle things... but if he was another cog in their team...

Ben pondered this as Vix suggested increasing the lessons in team work. Ben piped in.

"Yeah. If we're meant to be a team, perhaps it'd be better if we learned how. Remember, I've been going solo for the first little while until I enrolled here." Ben got back to a bit of a cocky attitude, but not enough in the hopes of not pissing off Scott.

[Assistant]
Richard was right and knew it was more than just asking what happened. He was chewing them out and he looked around at the reactions of the others as he did so. He noticed Ben's personal retreat and removed his arm from around Mister Lang. He didn't want to sound cocky but he was sure that if he was there the situation would've gone a lot smoother. He decided to keep that to himself. It wasn't the time to praise himself. Especially when the others were being scolded and in some ways belittled.

He listened to Vix and Ben and chiped in after them. "They're right. Put us to the test and let us change your opinion. I suggest we do a simulation right now." Even though he wasn't part of the original situation there was no way he was going to miss out on this. This would've been good for all of them. Especially those that weren't actually in the program yet.

[User]
Nao shuffled his feet a little as Mr. Lang went on, flinching at the waiting until the last second comment. Definitely him. It wasn't that he didn't want to help, it was more that he'd never had to be involved before. Really, he thought it would be heroic enough if he could actually pass a math class without extra tutoring this year. Seriously, who thought anyone would actually need the pythagorean theorem outside of a test.

Nao nodded as a few of the group suggested simulations. If working together was an issue, better to throw everyone into a situation to work out the kinks. Plus, he'd never had the opportunity to work with people that weren't trying to hurt others. Actually, it's more like he avoided it like the plague. But he had to start somewhere.

[Assistant]
"Yes! Yes. Let's all listen to Vix and Richard. Allow us all to heed what they hath said to us." She had just accidentally issued a challenge to Lang by saying what she did, now she just wanted them to move past that and pretend that it never happened in the first place. A little test or simulation wouldn't hurt, but what about the kid? James had just kinda dragged him along with the group full of advanced training students, and she was pretty sure that his pipes were going to burst if he didn't go soon.

"Um, Will." She thought that was his name, at least. She wasn't really in the conversation when the boy had told James his name. "This is some pretty heavy stuff coming up. You should probably take a little bit of a break before we start up and get you stuck with us for at least an hour or two." There was no really easy way that she could subtly allude to him that this was his queue to go and find a bathroom. Runners, Marines, it had happened to grown men and women in those kind of situations, and she wasn't going to let that kid have any sort of accidents, as weird as it sounded to even think about.

[User]
The responses to his question only made Professor Lang laugh and sigh. "Getting lectured on how to teach by a bunch of kids, never thought I'd see the day. Most of you have been training for teamwork for a while now. But you know what? You want me to teach you teamwork? Fine. We're going to split up into groups-- Hold on." Scott stopped and looked at Will, turning his head a bit. "You're the kid who almost got hit by the rocket, right? A new student... Sorry for keeping you here, please don't pee all over the floor, this is an important building..." Professor Lang's face softened a bit. He always had a soft spot for younger kids. In all honesty Lang only came off as harsh because he was training the next people to take up the Avengers. Most of the students here were cocky and thought they could do anything, so he had to give them a reality check. But when it came to new students he was nothing but helpful.

"Friday, what's this child's schedule? we need to get him to class before he's late." A female voice echoed through the room in response. "It seems to be that this... is his first class today, Scott. He's Will Fleeter, right?

Scott eyed him for a couple moments before slowly nodding. "Must have been a slip up in the database. Never had a first day student join the program...

"There's nothing we can do at the moment. Might as well pair him with someone and see what he can do. the female voice responded kinda worriedly. James looked over at the young kid, worried himself. These courses were for people who have gotten a hold of their abilities or know whats in store for them... James prayed that Lang knew what he was doing.

"Alright, so we are going to spend the morning going through some teamwork exercises. You're going to partner up and complete an obstacle course. For anyone who's been here before you know these courses are meant to push you and your abilities to the max of your potential. If your partner fails, so do you. No excuses. You will have to work together or we will find of another group project for you to do, understand?

Now, time for the teams! Annabelle, I've seen the stink eyes you've given James, and vise versa. The grandchildren of two leaders should be able to work out their differences and pass these courses... I guess the two Web-Heads can pair up, and use genetics and technology to reach an end goal. Vix, Charlotte, pair up, and this time make sure your whole suit is here. Alex, Nao, I'm curious to see how this plays out... and Mister Westbrook, you're going to team up with Will... I hope you like these pairs, because they're final!

James nodded and glanced over at Anna. Lang knew that the two weren't too fond of each other when it came to their thinking. James hoped that they could push that aside to get through the course. it wasn't going to be easy. He then glanced over at Alex. He was teamed up with Nao, and although he was sure the two could handle it, James didn't know if things would get out of hand with that combination... And then there was Will. He knew Mark wouldn't let anything happen to him, he was a good person, but he had no idea what Will could do. He didn't look confident, and that was dangerous.

"Alright, we're going to use the arenas outside for these trials. It'll give you all room to work with. Time to move out!

The obstacle course Arenas were all next to each other, all looking like massive sporting arenas. There was a glass dome above them, and although there was grass in the field to start off, the terrain and lighting changed as soon as the simulation started. You could be on the rooftop of New York, or the jungles of Wakanda, or even old military bases for infiltration. There were even classic style obstacle courses that had no setting, just different shapes and blocks and enemies to move around. It looked like everyone was going at the same time. James was next to Anna, awkwardly thinking about what to say. They didn't hate each other, but there were those moments where they got on each other's nerves, and that seemed to be a lot.

[Assistant]
Anna listened as Lang went on another of his casual tirades. Over the years Anna felt her and the groups respect for Lang change, even the smallest aspect of their relationship with him had shifted. For example, rather than 'Mr Lang' as she used to call him, Anna opted now for the more friendly 'Lang'. She'd never call him Scott though, that just felt weird. Furthermore, Lang had begun to feel more like a father figure and a mentor rather than a teacher, at least to Anna, someone she could confide in. I suppose that came with the job though, after all training what could have been the next Avengers requires a degree of compassion and sympathy.

Anna grimaced as the team members were read out. Of course she was paired with, James he was the only one she knew well enough to dislike somewhat. She rubbed the corners of her eyes with her fingers before moving a strand of hair out of her line of sight with a slender green hand. She crossed her arms, turning to face James.
"Alright, boy scout an obstacle course should be easy enough for you, if there are a few kittens caught in trees along the way that might be a different story though, so let's just hope that Lang has made this relatively traditional." She teased, attempting to keep spirits up between the two in her own strange way.

[User]
When Mr. Lang started speaking again Alex felt like an idiot for assuming the same thing as the others around him. However, he did take time to watch the video on the screen. As Mr. Lang listed off the problems that were more obvious Alex thought of ways to fix them and even noticed a few more issues. Then James spoke up with a glorious speech. Alex almost laughed out loud. Not because it was funny what James said, but because they had similar DNA yet couldn't be any different.

 Alex listened as the others requested that instead of punishment they be put through some sort of teamwork exercise. He had to admit it wasn't the worst idea. If it were up to him the whole group would be shoved into a Danger Room at near the level Wolverine liked to train on. When Lang said they'd be participating in an obstacle course Alex felt a little disappointed. He wanted a real challenge. Alex had done these courses hundreds of times. Guaranteed he'd never done this alongside Nao. That would at least make the exercise a little more interesting than usual.

 When they got to the locations of the courses Alex turned to Nao and said, "How do you wanna do this. I know whenever I usually do these things they throw some sort of magic at me since it's my weak spot. Got any preference on who leads."


[System] Danielle Raymonde

[User]
Ashley Gallagher
The Home of a Star

Ashley listened wordlessly. Cal seemed on edge, teetering more than Gallagher was used to the cool and collected cop doing. He said nothing about it, best way to blow your power through knowledge was to let others on that you had it in the first place.

"I don't have any dirt on her. From what I understand, she's a mysterious character, but as far as the NYPD can tell, she's clean as a whistle,"

"She'd be the first then, not many in the spotlight stay clean in the shadows. Not when its so easy to get away with whatever you want." Again his mind shifted to Emerald. He shook his head abruptly, he had to be on alert in this questioning and thinking about her would only stray him from the path to the truth. She was a problem for another day.

As Cal parked, Ashley worked to hide his astonishment at the grandeur of the apartment complex. It was larger than life and beautiful to boot. Ashley had long since gotten over his resentment for the rich, he had no envy for their lives. When you had so much, it meant that much more you could lose. "Are you kidding?" He quipped, "I didn't know a starlet lived in my apartment complex. I'm surprised I haven't seen her around the erm... spa." He chuckled. "Lead the way, Lovey. You seem to know more about her than I do. Try using that sweet talk of yours and loosen her lips a little, would ya'?"

[Assistant]
Calvin Lovegrove
The Apartment of Danielle Raymonde

Cal beckoned for Ashley to follow as he hasted through the courtyard, his eyes laser-focused on the path ahead of him. In the past year Cal had made this exact walk dozens of times, but now he could only hope that a smidgeon of Dani's incredible talent had rubbed off on him… He had to look like he'd never seen this place before. The detectives found themselves in a beautiful, lavish lobby filled with sculptures and mirrors. A very faint pink hue resided in the décor and lighting of the room. It always gave Cal a degree of comfort; this lobby was the decontamination room between the grime and decay of his world and the high-life that towered above. He stared at Ashley for a moment. Cal was kidding himself; he knew very well that by bringing Ashley Gallagher here, he was smuggling a grenade into this world.

A hallway of elevators awaited the detectives in the back. Calvin took a determined step forward. He knew which to take. Second from the right. It wasn't long, however, before the detective froze and re-assessed. He had briefly stepped out-of-character. Right, then. He sauntered over to the front desk and leaned against the edge. "NYPD. We're looking for Danielle Raymonde."

"Hey! I know you, you're---" The burly, bald, bowtie-fastened man at the desk aborted his sentence. The look in Cal's eyes seared through this man's well-meant intentions and immediately subdued him. "Oh….uh…Sorry. Thought you were someone else. Please excuse me." A painfully insincere chuckle parted from the man's lips and he pointed toward the hallway. "You'll want to take the second from the right. Apartment 752."

"Thank you," said Cal with a completely calm, monotonous tone of voice. The pair departed for Danielle's apartment.

The hallway was masked in a nearly uncomfortable number of stripes, which lined both the walls and the floors horizontally in a myriad of different colors. This place was regal, yet uneasy. Upon arriving to 752, Cal gently knocked on the door. "I'll take point, Ash. I've met many 'Danielles' in my life."

After a moment, the door slowly opened, and a face emerged from the opening. She was as beautiful as Lovegrove had made her out to be; her long, perfect strands of strawberry blonde hair curled around a face that was far too fair to be wrapped up in this hurricane of a case. "C-can I help you?"

"NYPD. Detectives Lovegrove and Gallagher. May we please come in?"

"What is this regarding?"

"It is regarding two murdered women in the Carousel Club."

A horrified grimace erupted across Danielle's face, erasing the angelic grace and replacing it with shock. "…murders? I…I was just there!" She now looked extremely distraught. "S-sure. Come in." She fully opened the door and beckoned the two detectives inside before shutting it behind them.

Calvin and Ashley helped themselves to a seat on Danielle's couch, while she departed to the kitchen. She returned with a bottle of scotch and a glass for each of the detectives. She poured a generous amount of spirits before sitting down and overtly redirecting her attention to Detective Gallagher. Cal cursed under his breath. He could tell that Danielle had already grown wary of his acting performance and had probably decided to ensure he had no opportunity to fail her under pressure.

"I am so sorry to hear of this…if there's anything I can do…please."

[User]
Ashley Gallagher
The Home of a Star

Ashley wondered if Lovegrove was trying to imply something or if he really harbored the thought that Ashley was a shit detective. He knew Cal was lying to him about something, but to his frustration he simply couldn't deduce what. The other detective was barely keeping his cool composure that Ashley was used to. It had begun directly after the club. He eyed Cal with a sidelong glance, tucking his thumbs into the waistband of his pants casually as the man spoke to the desk clerk. Perhaps Lovegrove was sweet on a dancer there. Tragic. Ashley just hoped it wouldn't interfere with the investigation.

A small tendril curled out of his mind like black ink spreading through water, the thought of Smith slowly forcing its way into his consciousness. He pushed it out, slamming the metaphorical door in its face. He had to put that away for now, he needed to be in his best mind.

Ashley sifted through the case in his mind as Cal rapped on the door, and was in no way prepared for the gentle face that answered. She was an angel, fallen from heaven and trapped in the thick gunk that was New York. Her face was that of a renaissance painting, the ones just trying to capture the sublimation of such a beautiful human woman. He fancied he could even see her wings, draped over her lovely shoulders in a delicate fall of ivory feathers. She was beautiful. Ashley was speechless. He shook his head out as the angel invited them into her home, and attempted to regain his focus. Focus, Ashley, damn it!

He scrubbed a weary hand across his forehead as he took a seat, politely declining the scotch, temptress though it was. The woman was clearly distressed, but Ashley made a point to remind himself she was an actress, and a successful one at that.

In a sudden unwanted wave, her face took over his mind, but it wasn't her beauty that he saw. The woman he saw before him was suddenly a horror, her beautiful lips hanging open as blood dripped from them. In place of her lovely gems for eyes were two roses, shoved in unceremoniously, organic sludge framing them and escaping from the sockets. Her locks of strawberry blonde hair were matted with blood and bone shards, her delicate hands now claws as they curled and contorted helplessly in death.

It was the slip of reality he needed, and his mind was cleared. "Let's start with some basic questions uh…" He paused to look at his pad, momentarily forgetting her name. "… Miss Raymond. What was your business at the Carousel Club?"

[Assistant]
Calvin Lovegrove
The Apartment of Danielle Raymonde

Danielle sank into a plush white armchair facing the two detectives and crossed her legs, her expression falling blank. "A meeting."

Calvin furrowed his brow. "We need more than that, miss."

The starlet bit her lip and offered only silence. She reached onto the table for a cigarette and plopped it into her mouth. Cal quickly reached into his jacket and retrieved his lighter, scorching the end of the rollup.

Danielle took a drag from her cigarette, attacking the detectives head-on with smoke, before she finally complied. "That is none of your business, detective. Show-business stops for nothing. Not even for you two." She offered a half-smile to Ashley. Her kind, angelic demeanor had evaporated before Ashley's eyes. "…but I'll be a good girl and give you my alibi, if that's what you are here for."

By now, irritation had started to corrode Calvin's expression. "We aren't here for an alibi. Unless you make us feel as if we should be asking for one. We want to know what you saw. Then we'll be out of your hair. Have you been to this club before?"

Danielle rolled her eyes and let loose another plume of smoke before suffocating her cigarette onto the ashtray. "The Carousel, pardon my language, is a shithole. The showgirls—as they tend to be—were vile and absurd. Yet, for some reason, I find myself there regularly. Writers and producers love to pitch to me underneath the neon lights and public indecency."

"Miss Raymonde, your name is written in the vicinity of both murders. Wouldn't it be irregular to attend two nights in a row?"

"No. The same meeting warranted another night of parlay. One—again—which is none of your business. However, both nights, we left well before midnight."

"Who was the man you were meeting with?"

"A writer. I do not remember his name. If you want to pester RKO Pictures to track him down, be my guest."

Cal sighed and interlocked his hands. Danielle's performance worried him. She'd shapeshifted into multiple different characters dramatically before their eyes. Still, her alibi—while only half-true—was perfectly constructed. By the time the detectives would be able to comb through RKO to get a statement from said 'writer', the case would fall cold. She'd presented herself as a dead-end.

Calvin looked at Ashley, his confidence and composure now rejuvenated. "What are you thinking, Ash?"

[User]
Ashley Gallagher
The Home of a Star

Ashley stared down the starlet, watching as she melted from one personality to the next effortlessly. Successful indeed. He was almost thankful for the cold, haughty demeanor she now wore— as a sudden contempt rose in him. He had little patience for those who thought they were above others simply because of money or fame. One particular statement made his blood boil beneath his skin. It surprised him, this emotion he didn't often feel, defensiveness. He felt as though she was baiting him, though how could she know?

Regardless, he took the bait. "You speak of the showgirls as if your profession isn't one and the same, Miss." He uttered coldly. "I see no difference between what you do and taking your clothes off for people with power and money. Showgirls, at least, don't pretend it is glamorous." He raised his brows, "Feel free to correct me." He had the information he needed from her, or all that he figured she'd give him. He was sure she'd just continue to play with him like a cat and its mutilated mouse. He stood, abruptly, brushing the the wrinkles out of his trousers. "Your alibi was unnecessary, you don't seem to be the type to rip eyes out or shove flowers into fresh, warm corpses like some gruesome florist." He eyed her over. "You haven't the spine. I will ask you one more question."

He dropped his cigarette onto the floor and stamped it out with the tip of his shoe, molesting the expensive carpet with the ash and heat of the still smoking butt. She'd just pay someone to clean it up. He leveled her with a piercing gaze, but kept his tone casual and almost friendly. "Did you see anything out of the ordinary, or suspicious?"

[Assistant]
The Apartment of Danielle Raymonde

Danielle stared at the detective in disbelief before her lips curled into a condescending smile. "Well, Detective…Gallagher, was it?...I am paid to act like a professional. Perhaps, if you knew how to do the same, you would understand." She giggled under her breath. "If defending the honor of squandered beauty is your life's mission, then I suppose I could understand your frustration."

Cal grimaced and stared at the floor, declining to interject in the firestorm that had erupted around him.

After a moment of excruciating silence, Dani's face returned to that of warm civility. "Nonetheless, I now want nothing more than for you to leave. I will answer your question."

"Thank you, ma'am," muttered Calvin.

"What was the question, again?"

"Was there anything out of the ordinary? Based on what you know about the Carousel?"

"I suppose there was a man."

"A man?"

"A man. He looked completely unremarkable and I could not possibly describe you to him…but I noticed him. His table sat right next to the window below the red and purple neon sign. I remember being transfixed by the image."

"Why was it unusual?" asked Calvin.

"Because he was there both nights. His pose, his gaze, everything. Identical."

"His 'gaze'?"

"Yes. His eyes were on the belle of the ball. 'Emerald'. And I noticed that her eyes were often on his, too. It was a bit uncomfortable from the third person."

Calvin furrowed his brows and rubbed his forehead. "Your name was the only one that appeared twice."

"Then he was a man who did not want to be found. That does not mean he killed anyone, though. He didn't look the part. Could have very easily been a married man dipping his toes into the underworld for an ounce of thrill."

Calvin folded his arms and looked at Ashley. "Hmm."