Chaper 14: The Blessed

[ronny]

"The main reason I can't be friends with you because you just insulted Master Scrag." Ronja slowly explain quietly.

"And besides, I made a deal with my mother before they took her away."

[Isvara Sharma]

Isvara chuckled a bit again. He looked over to Li and then to Jose.

"Well, we don't have to worry about having our ideas and technology stolen, right Jose?"

[Calithin Crest]

((To Ronja and Tristan))

I don't hear the boom from upstairs because I'm standing pretty close to the speakers by the stage, but then... If I did I probably wouldn't have investigated it anyway. Tonight has proved to be an intense exercise in my lack of consideration for the world around me.

Towards the end of the last song I begin looking around at the people around me. After deciding that I am the best dressed and coolest person here tonight, as per usual, I spot Ronja.

I notice that she's talking with that Tristan fella, but, that's kind of like not really talking to anyone at all so I don't care. I make my way through the crowd over to them and step right between Ronja and Tristan.

"Hey Ronja!"

I put one hand on her shoulder and give her a firm handshake with the other.

"It's me, Calithin. Remember? We broke into someone's garden one time? How have you been?"

[Mollie Marionette]

To Isvara and Jose

Mollie chuckles, and turns slightly as shes walking to grin at Lonnrot. At first, he seemed rather uninteresting, and even a little boring, but there was something about him that was positively endearing. She'd never had someone flat out admit that they were at a loss for what to talk about. She found the bluntness of it comical.

She shrugged. "It's quite alright, I'm sure we'll find something to talk about." She said. As she said this, Mollie wasn't paying attention to where she was walking, and she ran right into some unfortunate man (Isvara).

"Oh my! I'm so sorry, I should've been paying attention to where I was walking!" She exclaimed, embarrased. Her face was warm with the blush that was crawling across her cheeks.

"Are you okay?"

[Emmet Fawkes]

[ OCC: Ugh, long intro! ]

To H

A man wheezed beneath his smiling mask, straightening the black hair of the wig glued onto it. He was bent over the body of a guard who'd wandered stray from the others, probably out to take a piss. Muttering and murmuring how troublesome it was to get into this banquet, he was busying himself with stripping the guard and himself--switching his clothes neatly. Luckily, no one was in sight and they were sort of in a blind spot behind some strange part of the building. He could still hear the booming of the music inside. What fun! What fun it'd be. Once he pulled his pants on and buttoned his shirt, he examined himself with slight bemusement, turning this way and that.

"Good enough, buddy boy." Bishop said as he swooped down beside the body, prodding him harshly in the chest, clicking his tongue, "Bad taste in clothes though, kid, I'm almost embarrassed to wear them. Well, can't say I wish that you weren't here. They'd cast you out soon enough." He laughed curtly (more like a shrill, odd-sounding hee-hee-hee), folding his own clothes in a neat pile before dragging the body against the building, placing his clothes on top of him. The guards chest was mutilated with stab wounds. He'd already peeled off his gloves and shoved them in the man's mouth, pulling a pair of leather gloves from the lapel of his discarded shirt. Stretching his arms behind his head, he glanced around and smoothly slicked some of the black hair across his mask with the back of his hand.

Goodie goodie. Now, he could finally get in without being questioned. Well, coming in the Banquet wearing a mask was a bit conspicuous. A guard wearing a mask, no less. Following the sound of the music, he fixed the collar of his shirt, licked his lips and strolled through the gathered crowd. The poor kid who was talking to the lady looked like a sad puppy. He passed by a man stood firmly between a girl and boy, but only glanced at them as he passed. He was a man on a mission, or something like that.

Honestly, he was looking for Bonifaz, but he couldn't find him. It was etiquette to know things about Bonifaz in Null, but he'd never even seen his face. He just knew WHAT he might look like, he figured he'd bump into him eventually.

The masked man stepped past a few more people before slamming his hand down onto the stage, hoping to startle the woman (the one that seemed lost in the music). She was... distracting to say the least.
“Why, hello beautiful,” He oozed in his rasping, husky voice. He leaned both of his arms on the stage, looking at her. His voice dropped to a whisper. “I've got a question for you.”

[Tristan Tuzanic]

Tristan sees Calithin get buddy buddy with Ronja and he turns pale. His eyes grow large and sad, but he doesn't say anything. The sadness soon turns to anger...and the anger...turns to confusion?

Confusion!

He heard an explosion and his mind was distracted from his own feelings. "It sounds like there's some sort of explosion or something upstairs. We should check it out Ronja. It might be ..an enemy of the Manalists."

Normally Tristan wouldn't care, but it is a good excuse to steal Ronja away from Calithin, who seems to be pretty chummy with her. He doesn't understand why no one likes him. Well, Calithin will someday be taught a lesson. For the moment though, Tristan is vaguely concerned about the explosion and the potential for something terrible.

[Tuesday DeCastro]

Tuesday is startled by the sound of an explosion from above. She raises an eyebrow, and wonders if its the next entertainment, though she doubts it is.

She thinks for a moment, then decides to follow the noise, wondering where what caused it. She leaves the kitchen, and makes her way through the many partygoers toward where she'd thought the sound had come from.

She found herself upstairs, unsure of exactly where to look. Tuesday looked around, and felt stumped.

"Hello?"

[Anya Louteius]

Anya looked at the man in the purple suit and then was about to open her mouth, but couldn't because an explosion sounded and she jumped and looked toward the stairs. Smoke was coming down from them and she saw another girl go towards them she ran after the girl pushing people out of the way and once she was up the stairs she grabbed Tuesday's arm and looked her in the eye. "Something is about to happen. We have to get as many people as we can out of here, or many people are going to be hurt. Go and tell them. Hurry!" She walked ot the room where the explosion took place and started looking for an extinguisher. She found one and started to try to put out the fire, accidentally running into a piece of hot metal which burned her flesh, she jerked back and left the room after all the fire was put out and ran back down the stairs.

[Hilja Kukkanen/Sasha Pisarev]

"Hel..." I begin, at first not looking at the person. I turn around. "..lo.." I pause and shudder. "Hello...oh, hello." I say nervously. This person is even stranger than the last one. But, I can't be rude now. It's best not to judge. "Oh, you have a question for me. Okay...what is your question?" I ask eagerly and happily. Really, I am pretty nervous, especially since I just heard an explosion from inside of the building. But...what do I have to fear? I am around all sorts of people. Many of these people are strange. I think it has to do with being wealthy and powerful. (since the post said to H. I assume the character was talking to mine and not Anya's?)

[Jumala Keitoleinen]

To Tyler
Keitoleinen hears the explosion and decides to head inside to investigage. He is pretty certain that explosions are not part of the entertainment, although he did plan for a fireworks display later.

He heads inside the mansion to find that the spinkler system has activated and that the upstairs is smokey and drenched. He also finds that one of his favorite rooms...full of ancient Finnish artifacts has been demolished. He looks around to see if there are any weapons or artifacts that can be salvaged from the ruin.

He examines the damage and isn't sure what to think. This is the first time anyone has destroyed anything of his. He feels a little confused about this. He scratches his head, sending his long fingers though his white hair. He examines other upstairs rooms, sloshing across a thouroughly soaked carpet. It seems that most of the damage was to that one particular room. Maybe Anya was upset about the chocolates incident and decided to have a little revenge.

No, it doesn't seem like her style.

He wonders if he has any other enemies.

Feeling rather confused, he uses his cell phone to call Tyler Bargin, who is in charge of security for the party.

"Hello Tyler. It seems there is a little problem. There was some sort of explosion in one of my favorite rooms. I will not alert the guests yet, since I don't want to ruin their fun, but, I want you to investigage. Check everyone's invitations and have anyone with a questionable invitiation thrown into Manalist prison until they can be investigated." Keitoleinen orders.

[Tuesday DeCastro]

Tuesday jumps as somone grabs her arm. She looks at the girl for a moment. "Something bad...?" She uttered, before the girl had walked toward another room.

"Wait! What? What's going on?"

And then the woman had ripped open another door, and Tuesday coughed as smoke billowed out of the open door. When she looked back up, the fire was extinguished and the woman was running back down the stairs.

Tuesday was bewildered. Should she make her way back down the stairs? What was going on? With a sigh, Tuesday followed the girl back down the stairs, and caught up to her.

"Could you kindly explain whats going on?"

[Bonifaz Artz-Lehrer]

Bonifaz was about to leave when he heard the explosion from upstairs in the mansion. The guests ranged from concerned to indifferent. He watched some people ascend the stairs and report of the unknown cause of the explosion. Things were starting to get interesting.

However, he also heard Keitoleinen mention something on a cell phone about Manalist prison for anyone without a proper invite. Bonifaz...wasn't exactly friends with the Manalists and only came on behalf of his father's company...a company that was not in good standing with the Economic Council. He debated if he should go...for his own safety reasons.

Despite some concerns about how the party might go from here, he remained, but decided that he would find some place...a little more hidden now. So, he wandered through the mansion looking for a place where he might go unnoticed. He decided to try to listen in on things from the pantry, which was near enough to the kitchen and living area to at least be able to over hear some of the coversations. There was also a small window to look out at the concert. It wasn't exactly a hiding spot, but, at least kept him away from most of the party goers.

[Anya Louteius]

Anya turned to Tuesday and gripped her shoulders. "A man. He is blowing things up and he will bring this place to the ground. Its a man in a purple suit. He's dangerous. We have to warn these people!" She shoved Tuesday toward the stage. "Go and tell them. We need to get them out of here!" She really didn't want to see anyone die.

[Dinari Dollar]

To Peter, Tuvi, and Cris Frost
Dinari was upstairs using the bathroom when the explosion happened. He was freaked out and immediately thought that it was the result of terrorism...even if there hadn't been a terrorist attack..in longer than anyone could remember.

Dinari finished his business in the bathroom and decided he better make some calls to Peter and Tuvi. He left messages for both of them.

Hey, this is Dinari. I'm at the Banquet of the Blessed. There was an explosion. I think you guys better come here and protect me and check it out.

Of course, Tuvi was there earlier, but he somehow lost track of her.

He decided the best possible thing he could do until he waited for them was find someone he knew was very strong. So, he began searching the mansion for Cris Frost. Since Cris was the only Black guy at the party..and pretty big and strong..it didn't take Dinari long to find him.

He wandered right up to Cris and started jabbering.

"Hey Cris, how's it going? Did you hear that explosion. We should hang out!" Dinari suggests

[Jack O. Trades]

Perfect. His true face on he ran his tongue lazily across his teeth smiling at his own reflection. Pressing himself to the wall next to the door he opened it a crack to peek through it, seeing multiple people go up the stairs. Good, the fun was starting. The toys he had set off were not the biggest, those were for the finally. Grinning savagely again he immediately noticed someone he thought was the tearful girl from before. Without pausing to confirm this he opened the door for a split second bringing the woman inside, absently wondering if the person the girl was shoving would notice.

As he placed his arms wrapped around the woman, who now he realized was the intended person. At first glance one would see the embrace as almost loving. It was far from it, a hand placed across her neck as if to caress the skin of a lover hid a knife pressed to her neck. He spoke softly to her ear, gently and soothingly speaking "Stay still. Not gonna hurt you but can't have ya talk. You gave me a hand earlier, so now I'm gonna return the favor." Easing his hand away slowly his finger tips still to her neck but the blade not pressed "Someone made you cry.....I can help you." Reaching with his free hand into a pocket he raised his hand in front of her eyes holding up a small black box the size of a sugar cube "This is for you, attach it to the speakers and Ill do the rest. Its you're choice whether you do it or not, regardless best be leaving soon"

As he finished speaking he pressed her back outside the room slinking from the room behind her whispering "Good luck..." And with that he walked swiftly sliding into another room locking the door behind him. The next step was up to her. Oh well, if she didn't obey he could improvise In his head he continued the count before mumbling "fifty three....fifty four....aand fifty five"Raising his hand he pressed his switch once more and three more rooms on the second floor burst into flames, the explosion strong enough the door to two of them cracked into splinters while the third left a plume of flame bursting through a window.