Chapter 21: A Roman Holiday

[Hilja Kukkanen/Sasha Pisarev]

This is the next thread for when the last one has 20 pages...

[Linnea Korpela]

When Kith asked if she was infatuated with Calithin, Linnea's faced turned deep red.
"No, I am not. I just think that he's interesting," it was a quick response so maybe Kith wouldn't read into so much, but the burning in her face was probably giving it away.
Many years ago she did have a very close friend, Garret, but like most of her friends he died. Being an angel, one tends to outlive the mortals, but she could never say that she was such. She missed him very much, and felt very lonely. Often she would day dream about finally having companionship again, but it wouldn't be the same without Garret.

[Fitzhugh Dubois/Arah]

TO: Charon

As Fitzhugh walked along the streets of London, he looked down at his alert call device as it rang.

"What is it," Arah asked, putting both hands on Fitzugh's shoulders and looking over one.

"We're about to find out, dumbass. I haven't even read it," the vampire responded as he wrestled to mall unit off his belt.

A university is under attack. We have copies of all the endangered books, but some of the books are originals and, therefore, of importance.

Groaning, Arah giggled a little when he saw the message.

"What's so damn funny about the loss of knowledge that it compels you to giggle and find it humorous?!" Fitzhugh lectured Arah.

"Nothing," Arah responded and looked at the ground, obviously feeling guilty.

"That's what I thought," Fitzhugh said, feeling no remorse for the demon.

Calling Charon after ordering some defensive units to the area, Fitzhugh waited for him to pick up. He needed to tell him what he was doing to help the matter.

[wyvernlord]

Having his men pack out, Tyler went ahead to the coordinates with some of his already-ready men and left the plane to find that the area was already under attack.

He didn't like defending knowledge. After all, one should defend violence; it was a language everyone understands.

[darian]

Darian was almost completely up the stairs when he heard the sprinting footsteps of both Armin and Kasper, flattening himself against the wall as much as he could so that they could pass without bumping into him. "Perfect..." Darian thought pleased with how things were going. If they were all upstairs, then there would be no way for them to escape! Unless they decided to jump out the windows he mused as he followed after Kasper and Armin. He then managed to avoid bumping into a pink blur, not sure what to call it as he continued on his way.

Following them to the others, Darian quickly closed the door behind him and switched his cloaking off as he pressed his pistol to the back of Kasper's head. "No one move or I paint the walls with his brains." Darian commanded, his voice as cold and mechanical as ever. He wished he could simply kill them all where they stood, it would have been so much easier that way, but he had his orders and he would try his best to furfill them. "Where the heck is Sidapa and Yasmin?" Darian silently wondered.

[††Venice "Cephrien" Ashgrove††]

Ceph is already walking up the stairs as he hears a commotion starting up.. He uses his Shadow Transportation to phase through a few walls once he reaches the top of the stairs. When he hears the voice of a man threatening to shoot someone, he is immediately able to pinpoint their location. Calmly and quietly, he moves in that direction and eventually phases through through the door where everyone is located.

There is a quiet click as Cephrien takes out his handgun and presses it to the back of the Manalist Assassin's head.

"-and then.." He continues.

"I will paint them with yours."

[darian]

Darian was about to usher another command to his prisoners, thinking that this would all be over momentarily when he heard a voice behind him, followed by the click of a gun before something was pressed against his head. So it seemed like the assassin had been surprised instead... how ironic. Darian made a mental not to add sensors to his suit so that he could detect people behind him; it was now obvious that his single mindedness would eventually lead to his death.

"You could have killed me already..." Darian began as he eased his pistol away from the back of Kasper's head. Going along with it for now as he figured that this must have been the demon Sidapa had mentioned, but Darian wasn't about to actually give up. "Big mistake..." Darian said and with a sudden blur of precise moment, Darian spun in reverse on his heels while ducking his upper torso forward at an angle that only a cortorntionist could copy. Aiming one well aimed back kick for Cephrien's gun hand, Darian intended on disarming him first before using the moment of his body to swing a high roundhouse kick for his head using his other foot.

If none of these connected, Darian thrusted forward with his knife, aiming between Cephrien's ribs for his heart. Raising his pistol, Darian aimed his Exitus pistol and was getting ready to fire or press it against Cephrien's forehead- whichever was forced first.

[††Venice "Cephrien" Ashgrove††]

Ceph hadn't pulled the trigger.. he was feeling rather soft today. No one needed to die today. Besides, if he were to kill him, that would only put him even more on the Manalists' shit list.. and that would only spell trouble for Red Infinty. That wouldn't be good, especially after he was advised to stay low. At the most, he would buy some time for the rebels to escape.

Unfortunately, Cephrien had lost some concentration when he saw that Darian appeared to be surrendering himself. After all, not much could be done with a gun to your head. In an instant, his handgun flew out of his hand and sailed across the room. Without wasting time to be impressed with the expert display, Ceph quickly ducked to narrowly avoid being floored by the roundhouse. From his crouching position, he threw his leg out and spun in a full circle in an attempt to kick Darian's ankles and possibly trip him up. Cephrien didn't expect this to connect. No, this man's reflexes were as sharp as a needle.. luckily, he had another gun in his coat. He reached in and armed himself with his submachine gun.

From his crouching position, he aimed it up at Darian just as Darian aimed his Exitus pistol at Ceph. There was a silence as a thin, asymmetrical smirk appeared on the demon's lips.

[darian]

Darian's knife had just barely missed it's mark as Cephrien ducked out of the way in time to avoid Darian's roundhouse kick. Righting himself to face the demon, Darian aimed his pistol directly at Cephrien's forehead and discovered that the demon had another weapon which was aimed at him. "Sub-machine gun..." Darian mused, not seeing many of those around these days; just another obsolete piece of weaponry these days.

What kept Darian from pulling the trigger right at that moment and not take advantage of Cephrien's lack of initiative? Perhaps there was a part of him that actually wanted a challenge? Maybe this demon would prove to be a challenge for all of his skills... whatever the reaosn, Darian didn't pull the trigger just then. "Very good... lets see you kill that which you don't see." Darian mused as his cloaking switched on, hiding him from the naked eye as he rolled to the side.

Springing back up to his feet, Darian fired once with his Exitus pistol, the gun making a deafening bang that only paled in comparison to his Exitus Rifle. Unfortunately, due to the power of the pistol, it did have some recoil. Recovering from the recoil, Darian did a backward handspring and threw his dagger for Cephrien's kneecap- he wasn't just accurate with firearms after all. With his optic-camo, Darian had a HUGE advantage so long as the demon didn't have any high tech goggles or anything; which he highly doubted as he moved as quickly as he was allowed without making to much noise.

[††Venice "Cephrien" Ashgrove††]

Ceph raised a brow as Darian disappeared.. cloaking technology..? Not unheard of, but it was definately uncommon. He simply used his eyes to follow the sound of the assassin rolling across the floor.. though that was as far as he was able to sense it. Cephrien couldn't see through cloaking technology.. and he was pretty sure that this man knew how to be quiet.. though with his strong senses, Ceph might be able to point his location if he concentrated hard enough.

"I saw you in action earlier~" He spoke about Darian's performance during the attack on SOTA.

Using his supernatural hearing, Ceph was able to pick up the faint sound of a gun-click. The bullet barely grazed his cheek as he tilted his head to the side and let the noisy projectile chip itself into the door behind him. Without being able to see his opponent, he would have a hard time shooting off his gun, especially when the rebels were still in here. When the attack went silent, Cephrien took this chance to put away his submachine gun and, instead, arm himself with his long, beautifully carved blade. When he unsheathed the sword, he held it out infront of him and silently bent his knees to shift into a stance..

The instant that the dagger went for his knee-cap, there was a loud clank! as it barely missed it's mark and collided with the flatside of his blade.

He decided that he wouldn't be able to do much if he just stood there, so he dashed forward and took a leap over one of the library desks, crouching down and using it for cover.

"You're noisy with those fancy weapons, y'know." Ceph spoke out to the invisible assassin.

"-So I wouldn't get too cocky with that cloaking technology of yours~"

[Calithin Crest]

"Oh, you know..."

I feel awkward. Just... Awkward. And I hate Kith. He's always doing this to me. I fiddle with the keys in my pocket and avoid eye contact.

"Kith just got upset that you were messing with Linnea and co. and wanted to get some powerful beings together to try and kill you. It's a very Kith thing to do. You know how self righteous he gets. I told him that probably wouldn't work out and... I guess he just decided to do what you asked him to do and let it all blow over. He's ridiculous. Personally, I have no real drive to kill you... Which is what I told him."

I clear my throat and sort of try to smile.

"I think... If anything is to be done with you it's... That you should be put in your own separate dimension with plenty of things to keep you entertained and out of trouble. You do make sort of a mess in this world. You're not the most clearly thinking individual ever. But... Personally, I don't really want to kill you I guess. Although you are a slacker and really essentially worthless to your company and... Destructive. I find it hard to... Well, that's not... Enough to kill someone. Enough to banish, yes, but death is no joke. If you would only be more reasonable and responsible, perhaps people might accept you more and you could save yourself much difficulty... In the way of people like Momo and Kith."

[Archer Aylmer]

I am surprised by this so much that Amelia's suggestion sort of distracts me from the main conversation.

"Is that right? I was not aware that sort of thing could be done. It sounds like it would be... A very expensive and complicated procedure though. But what an interesting idea... I will have to read up on it. Where can one get that done, exactly?"

I don't see why everyone doesn't opt for this transformation. Particularly the wealthy. It seems to me they would benefit very much from such action.

"I would make a very good machine."

[darian]

Darian was still on the move, still not completely sure of his prey's skill as he went after his knife. The small yet dangerous weapon dissappearing as Darian's hand clutched it. Following the sound of the voice, Darian simply took aim and fired a shot at where he suspected Ceph's body was. While his pistol couldn't completely pierce mecha armor, it was more then enough to pierce a simple desk as Darian heard the satisfying thwap as it punched a hole in something soft and hopefully important.

Darian was now by the door, hoping to catch any rebels who remained, his knife ready to find purchase in flesh. Darian had a feeling that Ceph wasn't down for the count and so was ready to attack or retaliate.

[~Ophelia Vespera~]

((To Horacio))

"Ophelia I know you're exhausted. Why don't you go back to my house and rest?"

Ophelia eyes were beginning to droop shut, she was almost ready to fall asleep standing. What a lame person she had become.. She couldn't survive even a day without sleep anymore. She didn't want to leave without helping, but what good was she in her state? She nodded to Linnea, said her good byes, and took her leave.
But she was not heading for Linnea's place. God help her if she could ever find Linnea's place again anyways.. As tuckered and as far away from home as she'd ever been, she figured she ought to head home before she forgot even where she lived.

It was back on the road to find a teleportbooth. The sun would be rising soon and she had to be in Rome to open shop. She never missed a day of work. Ever.
After wandering about the streets for a while, she finally found an old teleportbooth and transported herself to Rome. Upon getting out on the other side, she bumped straight into the back of Horacio, who was still standing stupified of where he'd ended up instead of Munich.

"Mi scusi, signore(I'm sorry, sir)...." she mumbled tiredly to him, yawning and rubbing her eyes. Horacio was a hard person not to recognize, but it did take her a moment half-dozed as she was.

"Oh! Signore Horacio.. I'm sorry.. What are you doing here?.. I thought you were on your way to Munich.."

[Kith Keitoleinen]

Kith continues working, but makes a note of Linnea's blushing. He grabs a broom and starts sweeping the hallway, since it is very dusty from the fallen parts of buildings. Repairs will likely be costly and take a while...but at least the building is essentially together.

"And you mentioned...a secret....is it...that you are a rebel?" He asks quietly. No one seems to be in their section of the hall so it seems okay to ask.