[u][b]Midnight Sun[/b][/u] [color=tan]“Who the hell are they?”[/color] Keith muttered as he looked at the man yelling at them as they approached the ship [color=thistle]“More of those friends you said I should get to know.”[/color] AJ said sarcastically as he hinted back to their earlier conversation before moving their conversation telepathically. [color=thistle]'The female looks familiar. I believe we shared a few classes together during my stay at Innocence but then again I don't keep track who all were my classmates back then. I think her name is Mia or May or something like that but this is the first time I came across the male. I would have remembered an idiot such as him'[/color] A slight smirk crept on AJ's face as he watched the young Chrono start to pull the ship down into the water. The brat might be annoying but seeing what she could accomplish he knew she rightfully held that position and if she were going to take down the bloodlines, that worked wonderfully for him. [color=tan]'You better not be enjoying that too much. You are watching our mission sink and wouldn't that tarnish the record you are trying to keep in order?'[/color] Raising his eyebrows, Keith gave a glance towards his partner as he watched the Chrono and her partner start to work out a deal to stop her actions. [color=thistle]'So?'[/color] [color=tan]'There are people on the ship. You might have something against your own family but what about the rest of them? Do you not care if they die too?'[/color] [color=thistle]'People die every day. Does it really matter if it's today by the hands of the Chrono or later on due to a messy war between the bloodlines?'[/color] There was a slight shrug from AJ as he and Keith made their way onto the ship. [color=tan]'Do they really deserve it? Do the children and others deserve a death such as this? Crushed and drowned when it wasn't even their fault but a person of our own initiating this. Where's the justice in that?'[/color] The two made their way towards the far side of the room and between AJ's distaste towards the bloodlines and Keith not knowing any of them, the two stuck together and watched everyone mingling. [color=thistle]'At least it would be less messy this way. For once I would be able to keep my clothing clean during a mission with the lack of blood splattering everywhere or other contaminates.' [/color]AJ chimed in as he glared towards Dante. The man hasn't looked towards him yet but AJ knew that his presence would have been known. [color=thistle]'Politically too if you are worried about this whole justice thing.'[/color] AJ scoffed and rolled his eyes. [color=tan]'Just keep your distaste towards the Bloodlines between us. Things are already going to be tense between the Asylums and the Bloodlines and we don't want to add your bitchiness to make things worse.' [/color] [color=thistle]'I'm here to do my job. As long as they know their place we won't have an issue but you better not have any issues using force if it comes down to it. Even the children shouldn't be trusted when it comes to bloodlines. They are not like normal brats so you better not go soft on them like you did with that one brat four months ago'[/color] [color=tan]'Are you still trying to bring that up? Seriously, you need to le-'[/color] Before Keith could finish his remark the notice of the bomb present was sent out and giving a slight nod towards his partner, the two headed out. [color=thistle]'Understood.'[/color] AJ said to the others [color=tan]'We will head to the top deck to search for one. Keep us updated on anything you learn from these bombs.'[/color] Keith added. [color=tan]“It's go time.”[/color] There was a bit of excitement in Keith's voice as they worked their way towards the door. [color=thistle]'Shut up. We don't want to attract anyone's attention'.[/color] [color=tan]'If they have any sort of ability to observe outside their self centered little bubbles I think that might be too late.'[/color] Keith mentioned with a shrug as the two walked down a hallway towards the stairs. [color=thistle]'Hmm?'[/color] [color=tan]'When I was on the force you wouldn't send most of your security out just to make rounds during some sort of charity event or gatherings of the people of wealth or power. There is power in numbers and just our presence would keep many situations contained. Unless there was a situation brewing I doubt this would change in a situation where we are babysitting the bloodlines even if the two that are staying is a Chrono and her partner. Sure, those two might keep the bloodlines distracted if the bloodlines don't keep each other busy but I'm quite certain that our absence will be noted by at least a few.'[/color] [color=thistle]'Well let's hope the feuds are messy enough that they will stay occupied until things are settled.'[/color] [u][b] Apate and Dolos[/b][/u] "Nope nope, he ain't stealing my soul", Dolos thought as his face lay buried in his palms. In the world of rogues the Asylums were the subject of many tales of varying interpretation, some thought them emissaries of justice where as others considered them demonic entities. Often alchemists would grow up with Asylums being the boogyman of their childhood, for Dolos this was a little literal. The Queen Anne heir had strongly convinced himself that Asylums were actually soul devouring monsters disguised as humans. "Dolos." Apate said in a hushed whisper, the voice coming from behind her brother. The sound of concern, if not fear was present in Apate voice which was unusual for the girl. "I told you not to look at him, my dear sister your soul...your poor soul!" Dolos replied, his voice muffled by the trembling palms that covered his face still. "You maybe suffering endlessly, but I swear I will uphold the duties of the Patriarch well once our father meets his demise!" Dolos continued on, his fingers splitting so that he may take a peek at what fate decreed for his sister. "Are you sure?" The face of Angel met the boy's gaze he peeked out. A malicious smirk crept onto the face as he lowered his spectacles to reveal the man's eyes. Not only was the iris matching the color of his vest, the sclera and pupil were blood red as he started deeply at the boy. As the smirk grew wider it was obvious that his teeth were not human teeth but something meant for more harm given the jagged features. "How will you become the next Patriarch if this is your last voyage out on the waters?" “What the mother fu-“ With that fragmented sentence, Dolos found himself losing his sense of balance and tumbling down. To say he was merely surprised by Angel’s sudden appearance would be an understatement, Dolos found himself in a state of panic. His own eyes slowly widened as he watched the Lost Number lower his silver spectacles revealing a set of crimson irises. [i]“Shit… too late!”[/i] The boy thought, his reflexes betraying him and in a haphazard attempt to lift his arms to protect him from Angel’s soul devouring gaze, he found himself tipping backwards and crashing head first onto the floor. It would only be after a few minutes that the heir would regain consciousness. “Wooow. Such a brave guy.” Angel said sarcastically with a chuckle, his voice slowly growing higher in pitch as the seconds ticked by. “And here I thought you might have a chance at being the next Patriarch if something were to happen to me brother dearest.” The figure said as it crouched down towards Dolos. It didn't take long before the illusion Apate set up for her brother started to dissipate and the girl was back to her former appearance. “You make this too easy." The girl mumbled as she searched his pockets for anything easy to steal and settled on a few smoke bombs and a knife he had and pocketed it for herself. As she did so she could hear annoying voice of Antonia off in the distance mentioning her and her brother's name "Oh great, the brat is heading back." Apate sighed as she gave her brother a shake. "Quit your snoozing brother dearest. We have some company approaching." "I won't go down without a fight!" Dolos suddenly screamed, awakened from a nightmarish slumber, his palms stretched forward towards the direction of Apate and the children. In mere seconds a sudden burst of air pressure appeared to form and shoot out towards the lot, dousing them in steam and shredding parts of their clothing. "Where am I, what is going on, why do you all look like that?" Dolos barraged them with questions as his eyes darted about for any signs of imminent danger. Amusingly however what irked the boy even more was the state of their dressing, particularly his sisters'. "Have ye no shame sister, there are better ways to attract the males," the boy admonished Apate while nursing the bruise on his head "Are you sure? I've heard that males are more visu-" Apate started to say before remembering her new audience. Although the children of the other bloodlines were fun to pester, teaching the young kids about unholy acts and thoughts especially with one of the Palladinos present had the potential of repercussions of having annoying mothers hounding down on them. "Don't act like it was my fault brother dearest. You are the one who thought he was attacking imaginary monsters and blasted us instead." "This was your doing wasn't it," Dolos accused his sister as he gently massaged his forehead before continuing her scolding. "Aren't you supposed to be next in line, maybe focus on being responsible rather than playing pranks on your brother, especially when he was so worried about having your soul devoured by a monster." Despite his words, his tone revealed disappointment at the realization that his sister's soul was not being shredded and tortured for all eternity. [i]Back to second place[/i] the boy thought as he snapped his fingers at the loss of an ideal opportunity. "Now what fun would it be if I was a boring stiff like one of them?" Apate snickered as she gestured towards the patriarchs and other adults. "Do you want me to act more like boring old Irene? Sometimes it's a wonder that I'm actually the same age as the royal babysitter." She continued as she took a glance towards Antonia to gauge her reaction. Although Apate knew that the young girl was the mischievous one out of the bunch, she could see that her loyalties were not affected as Antonia almost blurted out a defense for her sister but held off at the last moment. It was a shame. She was hoping that the young Palladino could be a way to gain some control over the family or cause a bit of mischief within the family. Maybe with a bit more work and influence with the girl she could accomplish that. "I don't think you could last even a day with me if I was a bore." "Aye, you have a point there dear sister. You would be quite the bore if you weren't the occasional nuisance." Dolos nodded as he agreed with his sister, a grin on his face as he watched her discreetly irk the Pallidinios. In fact it is their mischievous nature that gained the Queen Anne siblings their notorious fame, despite being teenagers the kids have caused more than a couple of problems for other Bloodlines. "Sister have you noticed we are missing a few of our esteemed Asylum friends?" The boy suddenly inquired as his eyes scanned the room for discrepancy, his curiosity being peeked at observing certain Asylums discreetly disappearing. "Why don't we follow those two?" Dolos whispered as he gestured towards the Asylums, AJ and Keith. "Hmm, that is quite interesting. I wonder what sort of fun they are trying to hide from us all." Apate said, nodding in agreement to her brother's plan. "It looks like your friends are coming to join you kiddo. It might be best if you stay here." Apate said giving a slight nod towards the two young Kains making their way towards them. Ruffling the young girl's hair as she passed Antonia, Apate left the girl to follow the two Asylums before she could make an objection. "I wonder what they are up to brother dearest." "I suppose we will just have to find out," Dolos replied as a fiendish grin spread across his face. From observing the general direction of their movement it seemed the Asylums were planning to go to the upper deck. "I suggest we beat them there, hide and wait to see what they are up to." The brother spoke, scheming as he and his sister began to take an alternate route. [u][b]Midnight Sun[/b][/u] [color=thistle]'Are you certain that this is where we should look?'[/color] AJ sighed as they continued searching the upper deck. [color=thistle]'We've already looked at half this deck and we've found nothing.'[/color] They were wasting time. He wasn't sure how long they had until the bomb would go off and instead of using this time to defuse it they were busy wasting time looking in the wrong area. [color=tan]“Just a bit more.”[/color] Keith said as the two made their way towards the miniature golf course. [color=tan]'If you were more cautious and didn't let Poe get destroyed during our last mission the search would have gone more smoothly.' “But no, you had to be an idiot and now it's stuck with Cams until he fixes it.”[/color] The man scoffed aloud as he searched around and in the decorations as AJ continued down the course. That was one thing that bothered Keith. Although they were able to get their work done in the end, the cohesion he had back on the force with is old partner was missing with AJ. He and his partner were closer connected and were more in sync even without the telepathic link. Dan wouldn't have questioned his judgement as AJ continually has done. [color=thistle]"Oh, so it's now my fault."[/color] AJ mumbled, turning back long enough to glare at his partner before he continued his search. [color=thistle]'If you followed the plan as we discussed there would be no need for me to intervene but instead you decide to do whatever the hell you feel like doing which led us to the mess in the first place.'[/color] [color=tan]"But my plan worked, didn't it? I wasn't running blindly without an idea brewing in my head. You got that AJ?"[/color] Turning around towards his partner, the younger man was out of sight and he was about to call out for him before he noticed that man was crouched down besides one of the decorations next to the 18th hole. [color=thistle]"We found it."[/color] AJ said as he sat up and looked at Keith. The tensions between the two immediately dissipated as both focused on that bomb. Although bickering was common between the two, neither allowed their disagreements get in the way of their work which was something AJ was glad about. He was a pain to deal with and AJ would have much preferred being an unlinked that working with this man as he planned and was preparing for during his time at Innocence but at least he got the job done. [color=thistle]"Did you pull up any information up about it on the TASER?"[/color] [color=tan]"Working on it."[/color] Keith said as he worked on searching AMRO's database. Bombs were neither one's forte but at least they had a resource to depend on. [color=thistle]"Can we move it? Let's not waste any time and just get it off the ship."[/color] AJ muttered as he took a glance around them. He thought he heard someone off in the distance but when he looked there was nothing to be seen. [color=thistle]'We might have company so we need to get this figured out ASAP.'[/color] [color=tan]"I'm not sure what sort of sensors and shit this thing is hooked up to. If we move it, it might go off but the whole bomb is encased to keep it protected from the elements so the wiring that we need to access is going to be a pain. If we try to open it and it's pressurized..."[/color] [color=thistle]"Boom."[/color] AJ said as he looked towards his partner. [color=tan]"Unfortunately."[/color] Keith said as he closed up the pen and shoved it back into a pocket. 'Covering it and moving it off the ship might be the best option.' With a nod of agreement from his partner, Keith used the sand that was part of the golf course to encase the bomb. [color=tan]"Part one down."[/color] Keith muttered as he slowly lifted the bomb, making sure to keep it leveled. [color=thistle]"Okay, it's high enough to get over the railing. All you need to do now is move it straight off." [/color]AJ said guiding his partner. As the direction changed a small tick was heard and Keith stopped moving the bomb. [color=thistle]"Keith, did you hear tha-"[/color] Before AJ could get the chance to get a barrier up the bomb went off. Sand covered the two of them and a gaseous substance engulfed them. [color=tan]"Shit."[/color] Keith yelled out in frustration as he turned around and looked at his partner.