[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/LjFjyMp.png[/img][/center] [center][img]http://i.imgur.com/A0ETWbS.png[/img][/center] [sub]banner credit to [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/users/hellis]Hellis[/url][/sub] [hr] [b]Time: Evening of the Heist Location: Shroud Syndicate Safe House - Las Vegas, Nevada[/b] The safe house Silence had taken them to was quiet. Lonesome, save for one man painstakingly caring for its secrecy. The only real option for any Shroud Syndicate members still in the city, those who hadn’t been chased out by the Barron’s gang. The Ambassador hardly managed a word to Levi, the caretaker an unassuming man in his forties, while Silence had arranged for his departure. She trudged to the bathroom in one of the guest bedrooms, disappearing for an hour to presumably clean up. Leaving Bach with vague orders to set up some warding protection spells. To her benefit Levi asked her no questions. Claiming he had seen stranger. Odette showered, cleaned her wounds, changed into some spare clothing she had. Discovering some bruising around her ribs from the golem’s grip. The gash along her wrist from the vampire was ugly as ever, she wrapped some bandages around it securing it with a little tape. Exhaustion showed it’s signs throughout her body from bags under her eyes, the slump in her shoulders and perpetual frown. Gently towelling her hair she walked out of the bathroom barefoot to find Mandate sitting at the foot of the queen sized bed. Mandate’s great bulk managed a fairly impressive curl, her legs pulled inwards and her back hunched forward as she focused inwards. In truth, she had been distant since their departure from the warehouse, her visage unreadable in its simple ‘frown’ and her emotions only broadcasted in the slump of her shoulders. The safehouse was a distant awareness, less real than the buzzing in her not-flesh, her pure form. Was it a memory, or an incessant sensation? The only nerve her body knew was the ephemeral flesh of the once-living, tucked away deeply and separate from the material world, from her mercurial form. And yet… And yet. And yet it still buzzed. Raising a silvery hand to her chest, Mandate clenched her gift from Miss Ambassador all the tighter, the necklace which had veiled her true form on the streets of Paris. And suddenly, noise. Lifting her head, the golem focused upon the approaching form of her… Sponsor? Her dear friend. She didn’t look very okay. Shifting the ache-that-was-not away as a secondary concern, Mandate stood. [color=LightPink]”Hello, Miss Ambassador. Are you okay?”[/color] Her tone was soft and inquisitive. Some of the chipper flutters had returned with the arrival of Miss Ambassador. She sincerely doubted that the human was feeling very okay, though. It didn’t seem likely, with her fragile flesh having been damaged in altercations that the golem had not been present for. The failure to protect stung. Odette stared up at Mandate, the concern clear for her. Odette’s own worries had been proven correct. Mandate had been attacked by the golemancer, he had managed to get past her armour performing who knows what kind of magic to actually hurt her. The noise she had made was chilling, a sound she’d never heard Mandate make before. Odette wanted to know what was going on past the mercury, wanted to [i]understand[/i]. The moment stretched before she answered, “[color=thistle]I need to rest, we had…[/color]” Odette pursed her lips, “[color=thistle]A unique evening, you and I. Please sit, my dear.[/color]” Odette trudged to the bed pulling the neatly made bed open, scooping up the comforter and a few pillows in her arms. There was precious few things she could not ask of Mandate, but prying into a freshly painful experience would be too much. The golem did not need to say a word to show how the evening had affected her. Genuinely all she wanted to do was to rest, if she could not provide comfort for herself then perhaps for at least Mandate. Sit? Mandate supposed she could do that. It was a simple request to follow for Miss Ambassador. Slowly, the golem lowered herself back into her seated position, but did not hunch inwards as she had earlier. Her cyclopean gaze was focused upon the soft, freshly-cleaned human in the room with her. She could feel her ‘lips’ shifting as she observed her companion, her characteristic ‘smile’ returning to its rightful place somewhat hesitantly. Impossible, to express that junction between weariness and delight she rested within. It was a limitation of her form that she did not care for; human beings, fragile though they were, had such [i]mobile[/i] faces. [color=LightPink]”I did not expect the man to be… Painful.”[/color] The golem left it at that, for the moment, and focused elsewhere. [color=LightPink]”Yes, it was very unique. Humans need rest after things like that, Miss Ambassador.”[/color] Odette flopped the couple of pillows onto Mandate’s lap then opened up the blanket laying it over the pillows. Without a word she stepped into the somewhat softened area, with a little adjustment for her back and her legs. Odette rested her forehead against the cool surface of Mandate, leaning against her. A soft exhale she said, “[color=thistle]I wish I had known what kind of mage he was. I would not have let him near you otherwise. For that, I am sorry Mandate. We may have been successful in what we set out to do today but… I feel-[/color]” She paused squeezing the bridge of her nose, the migraine muddling her english translation. “[color=thistle]Responsible for you.[/color]” “[color=thistle]Please I hope you can forgive me of my mistake.[/color]” Mandate would have stiffened, if she could do such a thing, as her companion made contact once more. The pleasant sensation was offset by the topic of conversation, and the golem found herself uncertain of the moment. [i]Forgiveness?[/i] The soft sliding noise of Mandate’s mane was the clearest sign of her anxious thoughts, her ‘smile’ wavering once more. The imprint of a foreign presence was like a scolding hand pressed into her heart, her existence. And it was not Miss Ambassador’s hand, was it? [color=LightPink]”Miss Ambassador…”[/color] The harmonic noise of Mandate’s voice hesitated as her mind picked at her words. [color=LightPink]”I think that I am glad for this. Not for the pain, but the…”[/color] A pause. [color=LightPink]”The lesson? I know I can hurt. I didn’t think I ever would again. But I have, and I will.”[/color] [i]Once bitten, twice shy?[/i] An apt echo of memory. With exposure came experience, and she would not soon forget the ache. It was a humbling lesson in her own paradoxical vulnerability. Mandate curled forward somewhat. Slowly, her arms curled, but did not converge around the human entirely. [color=LightPink]”I’ll be more ready for it next time, Miss Ambassador, and I won’t make you think you have to apologize again. You didn’t fail me. I think I failed you.”[/color] Odette tipped her head up, gazing at the singular crimson orb of Mandate’s ‘eye’. She was on the edge of disappearing into herself, Odette had seen it before whenever she asked about her origins. She shifted a little adjusting to Mandate. “[color=thistle]Next time, we will both do better. Tonight, you and I will be okay. I will be here with you.[/color]” [i]I will be here with you.[/i] Mandate’s mane settled, and her mind shifted in its place. It was a lovely thought. When the golem smiled once more, it felt realer within her myriad thoughts. [color=LightPink]”Thank you, Miss Ambassador.”[/color] --- [b]Time: The Next Day - Morning Location: Las Vegas City Centre, Nevada[/b] The morning sun blazed through the smog cover of the city, at this time of morning the Las Vegas strip was filled with traffic. Locals, to be sure, trying to get to work. Over the span of a singular night one would have had trouble comparing an exhausted Odette to the revitalized Ambassador. A smile poised, her straw hat shading her from the harsh summer sun, a completely different person. A solid night sleep and full texan breakfast was a simple recipe to getting The Ambassador to bounce back in full force. Thoughts of the previous day were pushed away with a new task to focus on, finding Gwyneth’s Sight somewhere here in the city. The Ambassador thought herself to be rather skilled at location spells, very little could elude her for long. Finding a magically imbued object (regardless of knowing what it looked like) wouldn’t be difficult. She had asked around to some of the local Fey to help, having to introduce herself several times over. The local Fey were largely ignorant of ruling powers in Europe. Kelpies hanging about in coin fountains, lost bogle’s far away from their fields, some goblins, and oddly a large population of changelings roamed the streets. Many mentioned the strong presence of witches in Las Vegas, grew cagey when pressed for more information about them. The Ambassador found it odd, perhaps the local Fey and witch covens had an understanding against outsiders. Regardless of their stature. Unfortunately none of them knew of Gwyneth nor her lost items. The Ambassador led the way to a quiet spot off the main drag, along the alley beside a casino Bach and Mandate coming up behind her. “[color=thistle]You were right about the witch presence, Bach. Your instincts are a little sharper on that front than mine.[/color]” “[color=darkseagreen]Naturally, My Lady. I still feel as though it’s not just a coven but a singular entity that I am noticing. I could very well be wrong.[/color]” Bach shrugged, his hands slipping into his pants pockets. “[color=darkseagreen]Rarely are my instincts incorrect though.[/color]” Odette nodded, “[color=thistle]Let’s start.[/color]” Removing a clear fluorite crystal pendulum to focus her magic. When the spell began it glowed a soft blue, it swung westward while in her mind’s eye gave her a clear picture, the address suddenly known. So she did. The first location spell whisked them away into the west side of town to Sun City. By taxi, a large mini van able to accommodate Mandate’s size and weight. They stopped short and waved the taxi away before approaching it. Along a suburban street the spell pinpointed them to a mailbox at the end of large home, manicured lawn looking a little brown. Odette pried it open to find a local grocery store coupon flyer that was expired. “[color=thistle]This can’t be right.[/color]” She muttered stuffing it back into the box and patting along the ground not feeling any sort of magical resonance. Bach patted down the ground where Odette was. “[color=darkseagreen]Try again. There might of some interference…?[/color]” He suggested. Mandate, clad in her disguising necklace and thus not appearing as her usual towering self, poked and prodded curiously at the mailbox. She had no magical expertise to offer herself, but perhaps there was some visual clue? Peering curiously at the home to which the mailbox belonged, Mandate found herself wondering if ‘turn it on and off again’ was an adequate solution for magical scrying errors. That thought track lead to different ideas, though. Tilting her head, Mandate’s illusory eyes focused on Miss Ambassador. [color=LightPink]”Can witches interfere with magical spying and stuff, Miss Ambassador? Maybe someone doesn’t want you finding anything.”[/color] The golem shrugged, as if to convey her lack of true understanding of magic. It made sense to her, though; if there was something of value to be found that belonged to someone, then that someone would probably want to protect it. Odette conceded, rather reluctantly “[color=thistle]Gwyneth is an old and apparently powerful witch according to the Oracle we spoke to in [i]Ville d’Ys[/i]. A stronger location spell will be prudent.[/color]” She led them away to a secluded area, behind a children’s park plastic slide. Their footsteps making audible crunching noises across the pebbly gravel. Light glowed behind even the thick plastic of the slide, this time the location spell was stronger making the pendulum crystal glow a deeper blue. A new location and new address in mind Odette piled them into another taxi sending them to the Shark Reef Aquarium on the south end of the city. The trio arrived in the parking lot, paying for admission to enter the building. Discreetly following the pull of the pendulum. Walking through the tunnelled aquariums, where they were surrounded on both sides by the exhibits. The shark tank alive with it’s main attractions. Odette hardly paid a moment of attention to her surroundings focusing on the location spell, the visual of the spot firmly in her mind. Mandate, by contrast, found herself almost utterly invested in the surrounding sights. With half of her eye on Miss Ambassador, metaphorically speaking, she pressed herself up against the glass of the shark tank, a gentle noise of wonder leaving her. The creatures inside -sharks- reminded her somewhat of some of what she had spotted within Ville d’Ys. Strange aquatic beings with dark eyes that seemed as unblinking as her own. It was a beautiful, majestic sight. They moved elegantly through their tank, the water proving no barrier to the creatures born within it. So many possibilities and questions! She stifled a certain pressing urge. [Color=LightPink]”I want to tear you open.”[/color] she whispered against the glass, before pulling back with a giggle when she was given no response. [color=LightPink]”I hope everywhere we go is as beautiful as this!”[/color] she called to the Ambassador. Odette paused at an intersection noticing Mandate lagging behind, keenly pressing her face up against the glass watching the marine life. Her focus split on the pendulum, letting a warm smile grow genuinely. Bach folded his arms watching her walk back to the golem, his expression unreadable. Her eyes swept up, her hand splaying across the glass standing next to Mandate. Even in her human disguise, the mercury golem towered above her. “[color=thistle]I hope for that too, Mandate. Places like this remind me of the Arcane Stream. I wish you could feel it as I do. [i]Rempli de vie.[/i] It fills me with life.[/color]” A curious hum escaped the golem as she turned her attention fully towards the Ambassador once more. Listening to her speak of the ‘Arcane Stream’, it did sound rather… Magical. Giggling softly at her own internal joke, the golem spoke once more. [color=LightPink]”I wish I could feel it too, Miss Ambassador. It sounds wonderful.”[/color] Her voice was soft, the strangely harmonious tones suppressed by the disguise into something more human. Life. Was she filled with life already, perhaps? What did the Ambassador mean? What did being herself feel like, she wondered. Reaching up to scratch at her chest once more, the golem dismissed her thoughts for when she was alone. [color=LightPink]”Please, don’t let me distract you, Miss Ambassador. I’ll keep up!”[/color] She paused, then continued. [color=LightPink]“I just… Wonder what they’re like inside.”[/color] And what it felt like to be them, to a certain degree, but that was an unanswerable question and so she ignored it, usually. Odette nodded, curbing Mandate’s curiosity wasn’t really her intention but they did have somewhere to be. Her expression fell back to neutral once again, instinctively. Bringing up the pendulum, she led them once more through the aquarium. The pendulum and location spell led them outside along the pathway to the glass pyramid. The pendulum pulled up pointing directly to the tip top of the pyramid. Tourists filed around them as they stood off to the side of the pathway leading away from the aquarium towards the massive structure. “[color=thistle]It’s pointing up there. You two wait here while I investigate. Should only take a moment.[/color]” She made short work of an illusion spell for herself, to an onlooker she appeared as a seagull about to take flight. Odette pulled her broomstick from her purse, taking off to fly. Ascending the pyramid in minutes the light of the sun reflecting off the surface, intensifying the heat from the already scorching day, the brush of air was welcome. Landing deftly on the small maintenance platform at the top. She searched each corner finally finding what the location spell was locked onto. From below, if Bach and Mandate had squinted enough or perhaps had a good pair of sunglasses they could see the small figure that was Odette at the top, then see a suspiciously small speck of a something launched off to only tumble down the side of the pyramid. Bach guessed correctly it wasn’t what they had been searching for. He brought himself and Mandate to where he guessed the offending object had landed to find an abandoned bird’s nest, a rather large one to have survived, mostly intact, down the pyramid. Shortly thereafter Odette joined them. “[color=thistle][i]Next.[/i][/color]” She hissed. Mandate stared down at the bird’s nest for a few long moments, contemplating the hiss in Miss Ambassador’s voice. Reaching out with a gentle hum, the golem gave her companion a small pat on the shoulder, which included her rather large hand essentially engulfing the human’s shoulder in the process. The consolation was silent, and accompanied by a bright smile that was ruined by the dead eyes of her illusory human form. It was a shame that the Ambassador was having such a difficult time of things; certainly, the golem found it frustrating by proxy, but the adventure itself was full of intriguing sights that she had to restrain herself from breaking, such as the pyramid itself. Perhaps one day, she’d be allowed to topple it? … [color=LightPink]”Miss Ambassador, are birds magical?”[/color] She felt it was a fair question. Odette took a deep breath in through her nose, held it for a few seconds then exhaled. “[color=thistle]Not today. Let’s try again.[/color]” This time, [i]this time[/i] had to be the one location spell that led them to the item. If it didn’t well, there was no telling how The Ambassador would react. Short travel time later that brought them back into the heart of the city, back where they had originally started their day. The sun was setting casting the city in a lovely orange and pink glow, a sunset Odette would usually take time to appreciate. However, their search took them to an alleyway parallel to a stripclub. The thrumming beat of the music audible. They passed a few homeless men and women going about their day to day, casting a strange looks as the trio strode past them. Invisible to them were brownie fairies among them along with the odd goblin. Tourists often had largely ignored them. The location spell finally took them behind the club, where employee parking lot was filled with cars. Her eyes cast up to where the pendulum was finally pointing, pulling straight. A broken plastic bachelorette crown sat on top of a dumpster. A stray cat was batting it around, the pendulum followed it. [color=LightPink]”Ooh, pretty.”[/color] Odette’s fist clenched around the pendulum, frustration colouring her cheeks. Bach stifled a laugh behind his hand refusing to look at his partner. “[color=thistle]Mandate.[/color]” Odette managed, sweetly. “[color=thistle]Could you do a favour for me?[/color]” Perking up at the call of her name, Mandate nodded happily in Miss Ambassador’s direction. [color=LightPink]”Absolutely!”[/color] Odette pointed to the dumpster, “[color=thistle]Crumple the dumpster. I want it flat as a crêpe.[/color]” Blinking, the golem turned to look at the dumpster once more. Slowly, a bright smile overtook her illusory self’s face. For lack of a better word, she seemed to vibrate in place. [color=LightPink]”Absolutely, Miss Ambassador!”[/color] At least she was having a nice day. Lifting the dumpster was easy. Somewhat foul looking from up close, but remarkably easy. Finding the proper place to slam, crush, and flatten it was somewhat harder. Necessity, it is often said, is the mother of invention. Mandate wasn’t certain this was entirely necessary, but it [i]was[/i] necessary to [i]her[/i] and Miss Ambassador. That was really the only necessity that mattered, right? After a quick moment of vibrating in place and throwing her head about in search of something, the golem all but pranced her way into the employee parking lot- or she would have, were it not for her awkward gait compensating for the dumpster’s shape. So in a way, it was more of a stumbling dance. [i]There![/i] A target was sighted, and Mandate zeroed in on her victim. Standing before the hood of a decent-looking little car, the golem paused to turn her head towards Miss Ambassador, ever so slightly tilted. [color=LightPink]”It’s going to be loud!”[/color] she stage-whispered. The Ambassador considered the vehicle for a second, Bach shrugged at Odette. He grinned like the mischievous imp he was. “[color=thistle]I’m sure they have insurance. Do it, Mandate.[/color]” The sorceress watched eagerly. With her gleeful ‘smile’ plastered firmly on her face, Mandate locked in on the car once more. Her feet shifted, her heels pushing down and slightly through the hard ground as she shifted the dumpster’s weight fully over herself. With a gleeful cry, it was brought crashing down upon the car. The spray of debris as Mandate’s strength and the dumpster’s weight crumpled the front of the car was matched only by the spray of garbage, thankfully not in the golem’s direction, and the loud crashing of metal rending metal. The ground cracked even further beneath the golem’s feet as she compensated for the slam, and then once more when her fists raised up and cemented the destruction with a final slam. It was more through the sheer force of her strength and blind luck than anything else that she was not overly dirtied. The car, on the other hand, was unrecognizable. Gleefully giggling and humming, Mandate scampered back towards the alley, her fists making sharp ‘gongs’ against her own skin as she slapped away dust and debris. [color=LightPink]”How was that, Miss Ambassador?”[/color] Her voice, in contrast to her pleasantly large smile, was eager and expectant. When the dust cleared Odette’s smile grew wide at the destruction. Bach laughed along with Mandate, giggling in between ‘I can’t believe she actually did it’ and ‘what a mess!’ She let out a long sigh of relief seeing the mess, her mood improved significantly. “[color=thistle]Perfect, Mandate. I feel [i]much[/i] better now.[/color]” “[color=thistle]We should leave before someone catches us.[/color]” Odette beckoned away to exit the alleyway to the street over. [color=LightPink]”I can just flatten them too!”[/color] Mandate helpfully suggested as she followed after her companions. It was mostly a token suggestion; she was far too pleased with herself and her ability to flatten in that moment “[color=thistle]I’m sure you can, my dear. I’m sure you can.[/color]” Odette agreed, pleasantly bobbing her head. Unknowingly, above them in the sky dark smokey forms followed the trio. By the time the pair of witches were upon them only Bach was the one to notice, not nearly enough time to warn. Nothing would have prepared The Ambassador nor her companions a meeting with the Goddess, the patron of witchcraft, Hekate.