[center][h3][color=330033]Nightshade Sylphium[/color] and Jasmine[/h3]
A while ago[/center]
The arc of lightning slipped into a back alley, and a young woman stepped through a door in the alley, into a hotel. Lucius Milan stopped across and down the street from the alley. Had she already detected him, and made into an alley to lay a trap? Or was this where she was going? He was certain he'd followed her from far enough away, so it must have been the latter. Then he shouldn't approach further, or she would detect him. Hmm, perhaps he didn't think this all the way through?

Nearby, the man observed a certain reporter approaching the same alley. Hadn't he passed her a ways back? Had she followed them here? Before he could even decide whether he wanted to approach her or not, she had gotten too close to the inn he was watching. He hid himself where he could watch her, wondering if this would play to his advantage.



Jasmine could no longer catch the scent of lightning. She could only smell it because it was fresh in the first place, and now the wind had taken it away. She took a moment to familiarize herself with her surroundings. Standing next to an inn, and the alley behind the inn. There was a prop store across the way, and an office on the other side of the alley from the inn. A electric crackle caught her ear from down the alley, and the reporter palmed a magic taser in her pocket. Some salesman from some foreign magic guild she'd never heard of gave it to her. To just think of it as an advertisement campaign. When she went to test it on him, he jumped away reflexively, so she figured it would probably hurt whoever it hit.

The door to the back of the inn was still open. Well, she'd just have to take advantage of that, wouldn't she? The reporter stuck her head through the doorway to peek around, and see that no one would jump on her. Coast was clear, and she went in. She was careful to keep the door open behind her, just like it had been, before she proceeded into the building.

Jasmine heard a conversation continue from a nearby staircase, and she quickly positioned herself where she could listen better.

"You were right. Their story doesn't match," the voice of a young lady, just beginning to taste adulthood, spoke with a slight depression.

"It's alright. I don't know about those other two, but Kregor means well for you, at least. You can rely on that."An older woman's voice spoke, with a certain tenderness, trying to ease the troubles in the younger voice.

"And you?"

"While Ryan helps you blend in with the guild and keeps you safe until the right moment, I take care of everything else. And he'll do it whether I ask him to or not. I need you to make sure he's ready to see the right when the time comes. Can you do that for me?"

There was a moment's hesitation, before the youthful voice confirmed.

"There's a good lass. Run along now. They might have followed you."

They bade each other farewell and Jasmine hid herself nearby. Any normal person would have missed her, but Stephani stopped in front of Jasmine's hiding place. She stood there for just a moment before continuing outside. Jasmine breathed a sigh of relief and stood, waiting before she would leave.

Outside, Stephani lightninged away, and Jasmine stepped out of the alley shortly after. She'd come all this way, but come up rather short-handed. She managed to spy a guild mark on the girl that had walked past, but she didn't recognize it. She'd have to try sketching it up and see if she could find anyone that would know it. Though, it did look somehow familiar...

As she was walking the sidewalk, she bumped into a man wearing a toolbelt. She looked up from the tools and at the blond figure, wearing a pair of square half-frame glasses. "Oh, I'm sorry."

The man smiled, "Oh, that's alright. Say, you haven't seen my colleague, have you? A young lady with a woven metal scarf?"

"Woven metal scarf? I dunno about woven metal, but I think I saw a few people with scarves... can you be more specific?"

"A wizard? Her mark isn't plainly visible, though, aaah-"

"I might have seen it. Try me."

"Nightshade Sylphium."

"Never heard of 'em. Oh, that one?" The man had taken his glove off to show her his mark. It matched. "I saw it, yeah. It's not like I talked to her, though."

"Yeah, I saw that one. I didn't talk to her, though. Nightshade Sylphium?"

"Yeah." The man sighed. The woman wasn't going to be of any use, then? Fine. He'd have to check the roster at the Inn, then. Maybe there was a name he'd recognize. "Thank you for your time."

"Oh, ah. Yeah." She watched the man go for a moment before skittering along to the Arena. No doubt matches were going on.

[center][h3][color=9000f9]Trinity Stratos[/color][/h3][/center]
[@Silver Fox]
Trinity came back to her room in the hotel and, almost forgetting who the cat on her bed was, started tossing off her outer robes as she stepped through the room to the bathroom. She stopped, about to take off more, looking at Karn. She paused, considering him, and then approached in her underthings, petting his neck softly. "You're [i]like[/i] a girl... you can [i]transform[/i] into women. You turned into me, once. Apparently, you look prettier than I do... Hm, I wonder." She rubbed under Karn's chin, and then massaged his back. "Could you do girl-you? I dunno if that's a bad idea, though. You'd be the one to know that."