[center][img]http://orig13.deviantart.net/d421/f/2012/354/1/f/aap___the_harpy_by_evelar-d5ons3i.jpg[/img][/center][center][h3][i][color=#BD0606][b]Đ[/b][/color] [color=#FFFFFF]r[/color][color=#D4D4D4]i[/color][color=#AAAAAA]s[/color][color=#7F7F7F]r[/color][color=#555555]e[/color][color=#000000]a[/color]  [color=#BD0606][b]ℳ[/b][/color] [color=#FFFFFF]a[/color][color=#CCCCCC]e[/color][color=#999999]t[/color][color=#666666]e[/color][color=#000000]l[/color][/i][color=333333]. . . . . . . . . . . . . .[/color][sup][center][color=333333]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .[/color][color=#000000][i][b]ᴘ ᴇ ʀ ι ᴄ ᴜ ʟ ᴏ[/b][/i][/color][/center][/sup][/h3][sup][sup][sup][sup][img]https://drfhlmcehrc34.cloudfront.net/cache/7a/2e/7a2eca87d796d9fd03a702d75817da61.png[/img][/sup][/sup][/sup][/sup][/center][hr]
The sound of doors being pushed roughly open could be heard down the hall from Maria's cell. It was an odd sound, a light clack, clack of what might have been metal or high heels on the stone floors. However it was more distinct, perhaps reminiscent of a dog's claws against tile or wood floor.

It was however, not a woman in heels or a canine creature. No, it was a licentia, and more specifically a harpy. As the guards led her down the hall, she spoke, her voice sensual as she practically hummed with amusement and what might have been pleasure, the guards coughing or telling her to be quiet every once and awhile.

[color=#BD0606][b]“You [i]know[/i] I didn't do anything wrong,”[/b][/color] the feminine voice said, the guards seeming to ignore it. [color=#BD0606][b]“We could have had so much more fun, instead of all this. Of course, perhaps you'd prefer me tied up and at your mercy, mmm?”[/b][/color] The Harpy said, her words followed by several coughs. Maria couldn't see it, but the Harpy smiled, her neck curving down and between the shoulders of the two guards in front of her. The glanced at her, then at each other, clearly unsettled by her inhuman appearance. [color=#BD0606][b]“No? You'd prefer something less exotic? Too bad boys. So unadventurous and boring,”[/b][/color] she commented. One of them elbowed her in the stomach, eliciting a light grunt. It served to keep her quiet for exactly no time at all. [color=#BD0606][b]“Well isn't that rude, though I admit I like things a bit more [i]rough[/i] than one of your human women,”[/b][/color] she giggled, the sound of her voice, and the footsteps of the guards drawing closer to Maria's cell.

After another moment of banter, if you could call the licentia talking [i]at[/i] the guards banter, Maria would hear a door across from her open, a harsh shove and squeal, before the door was slammed shut again. The licentia cooed out, her neck allowing her to slip her head between the bars of the door, [color=#BD0606][b]“Come back soon boys or I'll get lonely~”[/b][/color]

One of them yelled [i][u]“Shut up already monster!”[/u][/i] back at her, and the result was a high pitched laugh, that led into a shriek that was more than a little harsh on the ears before the harpy pulled her head back into her little room and gazed between the bars at the room across from her.

There would be a long time of silence following the guard's exit, which was punctuated by the slam of another set of doors and then a mechanical buzzing noise as the automatic locks kicked in and the security systems reset. After a minute or so had passed, the harpy's clawed appendages came up and grasped at the barred 'window' of her cell, before she stuck her head through again and looked to see if she had any other neighbors.

She didn't.

Disappointed, the harpy glanced across from her and changed her angle to reveal what appeared to be a human female. A smile came across her lips. [color=#BD0606][b]“What's your name, mmm? Mine's Drisrea.”[/b][/color] She called across the hall, her words aimed at the girl. She was a curious and sociable creature, if not very respectful of people's personal space, a concept that she didn't entirely understand. Hopefully the girl wouldn't keep quiet, otherwise her time here—however brief—would be quite dull...and Drisrea [i]hated[/i] dull.

It was why she did what she did after all. That and the freedom to harass and upset hundreds, feed at her leisure, and free hundreds of poor imprisoned fools, regardless of race.

Oh how she loved her job, not to mention the classy fellow who had given it to her. Hopefully he wouldn't be stingy this time and they'd get to meet up. After all, she was [i]craving[/i] some attention, and it was hard for her to get others to give it to her. Perhaps the girl would at least distract her from that craving.

For a time.[hr][center][img]http://i60.tinypic.com/21buez7.jpg[/img][/center][center][h3][i][color=#0489C2][b]Ｓ[/b][/color] [color=#00001A]z a y e i s[/color][/i][color=333333]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .[/color][sup][center][color=333333]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .[/color][color=000000][i][b]ᴍ ᴀ s ᴛ ᴇ ʀ  ᴏ ғ  ᴛ ʜ ᴇ  ɢ ᴀ ᴍ ᴇ[/b][/i][/color][/center][/sup][/h3][sup][sup][sup][sup][img]https://drfhlmcehrc34.cloudfront.net/cache/7a/2e/7a2eca87d796d9fd03a702d75817da61.png[/img][/sup][/sup][/sup][/sup][/center][center][sup][color=#00001A][b]"Which will it be, your pride...or your life?"[/b][/color]
[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptXZCsVyEkU]Theme I[/url] [color=#0489C2]♦[/color] [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyWn5RcLA7c]Theme II[/url][/sup][/center][hr]
Blue-green eyes stared out onto the relative darkness of the city streets as he walked from rooftop to rooftop, shifting through shadows, not missing a step in the least. Obstacles meant nothing to him as rooftop radiators and even walls phased through his incorporeal form or he stepped through a shadow to circumvent them. Of course, all that was second nature, inconsequential. His focus was somewhere else.

His focus lay on the plan. The grand scheme and all the steps involved in it. To him each footfall was another step taken in a grander scheme. Each glance a calculated look to take in information, understand his surroundings, to understand the city, to understand the lay of the land. It was all to know where he fought, so he could know among who he would dwell and how they could be pushed so the dominoes fell...one by one.

He chuckled lightly to himself as he materialized a silver lighter from the shadows of his form, giving it functionality with a bit of magic, before he extracted a cigarette from his pocket and lit it up, drawing in a deep pull of the smoke and holding it a moment before pushing it out, the feel of the smoke oddly pleasant as it rolled and sifted through his false lungs, the essence of the material moving through his body as it was absorbed into his blood and sent throughout to the rest of his organs. His smile remained as he gazed up into the night sky a moment, letting the moment take him.

For a time he let his mind drift, the world falling away, his plans escaping him, his thoughts falling to pieces as he enjoyed the heavy feeling of smoke in his body, and the lightheadedness it brought to his brain. He chuckled, the sound deep and sonorous as it escaped his lips and met the night air. It was all an illusion, a fabrication. Every part of him, the organs, the skin, the flesh, hair, eyelashes. Every [i]cell[/i], every blood vessel, was a construct crafted from his vis, from his anima.

It [i]was[/i], it existed, but it was not [i]real[/i] none of it was vital in the same way it was for a human or a prae....

A scowl crossed his face and he turned and spat on the ground at the mere thought of the deluded creatures. [color=#00001A][b]“Disgusting,”[/b][/color]  he commented, looking down into an alley where a homeless man lay in his own filth and squalor. Yet, it was not the human that disgusted him, nor the filth. It wasn't even the prae as a species. It was how they behaved and [i]what they had done[/i]. His eyes narrowed, momentarily losing their humanity as his entire body began emitting wisps of jet black smoke as if a fire burned just beneath the surface of his flesh. Then he a took a deep breath, the smoke receded, he became solid once more, and a smile spread across his face, a small glance at the moon making it widen, a hint of genuine happiness in his eyes for a moment before he resumed his stroll across the rooftops of Ominar.

The thought of his dear sister always helped in moments like these. Thoughts of her...and the delicious web of deceit, destruction, and revenge he was weaving for the prae.

Having grown tired of his cigarette, the nightwalker took it from his mouth, looking at it as he walked, his vis flowing into every molecule that made it up. He glanced at its shadow, and suddenly an idea struck him, his eyes shifting to the nearest shadow before he took a step onto it, his entire body folding and becoming incorporeal smoke, before it was gone entirely.

Moments later he emerged on the other side of the city, a cell phone in hand, the number already dialed. He took he began to move his hand from the device, but instead it duplicated, leaving one arm to hold the phone, while a new one was freed for other activities.

He thought nothing of it. It was normal, after all.

Taking the cigarette into his new hand he began weaving patterns over it with his left arm. While he did so, the phone rang, and eventually someone picked up.

[i][u]“Hello? Who is thi--”[/u][/i] the voice began, but the nightwalker had no time for pleasantries.

He interrupted him, [color=#00001A][b]“Light. Spider. Twenty three. Jaywalker. Support. Flame. Wraith Five,”[/b][/color] he said, before falling silent. For a whole ten seconds there was no response, before the call abruptly ended. The nightwalker smiled slightly, waiting a whole minute, still weaving a spell into the cigarette while he did so, before his phone rang and he immediately picked up.

[i][u]“What is it Szayeis? You know it's dangerous to call me.”[/u][/i]

Laughing, his tone casual and entirely unbothered, Szayeis replied. [color=#00001A][b]“Of course it's dangerous, Haesari, but [i]living[/i] is dangerous, especially when you're me.”[/b][/color] The prae on the other end made a noise, and from it Szayeis knew he had frowned.

[color=#00001A][b]“Don't worry, I called for a reason. I need to know what preparations our favorite little Exeo is making for my arrival. Would you care to tell me, [I]little one[/i].”[/b][/color] There was an audible swallow on the other end. Szayeis smirked.

[i][u]“Of course. Um, so far she has put the hunters on high alert, as well as spread some information through the ranks of her private forces, and her agents positioned in police departments that you'll be arriving.”[/u][/i]

Szayeis scoffed, his steps taking him closer to a [i]certain[/i] store as he replied, [color=#00001A][b]“Yes, and she still breaths. All of these things are common sense for me. This is nothing new. Now, little one, please tell me what she's done that was, mmm...let's call it [i]unexpected[/i].”[/b][/color] There was a moment of silence, [color=#00001A][b]“Well?”[/b][/color]

[i][u]“Um.... Well, earlier today she.... She asked me to contact the Broker.”[/u][/i]

The nightwalker's eyes gleamed and a manic look entered his gaze, his lips parting slightly, widening his smile further. [color=#00001A][b]“Oh did she now, and what did she want him to do for her? Do tell.”[/b][/color]

[i][u]“She...she wanted him to retrieve a certain human magi. A professor at the Institute. I believe his name was Dranai Llamant.”[/u][/i]

[color=#00001A][b]“Interesting.”[/b][/color]

[i][u]“He's a world class illusionist.”[/u][/i]

[color=#00001A][b]“[i]Wonderful[/i].”[/b][/color]

[i][u]“Wh-what?”[/u][/i]

[color=#00001A][b]“Well, I had wondered if this would be any [i]fun[/i] Haesari. What with my talents and overwhelming mastery of the hearts and minds of others. Well, I thought that perhaps there would be no [i]game[/i]. No interplay between enemy forces, no [i]dance[/i], but instead just a droll play by play. Monotonous, dull...[i]boring[/i].”[/b][/color]

[i][u]“I...I don't. You [i]wanted[/i] this to be hard?”[/u][/i]

Szayeis chuckled in response as he finished his spellwork, the duplicated arm dissolving into particles of wispy vis before being pulled back into him and vanishing. [color=#00001A][b]“No. I wanted a [i]challenge[/i] and it seems that maybe, [i]just maybe[/i] our little Exeo may be up for a bit of a...mmm, party~. Regardless, it doesn't concern you.”[/b][/color]

[i][u]“But what if she--....”[/u][/i]

[color=#00001A][b]“She won't.”[/b][/color]

[i][u]“But...”[/u][/i] he stammered nervously.

[color=#00001A][b]“She won't. [i]Trust me[/i]. Now, little one, go home and sleep.”[/b][/color]

[i][u]“A-alright.”[/u][/i]

[color=#00001A][b]“Goodbye Haesari. Shadow six,”[/b][/color] he finished, and with that the prae went silent and then hung up. Chuckling to himself, the nightwalker turned his eyes to the street below him before briefly closing them, his awareness shifting before his perception opened up, revealing countless streets and countless buildings and people throughout the city. Ah how he loved the night.

After taking a moment to orient himself, he noted the street signs nearby, before opening his eyes and ending the vision. He didn't need those senses just yet, he had gotten what he wanted.

Glancing down the street he found a building taller than the rest and traversed the shadows to find himself atop it, where he perched, standing at the edge of the roof, looking down at a building he knew to be a quaint little shop called [i]the Twilight Spirit.[/i] He smiled, dialed a number on his phone, and then pocketed it, waiting.

It appeared the meeting was yet to begin and so his first act could not proceed, but when things were well in motion...he would act, and the result would be...[i]explosive[/i].

When that time came, he would relish it, for it would mean something wonderful. It would mean the true [i]beginning[/i] of the end for his foe. It would mean the end for the prae, but as their reign fell to shambles, he would build his upon it.

When he was done, the prae would speak his name in whispers and the world would tremble at his feet.