Irie raised a brow at Corvus’ words before he shook his head. “I was just thinking that you must feel quite lonely to live here all alone,” he corrected, sighing and keeping the map. “I’m going to go in a bit. Do you know where I would be able to find a place to eat?” He asked, tapping his own arm gently. His mind was, at that time, more focused on finding the woman named Aphus than anything else. He wanted to know for himself why this woman was wanted so badly by the so-called Constellations.
Corvus stared at the man in silence, again for a moment, before nodding. “In the town, there’s a small tavern where you’ll find a fox. She’s probably going to be more help to you than I am. Order the ‘Mind Breaker’ at the bar, they’ll assume you’re looking for drugs but that’s your only way of getting to her.”
The man nodded slowly before he tilted his head. “I-I’m just looking for food,” he chuckled softly before he sighed. “I guess I’ll get going then. I’ll see you some time at night,” he said before he went towards the door, pulling his mask up and going out, closing the door on his way out. He then went to where his horse was, getting on as he started riding it towards town.
Entering the area, he got off the horse and started to pull the animal along instead. He found himself trying to look for the tavern Corvus told him about, eventually finding the place he had assumed to be the one. His horse stayed outside as he entered the tavern. He trusted Corvus, at least on finding the fox part, and had went to the bar to order the ‘Mind Breaker’ like the man had told him to. He didn’t exactly know what that would do but if it was the only way to get to whoever this fox was, he assumed it was best he did it.
( @SwimwithGamers_is_married_to_Iris_now please don’t forget about this >~<)
After a moment of hesitation, the barman beckoned Irie over to a full length mirror on the wall. Pulling it back revealed that there was a dimly lit passageway behind it.
“Be careful.” The barman whispered. “She can hear you.”
The man nodded slightly to the barman’s words before he started walking down the pathway. He kept silent, only the soft sounds of his own footsteps were heard.
’Definitely reminds me of Theo’s house…’ he thought as he made his way deeper down the passageway. By then, he was expecting to meet whatever, or whoever, this fox was.
In a dark room at the end of the passageway, a wide grin was illuminated by a single candle. It wasn’t a pleasant grin as much as it was somewhat malicious, and as the door opened the grin continued to be the brightest thing in the room.
The soft thump of something could be heard against the floor, but nothing appeared to be there. The only thing visible next to that grim grin, was a pair of unnaturally yellow eyes. “Irie Crowley… Well this certainly is a treat.”
The man stared back towards the eyes. Pulling his mask down revealed his naturally confident smile. “You’ve heard of me, huh? Well that’s nice, no need for excessive introductions then,” he then looked around the room, seemingly on edge. “Are you the fox I have been told to find?”
“Close the door.” The voice spoke harshly, echoing down the silent hallway that Irie had emerged from. “You’re letting all the sound in. Before asking questions please refer to the poster on the back of the door.”
On the poster in question, a handful of things were listed:
1. I hear all.
7. Please try to be as quiet as possible.
2. Do not ask questions unrelated to why you arrived.
5. Whispering is tedious.
3. What and who I am is none of your concern.
4. Yes, I can hear you reading this in your head.
The man blinked before he turned to close the door. As he did, he read the poster and upon seeing the weirdly arranged numbers, he sighed. ’172534…’ he tried to lock the number in his head, in case it was to be brought up at some point. He then turned back to the pair of eyes, breathing in quietly before he started to speak, repeating what he had said earlier, only now emphasizing on the sentence of— “How do you know me?”
The voice fell silent as the illuminated smile softened, before eventually it spoke again. “Point number one: I can hear you. Every memory you have, every voice you’ve heard, every person you’ve met; I hear them.”
The soft sound of shuffling could be heard as the owner of the voice moved closer towards Irie, the clinking of chains following soon after. The candle flame flickered for a brief moment before the face of the voice became clear to Irie. Those yellow eyes darted all over him. “Irie Crowley, a Phantom… Your father is a powerful man, that’s good to know. I say that as if it’s even possible for me to enter the Judgement Plains.”
The man nodded slowly as he listened to the other speak. He smiled softly before he sighed. He then tried to think of something to ask this individual who he had no name to call by. “I assume you know Corvus, the one who sent me here,” he tilted his head slightly. “What are you to him, if I can ask?”
“I don’t believe that’s any of your concern.” The voice tutted before sighing. “But I suppose I’ll humour you. Corvus and I have been acquainted for many years, but I wouldn’t necessarily call the two of us friends. He’s misogynistic and rude, violent, and gives me rape-y vibes. I tolerate him to keep the peace.”
The candle flickered again as it was starting to burn down, and eventually the individual resorted to blowing it out. The room was plunged into complete darkness and the sound of footsteps and chains rattled around the space. Everything fell silent for a moment, before a match was struck and a lantern flickered into life overhead. Now, the entire room was clear.
To the left was a small kitchen area with a little table, and to the right sat a simple straw bed. In the centre of it all stood a beautiful woman with dark tanned skin and long white hair that was streaked with wildfire red. She wore simple pale robes that hugged her figure, her shoulders and the top of her chest laying bare while her feet were completely covered. From underneath the robes, chains could be seen leading out, and the same chains appeared to coil around the entire room.
Irie had turned around to look around the room, his eyes widening slightly when he saw just how many chains there were. He blinked a bit before he turned to the figure with a small grin. “I see you have quite the place. I have to say, the decoration is really… something,” he sighed softly before he grinned at the individual. “What are you doing down here all alone, if I could ask?”
“It’s somewhat quiet down here,” she responded with the gentle shake of her head. “I only hear my own thoughts when I’m alone.”
Carefully stepping over the chains, the woman sashayed over to the kitchen area and poured herself and Irie a glass of water. The robes moved apart just enough for her shoeless ankle to be exposed, the shackle around it clinking against the ground.
She sat herself back down and held one of the glasses towards him, clearing her throat. “Sagittarius has requested your help in finding Aphus, and you are not sure where to start.”
The man nodded to both her words and in thanks to the glass of water that he didn’t sip out of immediately. He sighed softly and massaged his temples. “I was told to find her, not to kill her and to try and bring her to Sagittarius’ side… whichever side that may be. That’s a request I’ve never had in my whole life as a mercenary,” he shook his head slightly. “Do you have any advice I might find useful?” He had taken a mental note of the woman’s clothes and where her chains were, having the feeling that she was being kept down here rather than her actually wanting to be down here.
“I’m glad to have been at least one of those people.” Lacerta grinned, his ponytail bouncing as he half-skipped beside Ruby. “As for the work situation, I understand,” he lowered his voice to a whisper and leaned closer to her ear. “Since Cephus became dictator, life in Esnah has never been the same. But it is not wise to talk about such things here in the open.”
As they arrived at the tavern—The Bull’s Eye—Lacerta held the door open and gestured for Ruby to enter first. “Milady.”
(Ack– thank you)
"No, it's not," Ruby agreed, nodding some as Lacerta whispered in her ear, sighing. It seemed to be something she did often, then.
"Thank you, my kind sir," Ruby said, stepping through the door and partially to the side to wait for Lacerta to come through.
“Aphus hasn’t been seen for many years, and it all started when Cephus took control of Esnah.” The woman took a sip of her water and set it down beside her before leaning back against the wall. “Once upon a time, Esnah was ruled by eight individuals; Aquarius, Taurus, Aries, Leo, Libra, Scorpio and Gemini. Each monarch had their kingdoms, and each kingdom lived in harmony with one another. Cephus came from nowhere, invading the kingdoms who were effectively defenceless. So many died. Animalia was torn up and had cities built upon the land, Ocean was split in two and those who tried to escape the half that Cephus had claimed were slaughtered. The tyrant made a spectacle of banishing or executing anyone who opposed him, and there was nothing we could do about it.” She stopped for moment, clamping her eyes shut as if a terrible headache were stabbing her mind, but then she continued talking. “We went into hiding, knowing that nothing good would come of challenging Cephus when so many innocent lives had been lost already. If he finds us, we are captured.”
—————————
After entering, Lacerta closed the door and turned to Ruby with a grin. “Welcome to the Bull’s eye!”
Thick beams and pillars supported the elevated ceiling of the rustic tavern, with polished wood tables and benches filling the space, and empty oil lanterns dangling from the ceiling as they waited for night to fall. At this time of day, only a handful of customers were seen having a bite to eat and a few drinks, all of them at various ends of the room, while a singular woman sat at the bar. Her strawberry blonde hair was braided up from her neck into a bun on the crown of her head, and the simple jade dress she wore covered from her arms to her ankles. She didn’t turn when the two had entered, but she smiled softly as of knowing exactly who was there.
Lacerta gestured for Ruby to follow him to the bar, standing a little ways way from the seated woman. “What would you like to drink? This place does a mean Cherry Surprise, if you’re interested.”
Ruby nodded some as Lacerta spoke, looking around the tavern. She didn't take much note of the other people present, and what little she did was just making note of where people were. He followed Lacerta to the bar, nodding.
"I think that sounds good to me," she said. "I'm always interested in trying the recommended drinks of a place."
The man nodded to her story before he sighed softly. “Something tells me I won’t necessarily like this Cephus dude. By that I mean I’d probably really hate him,” he said with a gentle shake of his head as he finally took a sip of the water he was given. “Tell me, more about Aphus… who she is and all that,”
With a firm nod, Lacerta craned his head around, calling for an individual by the name of Tori.
From a door at the back came a tall, voluptuous woman with mouse brown hair that just about touched her shoulders. She wore a tight blue jacket that was cropped around the stomach, each movement causing the fabric to tighten around her toned biceps, with a plain white tunic and simple black cotton trousers— all of which seemed to fit a little tightly on her. The ring in her septum caused her breath to whistle slightly, and each piercing in her ear looked like they had been freshly crafted and polished. “Hey kiddo,” she smiled, glancing at Ruby. “I see you have a friend with you?”
————————————
The woman sat in silence for a moment as she took another few sips of her drink. Even as she set the glass down again, she didn’t speak. A few minutes passed with only the lantern flickering to be heard, until eventually she let out a soft sigh. “Aphus… Queen and Sorceress of medicines. She’s a charming woman who doesn’t hesitate to defend what she believes. She is on her own team. Once a woman who was beloved by all, now she is merely a memory to those who will soon be too old to remember her. She was driven into hiding after Cephus banned the use of sorcery in Esnah, but rumour has it she will visit the temples to bestow medicines upon the monks and give them the recipes to make them so the suspicion of using sorcery is avoided.”
’Temple and monks… Got it,’ he thought as he continued sipping from his glass. “What would be your opinion if I were to go to the temple and wait for her there, outside of the temple?” He asked with a slight tilt of his head.
Hot. Tall woman hot. Ruby blinked a few times, offering a smile when she was glanced at. She was here with Lacerta, she wasn't going to jump ship so soon. She'd have that drink, and a fun time with her day, too. She didn't say a word, turning with her smile to the one she'd came in with.
“I’d say that’s very creepy.” Vulpeca spoke without hesitation, giving the mercenary a disapproving stare. “You’re free to do as you wish, of course, but as a woman that’s actually very creepy and I don’t think she would be inclined to listen to you if she knew you were going out of your way to wait for her.” She sighed softly and shook her head before adding. “You also don’t know where each temple is, do you?”
————————————
“This is Ruby,” Lacerta smiled at Tori while gesturing to the woman beside him. “I met her all of ten minutes ago and already I know she’s going to be great company.”
“Your judgement in people is never usually wrong my dear,” Tori nodded as a warm smile grew on her lips. “So what can I get you both?”
Lacerta ordered a ‘Cherry Surprise’ and a ‘Party Cake’, and as Tori set to work making them, he gestured for Ruby to sit at the bar with him. “So,” he turned to her with a polite smile. “Tell me more about yourself, I’d love to know where you come from.”
Irie shook his head. “Unfortunately, I don’t. I’ve got a map from Corvus but other than that I’ve got nothing. I know of this place by its name, but no… I don’t know much more about this… Esnah place,” he said with a soft sigh, gently shaking his head. “Would you be able to tell me those who are on my side? The Constellations or people who reside on same side as I, could you list them?” He asked, now getting out his map to start planning his moves. Knowing that his target was a moving one and that she was likely not to stay in one place, he had to start moving, at least faster than her. A place he knew would be relatively good start was to begin by the shores and make his way in. Despite that, he wanted to do so. Judging from the structural drawing, there seemed to be cliffs and rocky structures by the ocean. Perhaps he could start there, though traveling will be one hell of a ride. As he waited for Vulpeca’s answer, he started tracing his route with the ink and quill he had
