Web of Discordia - Crisis in the Royal Library!

[Crisis]

It had been a good week or so of beating down ne'er-do-wells and street thugs for information, using said information to track down Dark Guilds, persuading Dark Guilds to try to break the curse on her sword instead of killing her, then inevitably having to fight her way out of the Dark Guilds' hideouts when they inevitably failed. During this uphill slog, she heard rumblings of a whisper of a rumor that a major heist was going to go down soon. A certain tome of certainly evil power was in a certain room of a certain library in which a certain Dark Guild was certainly going to commit a certain crime. Crisis wasn't so certain, but if an object of mystery and power, whose power was only surpassed by its mystery, was in danger of falling into the wrong hands, someone had to do something. And apparently, someone was. She was going to make an anonymous tip to the authorities but found out they had already put up a Request on every Mercenary board in town. Not one to let her hard work go unrewarded, she decided she might as well take it on.

The meeting place was outside the Crocus Royal Library, not long after dark. Her contact, a one Mordekai Argon, was waiting near the entrance. Crisis observed him from the shadows for a moment. He was good-looking, to say the least. Ruggedly handsome, clad in dark clothing, although Crisis could tell by the way he carried himself he was well-built but not bulky, and that cocky, winsome grin even as the hour drew short told her everything else she needed to know him. A man after her own heart, to be sure. They'd probably get along swimmingly, but now wasn't time to pleasantries. Well, maybe it was, but it was time to get down to business, as well.

Crisis stepped from the shadows and sidled up behind the man. She was a dark stranger herself, though not quite as tall. She had on her customary outfit; A black cowboy hat, lavender half-poncho over a leather crop top, both of which revealed her midriff, a lavender skirt with an open front that revealed the shorter leather skirt she had under it, which itself was over her leather leggings, plus a pair of leather boots and a pair of fingerless gloves. She mightn't have looked nearly as mysterious as she acted, but she'd play the part nonetheless.

"Word on the street is there's a book in this library that's a must-read for evil wizards," Crisis said, her arms tucked under his poncho.

"I see you got the memo," Mordekai said as he turned to face her in a nonchalant manner. He gave her a studious once-over. "Not quite what I expected, but I like what I see. You definitely look like you can hold your own."

"Thanks," Crisis replied with a cocky smirk of her own. "I wouldn't mind having your back, either."

"Unfortunately, I can't stick around," Mordekai noted. "So unless anyone else shows up for the job, you'll be on your own."

"There aren't any other guards?" Crisis inquired.

"Okay, you might as well be on your own," Mordekai elaborated. "Make no mistake, this place has pretty good security, but if I thought the guards here stood a chance against the Dark Guilds, I wouldn't be calling in outside assistance."

"Fair enough," Crisis accepted with a nod. "What can you tell me about the book?"

"Just legends, mostly," Mordekai answered. "It's called The Tome of One Hundred Dragons, and it was written around the same time as Domus Flau was first erected. It got its name, or so the legend goes, because the souls of around one hundred dragons were bound within its pages. So, whoever possesses and reads this book..."

"...Will possess the power of a hundred dragons," Crisis finished. "I can see why the Dark Guilds would seek to obtain it. So why keep it here in a library of all places?"

"'If you want to hide a tree...'" Mordekai recited. "It's actually stored in a secret vault beneath the library. That's where you'll be stationed. The building itself is three stories tall, each with three wings. That's not including the two subbasements containing the 'Private collection' of books hidden away for the good of the country. Beneath those is the vault, where the really dangerous books are."

"So it doesn't just contain the Tome of One Hundred Dragons?" Crisis remarked.

"You'd think they'd make an entire vault for just one book?" Mordekai said. "I hope you're not big into reading, by the way. The books in there tend to leak, so each book is sealed in its own compartment, specially designed to keep the magic from getting out. Open the wrong one, and the magical radiation could kill you."

"And you want me to guard it from the inside?" Crisis exclaimed.

"Don't worry, you'll be perfectly safe," Mordekai said reassuringly. "Just don't open any of the compartments. Are there any other questions?"

Crisis gave Mordekai a dubious look. "I think I've heard enough."

"Good," Mordekai said with a nod. "The entrance to the fault is behind the front desk. The clerks have been instructed to let you in. Once you're down there, the door will be locked behind you. A guard will let you out in the morning, assuming a dark mage doesn't open the door first."

Crisis nodded and entered the library. Sure enough, she was let into the vault with little fuss. She made her way down three stories worth of stairs, accompanied by a clerk with a torch. The clerk undid the complicated locks on the vault and opened the door for Crisis. As promised, the door was sealed again as soon as she was inside. As she heard the internal mechanisms slide heavy bars into place, she couldn't help but feel like she was in for the fight of her life. One could say it was like she was a boss in a video game, hidden in the final room of a dungeon. If that thought occurred to Crisis, it would've made her feel right badass.

Crisis was expecting a smaller room. The vault was about the size of a tennis court; More than enough room for a pitched battle. It was also exceedingly tall, higher than the three stories she thought she had gone down. The walls were lined with doors just large enough for a full-grown man to crawl in through, and each was labeled with a serial number. Was a dangerous book of dark magic hidden behind each one? And they must be pretty hefty, or at least expected to be, in order to warrant such large doors. The room was surprisingly well-lit, as well, and since she couldn't quite pin down the source of the illumination she had to wonder if it was indicative of the magical radiation that managed to slip past the seals. Just thinking about that made her feel a little ill, so she tried to keep it from her mind. There was also a surprising number of tables, chairs, and ladders, as if to accommodate an entire team having to search several books at once. She couldn't imagine what sorts of circumstances could lead to such an event, but at least the poor souls would be reasonably comfortable while they did it.

The sounds of movement faintly made their way through the entry door, heavy though it was, and snapped Crisis from her reverie. Could the heist have begun already? She had just gotten here! Or maybe all the magic in the room had warped her sense of time. It could simply be another mercenary hired to guard the tome, or perhaps it was morning already and the guard was letting her out. In any event, Crisis couldn't afford to let her guard down. She darted up to the door and pressed her back to the wall, just off to the side. She drew her Crisis Eagle, a gold-plated mangum with a shell in the shape of an eagle's head molded around the barrel, and held it up at about eye level. If she didn't like the looks of what came through that door, it was likely going to get one in the temple.

((1393 words))

[Marianne Greire]

Yeah....Mari had completely ignored the request's description of wanting four people to go on this heist. She had just gone ahead and decided she'd do it by herself. She did better solo than she did with others anyways. The meeting point was in some apartment in Crocus and so the petite young woman made her way there, clad in what had become, her standard black. She met this Rebecca Flag person who told her quite promptly what was required of her to do. She listened carefully and nodded her head after they reached the part where the rendezvous was mentioned. An abandoned church huh? Sounded quite normal surprisingly. Although as of late, she was learning to expect something grand. But still, Shadow Heart wasn't very extravagant. It was probably just some delusion she had.

So with her destination in mind, the royal library, Mari set off pondering tactics. If she came in there with the intent of stealing and looked as if that was the case, she could assume they might throw her out with unrighteous cause; it definitely was still the situation with some posh places and with the Crusaders being in charge, she really wasn't sure.

With those thoughts, she guessed her best defence would be looking as if she got lost. And so, as she followed the instructions, casing the interior, entering the cellar behind the clerk's desk as they were distracted, she tried her best to adopt innocence as a mask. It wasn't going so great. Her heartbeat quickened. She was so close to the vault yet she still didn't have a plan if anyone was guarding the book she was meant to find. She placed a hand on the entry door and pushed it open somewhat hesitantly. Exploring. That was the mask she was going to do. A mixture of curiosity, fear and wonder shone on her face as she saw what was behind the vault. Upon 'seeing' the guard there, she stretched her eyes wide. "Wow! I never knew there was a vault here, did you know there was a vault?" She asked, her tone, a reflection of her current face. Internally she was freaking. She was kind of hoping for no on to be there.

372

[Crisis]

The sound of a gun's hammer cocking and the sensation of cold steel pressing against the side of her head informed Marianne that she was, indeed, not alone in the vault. Crisis could tell by Marianne's posture that she was intensely nervous. She figured she might not have to actually shoot her. If she was here to guard the book, then there was no need for action and they could just laugh it off as some silly misunderstanding. If this girl in black was here to collect the tome, then they were going to have words. Someone didn't look that nervous if they had any idea what they were doing. It may only take a few discouraging words to send her packing, especially since she had her dead to rights the moment she walked in the door.

...Unless her head was bulletproof, but that was probably unlikely.

"Can I see your library card?" Crisis said. With a smirk, she continued. "If you're here for the Tome of One-Hundred Dragons, your next move better be to turn around and head on back up those stairs. I suppose that applies to any other book in this vault, too, but in any case, forget it. Nothing leaves this vault while I'm in it. Comprende?"

((211 words, 1604 total))

[Marianne Greire]

Okay her luck be damned. There was someone in the vault, a girl no less. She amped up her nervousness, flicking her eyes towards the lady's gun and sword beside her head. It wasn't even fake nervousness. She took it to a whole new level of jiterry-ness. She also didn't need to pretend she had no idea what the effin' hell the cowgirl lady was talking about. "L-l-l-library card?" She 'managed' to squeak out. With her features it wasn't hard to mistake her for younger than she actually was. Her puzzled expression increased even more upon hearing about the what? Hundred Tome of Dragons? Dragons of A Hundred Tome? Tome of a Hundred Dragons? That sounded right. "Uh-uh-uh, Miss...Mrs...Ms? I d-d-don't think..." She trailed off unable to finish her sentence. What? She was still confused.

Instead of attempting to finish it, she gulped. "Y-y-you-r sw-swoun i-is m-me n-eragrous...I m-mean m-making m-me uncouvous," She said, stuttering over herself probably making as much sense as the girl had made to her. She realised this and forced herself to blush in embarrassment. It appeared naturally. "I mean, y-your it sword gun i-is n-nervous me making," She took a deep breath and blushed even deeper "I'm sorry," she finished, crestfallen. She didn't think she was making any sense whatsoever. She made her legs shake 'uncontrollably' and she looked panicked at the floor like it was the only thing she could bare to look at.

612 Total WC

[Crisis]

Crisis was fairly experienced when it came to situations both awkward and intense, so only a slight shift in balance indicated how totally uncomfortable the situation had suddenly become. While there remained the slightest possibility that the girl was trying to deceive her, but she was certain there was no faking the sheer level of anxiety the would-be book thief was clearly experiencing. The stammering, the knee-knocking, the pretty much every tell you could imagine aside from slackening bowels. She looked so young, too. Crisis was starting to feel sorry for the girl. Who would send a child like this on their own to steal a possibly-radioactive tome?

"Don't apologize," Crisis said. She lowered the sword, but not the gun. It wasn't pressed against the intruder's head anymore, but she still had it up high enough to let her know that she could blow a hole in her the instant Crisis thought she was trying something funny. "It just means I'm doing a good job. If I just stood here with a bouquet of flowers and asked you very nicely to not to steal the book, you'd go ahead and do it anyway." Actually, at this point, Crisis wasn't so convinced of that, but the point had to be made. "Make no mistake; I envision a scenario where I will likely shoot you several times, by which time I will be very cross with myself for feeling sorry for you. I'll do it if I have to, but I'd much rather let you off with a warning and sit here wondering if I was too harsh. I mean, you look like a good kid, way too young to be messing around with Dark Guilds. How old are you? 15? 16?"

((290 words, 1894 total))

[Marianne Greire]

Mari breathed a silent sigh of relief when the gun and sword came off of her head. The gun was still pointed at her head but whatever. For the other girl's benefit she relaxed her shoulders a little. Despite her anxious scared expression, she actually felt a glow of happiness. Performing like this, even if it was just so she wouldn't get decapitated, was extremely releasing. It was also fun, pretending to be someone else. But she really needed to calm her farm before she well and truly became as nervous as she was acting. That wasn't to say she wasn't nervous but at least, she knew with someone who used weapons as a way to fight, she'd probably have the upper hand. She didn't want to fight though. That would suck. Although judging from the situation, she seemed like she would have to fight.

All the while through the girl's speech, she kept the wheels in her brain turning. Of course, she kept up the perfect nervous anxiety act, looking at the floor and all. Obviously, she wasn't going to be able to fool the girl into being lax and letting her just steal the book under her nose. While it sounded like a good dream job, there were reasons why it was only a good dream job and not just a good job. So that left her the option of fighting and attempting to win. She was confident in her butt kicking ability but she needed to weigh up the other girl more. Marianne started to think deeper. She was getting close to her answer, she just needed to dig a bit more. Her thinking got to the point it was almost interfering with her act when she got it. Act like a psycho. There was nothing more discerning than a nervous, anxious girl becoming cray cray. Maybe she could even fake schizophrenia. She'd go with the flow. And then the other girl asked the deadly question (well at least deadly for everyone else in Shadow Heart).

By instinct, she stood up straight and looked up at the girl with shining eyes and a pouty face. "NO! I'm four and a half! Get it right!" She yelled in her face, sulky tone and spoilt brat expression in place. She turned away from the girl and sat herself promptly on the ground. "I don't get it. Everyone always says that but they're wrong! I'm Four. Four and a half. Not sixteen, not twenty one, not twelve. Four! And! A! Half!" She looked back up at the girl, distress clear in her eyes. "Do I really look that old?" She asked anxiously, not really caring if the other girl decided that shooting her would be a really good idea as of then. She was totally cool with aborting her part of the mission actually. Acting was just too great and she'd do it as long as possible. The failure of Shadow Heart, Marianne Greire? Why not make it, the total failure of Shadow Heart. She probably already was at that status anyways.

1120

[Crisis]

Crisis quirked an eyebrow and gave Marianne another once-over. “Well… Admittedly, you’re kinda big for your age.”

She couldn’t really conceive of why this girl would claim to be so young when she clearly wasn’t. Could it be progeria? No, she’d be an old lady by the time she got this tall. Could be something mental, like amnesia or dementia. Magic is always a possible culprit, of course. Then again, she really had no reason to trust this girl’s words at all, since she is a criminal here to steal a powerful book of mysterious magic. If she was brazen enough to lie to her, or crazy enough to believe it herself, there may be little point in attempting to reason with her. However, if she was really that old it’s possible that Shadow Heart was manipulating her. It might be worthwhile to make certain before trying to neutralize her by force.

“Take it from me, kid,” Crisis said. “Dark Guilds aren’t worth it. I was in a Dark Guild for the better part of my life. We used to stand for something, or I thought we did. In the end, we were nothing but thugs and bandits. After I realized that, I cut out and decided to do better things with my life. I don’t know what your crew’s deal is, but if you want to make a real, positive difference, you’d do the same. Maybe join one of the legal guilds.”

((243 words, 2137 total))

[Marianne Greire]

She got the girl confused. Score one for Mari. Maybe at this rate she could just confused her until she passed out and then she could take the book and run. Highly unlikely. Besides, as far as Mari was concerned this girl was hilarious and seemed to keep saying the wrong things despite what she was saying would be how a normal person reacted. But she wouldn't know now would she. Mari increased her poutyness to super pouty face. The girl already seemed to know she was from a dark guild (hint hint, what would the gun pointed at her be about?) but she didn't know which dark guild. Did Shadow Heart qualify as a dark guild anymore? She didn't know. Well then... a sly smile would have slid on her face had she not been a better actor.

"Woohoo! But I'm not in a dark guild! I'm in SHADOW heart. Famous guild of the century? I think yesssssssss!!!!" Inside voices were not necessary for four and a half year old girls. Hers echoed around the vault. She wouldn't be surprised if some people decided to enter to see what the commotion was about.

"But gasp!" She did her best exaggerated horrified expres​sion(which was very good, worthy of an international gold medal or trophy for best horrified face) "You were in a dark guild?? That must have been absolutely terrifying!" She feinted fainting. She looked around the vault and decided to ask the dumbest question of all that by now, the answer should have been very clear to her. "What are you doing here anyways?" She looked up at the girl, blinking innocently.

1394

[Crisis]

Crisis chuckled to herself. “Oh, you think the Dark Guilds are your ally, but you merely adopted a Dark Guild. I was born in one, molded by it. I didn’t see the light until I was already a ma-” She stopped abruptly, adopting a slightly puzzled expression. “No, wait… That’s from a movie. What was it called? Nevermind. Anyway…”

She looked at Marianne squarely. There was a slight edge to her voice now. The little girl act was already starting to annoy her, but she wasn’t going to let it show. She didn’t so much think the Shadow Heart girl was crazy as much as she wasn’t taking Crisis seriously. Either way, reasoning with her would probably just result in wasted breath, and someone who didn’t take you seriously was either very dangerous or very stupid. Possibly both. At any rate, Crisis had nothing but time on her hands, and fighting Marianne now meant having to wait here, bored and possibly injured, until the job ended in the morning just to make sure no one else showed up.

“I believe I already made that clear when you came in,” Crisis replied. “But to refresh your memory, I’m here to prevent the Tome of One Hundred Dragons from being stolen. Since I don’t know which of these safes holds it, I guess I better protect all of them. Although, from what I hear, not all of them need it. Many of the books here are volatile, so filled to the brim with magical energy it literally radiates from their bindings. It’s a deadly game of roulette if you don’t know which door to open. Pick the wrong one, and foof!” She puffs out that last sound, gesturing with her sword hand and splaying out her fingers. It was a wonder she didn’t drop the sword in the process. “There’ll be nothing left of you but a shadow super-imposed on the opposite wall. Or so I hear. One Hell of a security system if it’s true, though.”

((337 words, 2474 total))

[Marianne Greire]

((In terms of the telekinesis, Crisis can break her weapons out of it if she pulls against Mari hard enough))

Mari sighed. Blah blah blah. Fun times were over. There wasn’t any more reason she sho-

Wait. What was she thinking? Mari shook her head to clear it. The act wasn’t her, there was no reason to be idiotic. She didn’t even act that idiotic in Shadow Heart any more. Was she… missing it? No. That wasn’t right. She just missed doing something she liked (which was acting) because in all honesty, killing people and taking over control wasn’t in her list of fun things to do. It seemed all her years of saying fake it till you make it finally paid off. She actually was becoming an idiotic little girl who believed she was four and a half. Shadow Heart really was a bad influence on her whether they were now the residual ‘good’ force or not. And she couldn’t change now even if she wanted to. How could she? She was too coward for that.

She focused her gaze on one of the vaults, only hearing the last part of the girl’s sentence. Wait, super imposed shadow? She blamed herself for not paying enough attention. She shook her head again and refocused on her task. She didn’t know what she was going to do. Steal the book? Don’t steal the book?

Still… that gun and sword was unnerving. She activated her telekinesis and gripped both of them. Her goal was mainly to bring them to a place unreachable to Crisis. If Crisis held on to her objects tighter, then she’d wrestle with Crisis telekinetically. In any case, she wouldn’t be able to use her weapons just yet. Convinced she was safe enough, Mari sat down on the floor and leaned against the wall. Seeing as she had no clue what Crisis said, she improvised with what she heard.

“Well security should be pretty good if it’s protecting ancient texts.” She shrugged her shoulders and closed her eyes. If anything, her concentration increased. “And I’m not attacking you,” She nodded to the weapons. “Just defending. To be honest I don’t even know if I want to steal the book. I’m still thinking about it so we’ll see.” Mari guessed by this point Crisis would really be thinking she’s a lunatic or highly suspicious. She’d try to fix that. “Sorry about before. Usually when going into stealing things I prefer not to fight so I acted. And then I liked acting and got carried away. Like I usually do in Shadow Heart.” She sighed and reopened her eyes. “So anyways, let’s start fresh.” She grinned and tilted her head. “Hi! You can call me Anna, what should I call you?” So perhaps she was still kind of teasing the other girl. Still, conversation in the vault? Why not.

1852

[Crisis]

Crisis could almost see Anne’s train of thought as her expressions changed. She couldn’t read it per se, mind you, but for a moment she got the impression that maybe she was getting through to this girl after all. Was she really convincing a troubled youth to turn away from a life of crime before it was too late? It’d be a real feather in Crisis’ cowboy hat if it was. She could feel the pride welling up inside her already.

That pride almost immediately drained away as her weapons suddenly jerked upwards. The sword, Nightfall, and magnum, Crisis Eagle, were now above her head, but Crisis’ grip remained tight enough that her arms were now suspended above her head as well. Awkward as it was, Crisis was now in a position to gauge Anne’s magical power. It was easily two, maybe three times her own strength. Quite a feat for a girl her age, whatever that was.

A plan quickly formulated in Crisis’ head. Wrestling the guns from Anne’s telekinetic grip would take too much time for her to mount a counter-offensive with before the Shadow Heart girl’s next move. From this position, however, she could use them as leverage, pull herself up off the ground and deliver a kick to Anne’s sternum. Not one of her more powerful attacks, but it could break the girl’s concentration enough for Crisis to get her weapons back without much difficulty.

This course of action was quickly abandoned as Anne sat down. The girl was seemingly letting her guard down, both physically and emotionally with the small confessions she was making, but the increased force on her weapons told Crisis she was still very much in control. Probably not a good time to let her own guard down, but Crisis did feel the girl was being sincere.

“Cute name,” she said with a little smirk, though not as haughty the one she had one before. “The name’s Chryseis, but everyone calls me ‘Crisis.’ ‘Sissy,’ if you’re feeling cheeky.” Using her feet, she drug a nearby chair under her and sat on its back with her feet on the seat. “Acting, huh? Not a bad path to follow, probably more difficult than most. So… Is this just a part-time gig until you make it big or what?”

((386 words, 2860 total))

[Marianne Greire]

Mari matched her smirk and nodded her head. "Alright, Sissy it is!" She poked her tongue out and decided that even if the girl had been joking, her name was now officially Sissy in her head. Even without being told Mari guessed she would have ended up calling her Sissy anyways. It was an easy enough name to get to from Chryseis without being told. She watched the girl pull up a chair and she felt more at ease that she wasn't about to get suddenly jumped. She waited patiently to start up a conversation until she was don-oh. Sissy got there before. She giggled. She was probably going to giggle at even the thought of that name from now on.

"No. I'm actually in Shadow Heart although can't say I particularly enjoy being part of it anymore. It used to fun screwing with everybody but now, man they're too serious and that mood's been catching onto me." She responded to the girl's answer entirely honest. Honesty was refreshing and for a whole first part of the day spent on lying she was ready to invest in some of that good old honesty. She didn't think the girl would be a particular threat to her position anyways. She'd made it pretty clear she didn't like dark guilds and Shadow Heart. As long as she didn't spill that to anyone. But then again, people would be more like who's Anna? Instead of why Anna! That was because they knew her as Marianne. She mused for a moment before continuing to speak. "Although, acting is really a good path to follow. Even if it may be difficult compared to being a famous wizard. I'm probably going to do that once my gig with Shadow Heart is over. If things go as planned... well who knows, I may have joined the guildless ranks. I'll probably pursue acting more seriously although I'd still need to keep up my strength." Sabby and Pieter flashed into her mind as she shook it off, refocusing her gaze on Crisis. "You have any interests besides absolute butt kickery in vaults?" She hadn't forgotten to keep her hold on the weapons although she let her grip relax further. "Forgive me if I haven't let you have full control. I'm just a bit un-trusting as is."

2232

[Crisis]

“I don’t blame ya,” Crisis said. “I’d just aim the gun at you again. For kinda the same reasons, too.”

Crisis didn’t have an immediate answer for Anna’s question. Seemed like it had been a while since she did anything just because she liked doing it, and she felt disingenuous giving an answer she would’ve given so long ago. Lately, it seemed like all she did was shake down goons and look for Dark Guilds. Hardly any point to it anymore, really. It always turned out the same in the end.

“I’ve been into watching professional pankration lately,” she replied. It wasn’t a total lie, as she more or less had been tailing one of the more popular leagues on their tour as a sort of cover story. When the Magic Council had been hunting guildless mages, at least, but it helps to keep a low profile when a good portion of your dealings is unsavory. It helps that it’s something she actually likes, even if she feels a bit old to be enjoying their antics. “It’s a crazy and awesome spectacle. I don’t think I could fight the way they do, though, taking a serious pounding every week like that.”

Crisis glanced up at the seeming endless darkness between them and the vault’s ceiling. She wasn’t entirely certain why she hadn’t just yank her weapons out of Anna’s telekinetic grip yet. Holding her arms up like this was starting to wear them out. Still, she felt it was still possible a fight might break out and it was better to let her potential opponent have the illusion of control until she can capitalize on the deception.

“How does a girl like you get into a guild like that, anyway?” she asked, her attention on Anna again. “I was born into mine. My dad was the Guild Master, so I guess you could say it was the family business. I’ve known a lot of lowlifes in my time, but no one quite like you.”

((334 words, 3194 total))

[Marianne Greire]

((Hey hey hey, so in advance of reading, sorry about the abrupt ending... I'm trying to finish up as many of my threads as soon as possible so that's why))

Professional pankration huh? Never heard of that before. She suspected a half truth at the most. When did such a ridiculous thing called pankration existed? It probably did... still sounded doubtful. Mari kept her thoughts off her face though underneath an amused smile. From what Crisis said either she was making the whole thing up or it was a bit rough. She had no interest of finding out more. Pacifist right? Her smile increased when the girl told her she had met no one quite like her in a dark guild. She had yet to be certain whether the smile was genuine or dry.

"Oh trust me. Not everyone in a dark guild is a low life. I can name a few notable not that bad people in my guild. Sure some are selfish idiots but others... well others might have seen no better alternative in completing their goals. I probably fit into the latter category... although my 'goals' probably aren't what you may be thinking," She wasn't going to tell this girl her real reason. Unlike Tatsuma whom she suspected she may not see after he does his personal business/vendetta thing/whatever it was, she wasn't sure she trusted the girl. Also there was the matter that she wasn't feeling very open today. Talking about that she figured she probably shouldn't be wasting anymore time than necessary seeing as she had 'important tasks' she had to do. It was fun while it lasted. Mari sighed and got to her feet, still maintaining control over the girl's weapons. She felt the need to reassure the other of her non-attacking stand point on the matter of stealing books. In fact she decided she would not steal the book. So much for being caught up in the darkness of her brain. Maybe this conversation had helped. She didn't know. Anyways "While it has been nice talking and all, I'm probably going to go now, and no, I don't mean going to steal the book. I've given up on that. I have other classified stuff I'm not meant to be telling other people to do. Hope I meet you around someday," And with that, the petite girl left.

2232 + 364

-Exit-

[Crisis]

“Hey, good luck,” Crisis said as she watched the girl leave. She didn’t bring her arms back down until she was out of sight. Hopefully, when she saw her again she would be on the straight and narrow, and maybe Crisis would have to some good news, too. On the other hand, she was also a little disappointed. It was still hours until morning, and even though she could probably just walk out right now it would be irresponsible of her to leave early. Even though she seemed to have convinced Marianne to give up on stealing the book, it was still possible someone else could come to finish what she started.

Crisis holstered her weapons and sat down in the chair like a normal person. She looked up and around at the vault interior again, marvelling at the sheer number of dangerous books either held her to projected to need to be held here. She had to wonder why books this dangerous couldn’t simply be destroyed, but considering the levels of magic involve it might not be possible in some cases. This vault held some of the most destructive powers in all of Fiore. It wasn’t just a dark secret, a history hidden from prying eyes, but a representation of the violent, terrifying side of it’s people. It was like an animalistic rage buried deep within one’s soul, waiting to be unlocked when all Hell breaks loose. She looked down at her hands, thinking about her own vault.

She sighed and sat back, crossing her arms over her chest. “Man… I should’ve brought a book. Stuck in a library with all the time in the world, and I can’t read any of it. How’s that for irony?”

((288 words, 3482 total))

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