[hider=Walk(ed)about]
After concluding her studies, Chuunitrixx started on the long walk back from Chapter IV to Chapter VI... “[color=forestgreen]Y’know... I already have my shoes off, I might as well... I mean, if I was given a teleport, I might as well abuse it,[/color]” Chuunitrixx says, justifying herself to no-one in particular. 

However, as she took her first step toward the threshold, she, suddenly, found herself no longer in the Library of the Athenaeum of Historia, but stumbling through Shadowtower Shrine. “[color=forestgreen]Whoooawwwoawaowwwa~aa![/color]” she shouted, as she tried to stop herself, only to smash into a sliding door, and disappear into it -- moment’s later, bursting out of a wall of The Factory, and caterwauling past a jumble of flesh in a trenchcoat pretending to have function, until she hit another wall.

Shrieking, as she flew forward, Chuunitrixx was stopped by a pile of broken toys and doll parts. “[color=forestgreen]The City of Lost Things? How did I get inside,[/color]” she asks herself, as she looked around, and stood up. “[color=forestgreen]I just walked forward, and then... I would up here...[/color]” she lifted a foot, tentatively, and set it down. “[color=forestgreen]Ow! Shit! Broken stuff hurts![/color]” Chuunitrixx took a hop forward to find a place to set her feet...

...and fell through the floor.

“[color=forestgreen]Fuck![/color]” Chuunitrixx shouted, as she slammed into a table in the middle of Kaldorna’s Tavern. “[color=forestgreen]Crap! Crap! Shit..!!.[/color]” she groaned, as she rolled off the table, and noticed the vampires about. “[color=forestgreen]I’ll be going, now...[/color]” Chuunitrixx took a step back, and slipped through the floor; springing up in the middle of horde of Goblins. “[color=forestgreen]Alright, back on the fifth floor... This isn’t COIN, so must be down in the deeps of Goblintown...[/color]”

“[color=forestgreen]Alright. Let’s stop and think. I’m teleporting. I’m rusty. So, I probably am not controlling it,[/color]” Chuunitrixx says. “[color=forestgreen]Sorry to disturb y’all,[/color]” she says, looking at the Goblins she probably freaked the fuck out by suddenly existing, “[color=forestgreen]I’ll head out.[/color]” Chuunitrixx stepped forward, and tumbled out of an alley. “[color=forestgreen]...huh? Amberden?[/color]”

Chuunitrixx was, quite suddenly, a long way away from home.

“[color=forestgreen]I better go home.[/color]”

Gathering herself, Chuunitrixx quickly ran back into the alley, and focused... tumbling onto her bed.

“[color=forestgreen]Whoa... I went outside...[/color]”[hr]”[color=forestgreen]Socrates! Socrates! I went outside![/color]” Chuunitrixx babbled, excited, as she recounted her teleportation errors, and winding up in a sleeping Amberden. 

Socrates looked down from to hem of her nightgown, and yanked her covers over her face. “[color=chocolate]It’s midnight. Go to sleep,[/color]” she grumbled. She was NOT about this business, right now. Love and cherish her Grandmother, she did, but NO. She needed her beauty sleep; just because she was blessed with an unchanging face, didn’t mean she could do without five extra hours of sleep.

Perfect wasn’t easy, after all.

“[color=forestgreen]I wanna go back out. But, I wanna stay out for a while,[/color]” Chuunitrixx says, impulsively, but with a conviction uncommon to impulsive decisions. “[color=chocolate]You are aware that Rodias would simply drag you back in,[/color]” Socrates says, looking out from under her sleeping mask. “[color=forestgreen]I can handle that. I know how to slip out of sight,[/color]” she says, “[color=forestgreen]Socrates, I’m giving you complete control of the Necropolis Gothika Project,[/color]”

Socrates sat up. “[color=chocolate]Grandmother,[/color]” she says, sternly. “[color=chocolate]Rodias would absolutely not tolerate this action, and he would notice you leaving immediately.[/color]” Chuunitrixx smiled, and pressed a kiss to Socrates’s forehead. “[color=forestgreen]Trust me. Rodias will never find me,[/color]” she says, “[color=forestgreen]I’m just going to walk about for a little bit. I’ll be back before anyone misses me.[/color]”

Chuunitrixx teleported out of the room, and went into the high-rise elevator.

“[color=chocolate]I’mma get blamed for this...[/color]” Socrates says, flopping back down. “[color=chocolate]Whatever... Not like I can stop her, anyways.[/color]”

Chuunitrixx disembarked from the elevator, as it dinged on the Sub-basement, and she looked at a clothing mannequin; tossing her boots over, they seemingly magnetized into place. Following that up, she stripped off her clothes, Silver Knight and Black Knight, and her ammo belt, before looking at herself in a large mirror. “[color=forestgreen]Alright,[/color]” she says.

Chuunitrixx inhaled and exhaled, calmly, before her body lost all color, until it was the same color as sculptor's clay, and her panel exposed and began to spin and shift; expanding and shrinking, increasing and decreasing, until she possessed a [url=https://i.imgur.com/1Y1qIjr.png]new form[/url] to work with, as she got dressed.

“[color=forestgreen]Alright, then. Now, you leave this behind...[/color]” Chuunitrixx says, before her chest split open, vertically, into a fanged maw. Reaching into the mouth, she withdrew a sphere that was about as large as an orange, and shined like a rainbow; her Slime Core. “[color=forestgreen]Let’s just set you here,[/color]” she says, setting it into the chest of the mannequin. “[color=forestgreen]Now, I’m free to move without tracking. I better hurry,[/color]” she says, grabbing a cloak and boarding the elevator, before taking a step forward...[hr]...and teleporting into that alley again, and sneaking out. “[color=forestgreen]I think... wait... I shouldn’t use this voice... Let’s see...[/color]” Chuunitrixx cleared her throat, shifting her vocal cords around. “[color=ebaf4c]Ahem... this sounds better... familiar... I wonder why...[/color]”

Shaking her head, Chuunitrixx wandered around Amberden, until she found a Tavern, and walked inside. To anyone still awake, she looked like a displaced Drow concubine forced to the surface with her light, elegant dress, well-to-do cloak, but lack of shoes. Walking to a corner spot, Chuunitrixx took a seat, “[color=ebaf4c]At least, it’s normal, and not an eight-dimensional tavern were everyone can brood in their own corner, somehow.[/color]”

Within the tavern, Chuunitrixx would swiftly notice how little attention people seemed to be paying her. The hardworking folk of Amberden were merrily going about their afternoon, the sun’s rays peeking in through the half-shut windows of the sole tavern in town. If Chuunitrixx were to try and size anybody up, she’d come to realize a few things:

1. This town was like a gym. Seriously, everyone was ripped, on the verge of being ripped, or fat in that way that old retired guys who are ripped become.

2.The town wasn’t all that well-off. The only tavern in town, and its benches creaked and the ale looked a little watered down.

3. Someone had finally taken notice of her; A man who by appearance alone fit the exact description she’d heard of Mars.

Chuunitrixx was peering around, as she studied the area; a tavern was a good place to gauge how a town or village or any place, really, faired from its citizenry to its economy. Amberden was well-off in the area of citizen; the mixture of teens to elders, even a few children, which advanced musculature and definition -- male and female alike -- was impressive, but the money side left a vast wealth, irony intended, to be desire.

However, before she would really ponder on what to fix first: the woodworking of the terrible squeaky bench or the disgusting unappetizing hue of the water-down ale, she would meet the gaze of the man she’s been briefed on from an eavesdropping Sentry, as Ashara and Kath returned.

A man named Mars, rumoured to be rivalable to Rodias in strength.

‘[color=ebaf4c][i]Shit! Shit! Shit! I wasn’t expecting this! Okay, okay, okay... stay calm, and think. I’m just a Drow, displaced -- no, I ran away from my lot in life. I didn’t stop to think. I just ran from the... the... Delta’s in the mountains. That’s the west. West is good. There’s no Human civilization traces in the mountain. That’s solid. Makes it harder to trace back to any Drow Dens, if there are known ones, and gives them hours of fruitless scouring, if they look. If he comes over here, I’ll just play polite and scared. Yes... That’ll work. It has to work.[/i][/color]’

Chuunitrixx exhaled. She had a plan, at least.

She’d have to stick to that plan pretty well, given that Mars soon approached, his usual half-menacing stare glazing over her as he approached. [color=c4df9b][b]”Hey. Who are you? I’ve never seen you around before. And I didn’t see you come in from the main gate while I was on patrol,”[/b][/color] Mars said, immediately questioning Chuunitrixx.

“[color=ebaf4c][i]Drizzie D’Ourden, good sir![/i][/color]” Chuunitrixx barked out, in an affected accent; it was learned High Drow, and held strong root for Common Drow. It made her status clear as someone that was close to the royal caste, but surely came from the lower caste.

There was a long pause, before Mars narrowed his eyes further. [color=c4df9b][b]”I thought it was bodypaint but...better question: What ARE you? I’ve never seen an elf that looks like you,”[/b][/color] he said, shattering any notion Chuunitrixx might have had that Drow were native to this land.

“[color=ebaf4c][i]I’s a Elf, good sir,[/i][/color]” Chuunitrixx says, deciding not to name Drow. Even if she was but a Common Wood Elf, and Drow were bastard blood-traitors, she respected the safety of Elvenkind that had yet harmed her. If Mars didn’t know what a Drow was, she wouldn’t name them so casually, and give him a target to potentially look into. “[color=ebaf4c][i]I’s just born under a bad sun, good sir. Rans from home, I did. Didn’t like my station.[/i][/color]”

Mars just kinda stared at Chuunitrixx for a long while, knowing for a fact that accent was bullshit. [color=c4df9b][b]”...Riiiight...name. And occupation,”[/b][/color] Mars demanded.

Chuunitrixx peered up from under the hood of her clock, and narrowed her eyes. Mars was smarter than she gave him credit for, or she was rustier than that thought; she’d been inside for a full decade, so it was possible. “[color=ebaf4c]Told you, Drizzle D’Ourden,[/color]” she says, dropping the accent. “[color=ebaf4c]Concubine. Alchemist. Wandering across the mountains, westward,[/color]” she looked up, “[color=ebaf4c]Told you, I didn’t like my station, so I ran. To get where I was, you had to be sneaky, and Humans can be blinded by the simplest distractions.[/color]” Feigning to give up the ghost, Chuunitrixx placed her hands out on the table. “[color=ebaf4c]No weapons drawn. Just the literal clothes on my back,[/color]” she says, extending her weathered fingers; she’d morphed on “travel damage” to her arms, legs, hands, and feet before Mars had gotten too close. “[color=ebaf4c]I’ve been hiding in an alley; scraping up enough coin to buy a warm meal that is [b]NOT[/b] in a bin... I’m probably breaking a law, but I wasn’t expecting to be cared about. Humans don’t mind the trash, after all.[/color]”

Mars’ eyes didn’t falter or show any signs of concern as she told her life story, noting the drop of the accent more than anything. [color=c4df9b][b]”So, the voice just to try and make people think you don’t know anything?”[/b][/color] he questioned.

“[color=ebaf4c]See it all the time,[/color]” Chuunitrixx says, “[color=ebaf4c]Skin color means something hierarchical to Humans, and certain colors come with certain voices,[/color]” she shrugged, “[color=ebaf4c]I’ve found myself a warm floor with it, and a few cold meals. If I’m so lucky.[/color]”

Chuunitrixx drew her hands back, “[color=ebaf4c]Like I said, Humans are blinded by the simplest distractions...[/color]”

[color=c4df9b][b]”Skin color only means something if you’re so high up that you get to pick the differences. Out here though, people tolerate people. Just stay out of trouble, and go making yourself a target for anybody that...needs a warm body. We’ve had problems with cultists around here. Freaks in masks that abduct people in the night. You’re in danger just by being here,”[/b][/color] Mars said, now taking on more of a warning tone. It seemed that he wasn’t bothered by Chuunitrixx’s color, or race. Just that he didn’t know her.

“[color=ebaf4c]And, you’re... what... the town watchman,[/color]” Chuunitrixx asks. “[color=ebaf4c]I sounds like, you need that problem solved and the town secured,[/color]” she surmised, “[color=ebaf4c]and, I need somewhere I can sleep until I need to leave, unless I’m given no reason. So, I think, we can trade services.[/color]”

[color=c4df9b][b]”Captain of the Guard. And, I don’t think this is the kind of task I can ask an unarmed alchemist to handle. There’s dozens of those freaks. And one of them even got me real bad…”[/b][/color] Mars said, lifting his shirt ever so slightly to reveal the massive gash in his side that had scarred over. [color=c4df9b][b]”We’ve already got a high ranked adventurer on the way though.”[/b][/color]

“[color=ebaf4c]I’m never unarmed, nor afraid of Humans,[/color]” Chuunitrixx says. “[color=ebaf4c]I can even fix that little hole of yours. I just need one pint,[/color]” she says, “[color=ebaf4c]Consider it, a proving test.[/color]”

Chuunitrixx would be answered with a really, really blank stare from Mars. [color=c4df9b][b]”...So you lied about being unarmed.”[/b][/color]

“[color=ebaf4c]I don’t have a weapon on me, so, technically, no,[/color]” Chuunitrixx says, with a playful smirk, “[color=ebaf4c]I’m an Alchemist. I can’t disarm my brain.[/color]” Chuunitrixx sat up, “[color=ebaf4c]Would you like me to get naked, goor sir, so you can search me, or would you like to see if I can back up my claim? I’m fine with either.[/color]”

Mars didn’t flinch at the suggestion, sizing Chuunitrixx up and down. [color=c4df9b][b]”No. You’re clean. But, I’m not letting you go after them. Besides, I already paid the fee for that adventurer.”[/b][/color] 

“[color=ebaf4c]At the very least, let me fix that hole. It... will give you something to think about, when your in need of options,[/color]” Chuunitrixx says. She needed to keep her cover solid, while securing closeness to Mars. If he really could rival Rodias, then she needed to keep him away from her Sable Lord as much as she could.

To project him was her explicit duty.

[color=c4df9b][b]”...Sure. I’ve been to a healer already, and they said proper rest would do fine. But if you think you can make a potion to fix it, I’m all ears. Damn thing’s keeping me from training.”[/b][/color] Mars said, hand over the scar.

“[color=ebaf4c]Order a pint,[/color]” Chuunitrixx says.

Mars did just that, putting it before Chuunitrixx.

Chunnitrixx looked around, “[color=ebaf4c]Got a chalk or dagger on you?[/color]”

Mars fumbled in his pockets for a moment before plopping a thin length of knife-whittled chalk before Chuunitrixx.

“[color=ebaf4c]Perfect,[/color]” Chuunitrixx says.

Carefully, she set the pint in the center of the table, and drew four concentric circles around it; the first an inch away from its base, and the following three each an inch from the last. From the centermost circle, four, perfectly diagonal lines that connected it to the corners with, and created four sections, in which she drew a constellation: Virgo in the South, Gemini in the North, Cancer to the East, and Aries to the West.

“[color=ebaf4c][b][i]Sign of Air, above, Sign of Earth, below, Sign of Fire and Water, adjacent, to my left and my right, come proudly forward, and find task in my tribute of herb, water, and spirit. Take heed, my offering of stone and bone, of silt and clay, and ignite with salts, unbaptized, to ready your nature.[/i][/b][/color]” Chuunitrixx chanted.

Despite her high-level in [[b][i]Alchemist[/i][/b]], the [[b][i]Clone Flesh[/i][/b]] spell was hard to replicate; if she didn’t have her Grimiore stored in her chest, she wouldn’t be able to replicate the spell at all. However, she did, and so, it was cast. Chuunitrixx dropped the chalk into the ale, and the pint shattered into glass dust; smashing against an invisible plane, as the circled sections of the table rose into a mixing bowl from the four circles, and the liquid hissed and fizzed, as the constellations glowed. Dunking her hands into the mixture, Chuunitrixx began to stir it with her fingers, and knead it; the chalk thickening with water, herbs, and hops.

“[color=ebaf4c]Alright, good sir,[/color]” Chuunitrixx says, “[color=ebaf4c]Just need a bitta trust from you to a stranger. I need a drop of your blood. Right in the dough, so to speak.[/color]”

By now, more and more people were taking notice of Chuunitrixx’s actions...especially since the barkeep heard the shatter of one of his mugs. That and this was by far the most conspicuous crafting ever performed. 

Mars was reluctant, but complied by poking his palm slightly on his spearhead, squeezing his hand shut to let the blood drip from his hand to the “dough”. 

It hissed, then solidified into a genuine dough. “[color=ebaf4c]Lift your shirt,[/color]” Chuuntrixx says. “[color=ebaf4c]Forewarning, this is going to melt off that damaged flesh and muscles, and wholly replace it. It will tend, roughly thirty seconds, and will hurt like hell,[/color]” she says, “[color=ebaf4c]To be forewarned is to be forearmed, so you Humans like to say.[/color]”

What would follow would be a pregnant pause before he said: [color=c4df9b][b]”Hell no.”[/b][/color]

“[color=ebaf4c]If I wanted to hurt you, do you think I would have gone through this display and trouble,[/color]” Chuunitrixx asks. “[color=ebaf4c]I’m one Elf, unarmed, with time-consuming Alchemy as my own resource of protection, in a tavern of clearly hearty Humanfolk,[/color]” she says, dryly, “[color=ebaf4c]Hell, even some of the children appear to be able to overtake me. I make this gesture to put you in good graces with myself, and your repairs. Consider that.[/color]”

[color=c4df9b][b]”That..does not mean that I’m okay with getting my flesh melted.”[/b][/color] Mars retorted.

“[color=ebaf4c]As children are not okay with taking their medicine. As beasts as not okay with bowing to another. As the Sun is not okay with sharing space with the Moon,[/color]” Chuunitrixx says, “[color=ebaf4c]All things must do that which they find unfavourable; it is the natural order of things. To get better, we must hurt,[/color]” she says, before looking to the tavern’s patrons, “[color=ebaf4c]Pray tell, all of you, would you not like to sleep tonight in the comfort that this man is healed, despite a little pain? That, in mere seconds, he will be able to twist and turn, and stand his ground firmly, once more, in your defense?[/color]” Chuunitrixx turned to Mars, “[color=ebaf4c]Trust me, do or do not, but I offer you the flesh and muscle that you lost. If you wait to heal, you hurt everyone. It is that simple.[/color]”

“Sounds like a load of snake oil to me!” One patron would shout

“C’mon Mars, you’ve been through worse. Just let the girl slap some dough on ya,” One thinner man snickered.

“Should we call the guards? That lady’s talking crazy…” One barmaid whispered to the tavernkeeper who was watching the scene play out.

“I wouldn’t take medicine from a stranger, Mars,” Another individual said, this one smoking some sort of rolled up paper in the fashion of a cigarette. 

“What happens if she bakes it? Is it Mars Bread?” A drunk individual asked.

Mars sighed, before grabbing his spear and lifting his shirt. [color=c4df9b][b]”...To hell with it. Just get it over with,”[/b][/color] he said before biting the shaft of his spear. Melting flesh meant a hell of a lot of pain. 

It did, and it would hurt. However, the cloned flesh adhered to Mars; bubbling for a moment, as it baked, and set. After a moment, the wound, so to speak, would numb, and Mars would feel the ale soothe him, body and soul. He would find it was a smooth expanse of skin, now, with muscle that didn’t ache, and wasn’t tight in the least.

It was, as if, time had reversed on his wound, and it was what he’d been born with.

“[color=ebaf4c]Do you believe me, Human,[/color]” Chuunitrixx asks, as she rubbed the table; coaxing the magic out of it, and restoring it to its former state. “[color=ebaf4c]To heal, we must hurt. It is a fundamental law of nature.[/color]”

[color=c4df9b][b]”I think you’re a bit of a quack. But, you did heal me like you said,”[/b][/color] Mars said, rubbing the former scar in disbelief. [color=c4df9b][b]”Here,”[/b][/color] he would say, before placing 16 shining red coins before Chuunitrixx. 16 Decrin was nothing to sneeze at. [color=c4df9b][b]”Now, I can get back to training my whelps. Like this one,”[/b][/color] Mars said, before suddenly thrusting the butt of his spear at a man who’d been minding his own business at the counter, not once turning to face Mars before the butt hit him right in his buttocks, sending the man flying off his seat. [color=c4df9b][b]”IF YOU’VE GOT TIME TO LAZE AROUND, YOU GOT TIME TO SWING A SWORD! GET MOVING!”[/b][/color] Mars barked, causing the man to literally flee the tavern, yelling: [b]”SIR YES SIR I’M SORRY SIR THANK YOU SIR!”[/b] in a hurried tone.

Exhaling, Mars would sit across from Chuunitrixx. [color=c4df9b][b]”The glass is on me.”[/b][/color]

“[color=ebaf4c]No,[/color]” Chuunitrixx says, sliding five of the Decrins forward, “[color=ebaf4c]I’ll take charity when you cease doubting me.[/color]”

Mars chuckled, before saying: [color=c4df9b][b]”Hard to, when I can tell that you’re still lying,”[/b][/color] Mars said, not taking his eyes off Chuunitrixx. [color=c4df9b][b]”Anybody that could do that with chalk, ale, and blood isn’t someone that’s capable of being destitute.”[/b][/color]

“[color=ebaf4c]I haven’t told a lie yet,[/color]” Chuunitrixx says. “[color=ebaf4c]I did come across a mountain. I did tire of my station, so I am walking about for a bit. I am an Alchemist, with naught but my brain to call a weapon. And, the name Drizzie D’Ourden is perfectly suitable for someone that never had a name too start with,[/color]” she says, all truths in their own rights; especially, the subconscious one. “[color=ebaf4c]I could be living in splendor and opulence, sure, but life isn’t about that. It’s about protecting something,[/color]” Chuunitrixx says. “[color=ebaf4c]Here, you need some protecting. At least, I feel that is true. You don’t look weak in the slightest, so to be overcome must mean, your threat has weight to it.[/color]”

“[color=ebaf4c]Am I wrong?[/color]”

[color=c4df9b][b]”The offer’s appreciated, and I’d love to welcome you...but the Duke’s already scared of the fact that I’m here. He doesn’t like the idea of someone more powerful than him being somewhere he controls. Besides, this ‘threat’ is already being taken care of. That guy I called...he’s freakishly strong. Stronger than me. And sure as hell a lot stronger than the guy I fought against,”[/b][/color] Mars exposited.

“[color=ebaf4c]Sounds like your real problem is the Duke, then,[/color]” Chuunitrixx says.

Mars put a finger to his lips, saying: [color=c4df9b][b]”Shh!”[/b][/color] in a worried tone. [color=c4df9b][b]”Last thing you need is to make enemies five minutes after making friends.”[/b][/color]

“[color=ebaf4c]True enough,[/color]” Chuunitrixx says. “[color=ebaf4c]I supposed, I should stretch my legs,[/color]” she looked to Mars, “[color=ebaf4c]Perhaps, you need to stretch yours, as well?[/color]”

[color=c4df9b][b]”Sure.”[/b][/color] Mars said, seeming to trust Chuunitrixx as far as he could throw her, at the moment. Which was decently far.

Standing up, Chuunitrixx started for the door; her steps were cautious and slowly, as she was getting used to her teleportation. However, to anyone else, she looked like she was absolutely paranoid.

Mars would follow, steps confident as he went up to the barkeep and slid a few olms his way to pay for the glass Chuunitrixx had broken, before he followed after her, spear in hand. It seemed he was counting this as a patrol.

“[color=ebaf4c]So many problems,[/color]” Chuunitrixx says, as she tested her mobility, and hopped on a small stone fence. “[color=ebaf4c]Economy is first and foremost in my eyes, being a street urchin and all -- by choice, as you so delicate pointed out,[/color]” she says, “[color=ebaf4c]So, pray tell, what bring misfortune here? Bad harvest? A cult? Poor leadership?[/color]”

[color=c4df9b][b]”Cult. The usual.”[/b][/color] Mars said as they walked.

“[color=ebaf4c]Ah, yes, the solved problem. I’m not interested in those,[/color]” Chuunitrixx says. “[color=ebaf4c]I’d like to earn my keep, in some way. Perhaps, I’ll pay that Duke a visit?[/color]”

[color=c4df9b][b]”Good luck with that. The Duke’s so stuck up his own ass, he wouldn’t see some random person.”[/b][/color]

“[color=ebaf4c]Introduce me, then,[/color]” Chuunitrixx says. “[color=ebaf4c]I did heal you, after all. Surely, that counts for recommendation among Humans.[/color]”

[color=c4df9b][b]”...The hell kind of status do you think I have? I’m just a guard.”[/b][/color]

“[color=ebaf4c]A favourable one, if the Duke fears your very presence,[/color]” Chuunitrixx says. “[color=ebaf4c]Surely, he’d grant you audience,[/color]” she assumes, “[color=ebaf4c]And, if naught come of your asking, his curiosity is, nevertheless, piqued. An Elf with skin such as mine, surely a rarity like no other. Men carve, desperately, the exotic. I should know.[/color]”

Those seduction studies were coming in handily.

[color=c4df9b][b]”He’s married.”[/b][/color] Mars said, simply. [color=c4df9b][b]”That aside, he’s a deadly serious kind of man. He wouldn’t give me the time of day unless this place was burning to the ground.”[/b][/color]

Chuunitrixx chuckled, “[color=ebaf4c]Isn’t that an idea,[/color]” as she turned, walking backwards, “[color=ebaf4c]This adventurer you’ve called... when is he due?[/color]”

[color=c4df9b][b]”He’s dropping by in an hour. Maybe less. I called for him yesterday, and he’s damn fast.”[/b][/color]

“[color=ebaf4c]So little time,[/color]” Chuunitrixx says. “[color=ebaf4c]I need to find my dress, otherwise, I’ll look dreadfully out of place.[/color]”

[color=c4df9b][b]”If you say so. He doesn’t care much about appearances. Just booze, women, and fighting.”[/b][/color]

“[color=ebaf4c]Not for him, good sir,[/color]” Chuunitrixx says, “[color=ebaf4c]For the cultist. I’m going to kill them. All of them,[/color]” she beamed, as she took a step too far, and fell off the end of the wall, “[color=ebaf4c]Hahaha! This is what I needed! The unexpected! Tell me, good sir? To where can I go to implore a dress for the occasion?[/color]”

Mars stared at her. [color=c4df9b][b]”...You think a mining town makes dresses?”[/b][/color]

“[color=ebaf4c]Of course not, but your troubling cultists do,[/color]” Chuunitrixx says. “[color=ebaf4c]So, to whom do I need to travel to? I do hope they make them in women’s small.[/color]”

[color=c4df9b][b]”....What?”[/b][/color]

Chuunitrixx chuckled. “[color=ebaf4c]Forgive me. I’ve held my station for ten years, and never once, have I deviated until now,[/color]” she says, “[color=ebaf4c]I’m just so excited! This is so new! Protecting someone else! Oh, if you could feel my heart -- it’s beating in the most worrisome manner![/color]” Chuunitrixx sat up. “[color=ebaf4c]Good sir, I may seem at odd with sanity, but I assure you, my facilities are most sound. Hup![/color]” she barked, as she kipped to her feet, “[color=ebaf4c]Do you know any cultist, suspect any? If I only have an hour, I really must get dressed.[/color]”

A sigh escaped Mars as he scratched the back of his head. [color=c4df9b][b]”I mean, if they’re worshipping, they’re doing it in private and at night. Far as I can tell, nobody here seems to be a cultist. I’ve found the bodies of anybody that lived here and went missing.”[/b][/color]

“[color=ebaf4c]Are they intact bodies?[/color]” Chuunitrixx asks, her expression grim and serious.

Mars shook his head slowly, his eyes losing a bit of light as he thought about it.

“[color=ebaf4c]Condition,[/color]” Chuunitrixx asks.

[color=c4df9b][b]”Torn apart.”[/b][/color]

“[color=ebaf4c]As long as they have intact skulls and throats, I don’t need much else,[/color]” Chuunitrixx says. “[color=ebaf4c]...I lie. I need you to trust me.[/color]”

Given the questions that Chuunitrixx just asked, Mars couldn’t possibly trust her less. [color=c4df9b][b]”If you’re thinking of defiling those bodies, stop right now. Or else,”[/b][/color] he said.

“[color=ebaf4c]I’ve never been fond of “or else” nor being commanded,[/color]” Chuunitrixx says. “[color=ebaf4c]Humans put too much stock in a corpse. It’s the soul that matters,[/color]” she says, “[color=ebaf4c]A Potion of Reanimation can be made into a bath, the head of a victim rest in, blessed, and culled from the afterlife without trial, and -- ”[/color]”

[color=c4df9b][b]”Shut up!”[/b][/color] Mars said, now snapping. Chuunitrixx had clearly crossed a line. A very, very fine line. [color=c4df9b][b]”I don’t care if you healed me; You touch any one of those graves, and I’ll put you in one myself.”[/b][/color] he would say, which was a very charged threat. His voice had risen, and now people were looking.

“[color=ebaf4c]Human,[/color]” Chuunitrixx says, “[color=ebaf4c]You couldn’t hope to touch me. I am beyond your understanding, and trying to be on your sides,[/color]” she says, voice level, “[color=ebaf4c]All that threatens you, threatens me, and my drive to protect you Human is tempered by only my need to protect myself.[/color]” Chuunitrixx was keeping calm, her [[b][i]Stalker[/i][/b]], [[b][i]Assassin[/i][/b]], and [[b][i]Sniper[/i][/b]] Classes afforded her a great deal of stress mitigation from outside forces, but it would build and reach a head.

“[color=ebaf4c]Evaluate your options,[/color]” Chuunitrixx says, sharply; not from emotion, but militaristic command. “[color=ebaf4c]A soldier isn’t a fool that leads by emotion when his people and their lives hang in the balance. A soldier is a man that leads by decisions that will carry his people forward into safety,[/color]” she says, unable to keep her decade of military position out her voice. “[color=ebaf4c]Do you have a backup plan, if your adventurer fails? Do you have an exit strategy ready for that possibility? Do you even know if mission success will bring you complete results?[/color]” Chuunitrixx challenged, “[color=ebaf4c]What do you know, soldier, beyond a monster is coming in less than an hour to commit sancitioned mass murder, then walk away clean -- leaving potential survivors in the night to strike back at this town, drunk off victory and assumed safety?[/color]”

“[color=ebaf4c]I haven’t lied to you, yet,[/color]” Chuunitrixx says, “That station I’ve taken a walk about from,” she says, “[color=ebaf4c]Military Commander. A veteran of countless military battles. I wasn’t given the respect I earned after ten years of selfless service, so I’m stretching my legs. But, I damn sure having forgotten what it means to know my enemy inside and out, and protect the weak at any cost -- no matter my emotional, moral, or intellectual grievances.[/color]”

“[color=ebaf4c]But, I know when to walk away. Make your choice. I shouldn’t have to tell you your options.[/color]”

That said, Chuunitrixx turned, and started to walk.

Mars listened intently to Chuunitrixx’ spiel, but didn’t seem all that much moved by it. 

[color=c4df9b][b]”I’ve already evaluated my options. And I’m not trusting someone that thinks its acceptable to throw away what’s right to win. People like you are all the same; You tell yourself that you’re right because you won, until you keep sacrificing and sacrificing until you don’t have a damn thing left to protect, morally, or physically. We’ll do fine without your help,”[/b][/color] Mars said, turning and walking the other way. 

It was clear that any good will Chuunitrixx had invited on herself from healing Mars had dissolved completely. It seemed readily apparent now how hard a line Necromancy was to the average person in this world...one that had someone as strong as Mars lose his temper over it.

Chuunitrixx scoffed, “[color=ebaf4c]People like me, accomplish what people like you don't. I thought you'd be better than the rest. I hope your pet monster cleans up nice and neatly.[/color]” Chuunitrixx would surely watch the show, if Amberden was slated to burn to the ground over some pointless Human morals. “[color=ebaf4c]Here,[/color]” Chuunitrixx tossed the sac of Decrin beyond Mars, “[color=ebaf4c]I don't do charity. I'm a soldier. That's payment enough. Save that for relief efforts.[/color]”

Chuunitrixx rounded a corner, into an alley, and set to teleport back to the Chateau... but, opted not to. Instead, she decided to continue her walk -- her aim for the Duke. She'd bigger fish available to fry.

When Chuunitrixx turned around, she would see a small figure looking at her; A woman covered by a thick brown cloak that shielded all features of her from sight, save for the silver hair spilling out from the hood. [color=9370DB][b]”You’re a good little pretender.”[/b][/color]

“[color=ebaf4c]And, you're creepy. Do we have business,[/color]” Chuunitrixx asks. “[color=ebaf4c]Did I get you with the money bag? I didn't look, admittedly, when I tossed it.[/color]”

[color=9370DB][b]”Ah, yes...it left a nasty bruise. But that’s okay. I don’t mind. You can’t be expected to know how to hold back. Especially since you’re not human. Or an elf. Or, anything, really. Does it hurt, little pretender? Does it hurt knowing that everyone tells you how wrong you are, and how foolish you are, and how much you don’t deserve your place?”[/b][/color] the figure asked, voice a myriad of effeminate tones. [color=9370DB][b]”A mimic can be anything. But nobody lets you [i]be[/i] anything.”[/b][/color]

Chuunitrixx's eyes narrowed, as she suddenly drew Ariamis, “[color=ebaf4c]Talk. Now.[/color]”

[color=9370DB][b]”Haven’t I been talking?”[/b][/color] the figure drew closer, unafraid of Chuunitrixx’s gun...for good reason, as the mimic came to find. Each inch forward let her taste more of this individual’s aura, of the thick smoke that covered her true nature slipping away more and more, until a feeling of dread overtook her…

This girl was stronger than Rodias. Far stronger. [color=9370DB][b]”Or perhaps you just haven’t been listening?”[/b][/color] she asked, lifting her hood just enough to reveal a single glowing golden eye. 

“[color=ebaf4c]What the hell are you...[/color]” Chuunitrixx asks, dropping Ariamis, as the figure did what no-one could do; [i]trigger fear in that which didn't know fear.[/i] “[color=ebaf4c]Stay away...[/color]” she attempted to shout, trying to teleport, but didn't notice that she'd fallen on her ask, and her feet weren't touching the ground or moving.

[color=9370DB][b]”I’m curious, silly~”[/b][/color] the girl said, softly picking up Ariamis and putting it to her temple. [color=9370DB][b]”Bang~”[/b][/color] she called out, before shooting herself in the head...only to be completely unphased. Pointing the gun at the ground, the bullet would fall out, crushed flat and melted. [color=9370DB][b]”I wanted to see if you were as scary as you made yourself out to be,”[/b][/color] she said, handing Chuunitrixx Ariamis by throwing it into her lap. [color=9370DB][b]”What’s the matter? Are you scared? Are you scared because you’re a frog that’s spent all its life at the bottom of a shallow pond? Used to being the biggest?”[/b][/color] she asked, before suddenly stooping low and looking Chuunitrixx right in the eyes, twin golden orbs looking into Chuunitrixx. As if seeing past her. [color=9370DB][b]”You have a gun, but you’re too afraid to shoot. Tell me; Is that big manor on the mountain yours?”[/b][/color]

Chuunitrixx's eyes widened, at the scene of the figure attempting to blow her brain out, only to have negated the bullet outright. [color=red][b][i]It hurt! It hurt so much to watch! To experience! It hurt, but she couldn't tell why! Why did it hurt!?[/i][/b][/color]

Hyperventilating, Chuunitrixx clawed the alley dirt with fingers and toes, but couldn't raise her hands or plant her feet. She was going to die -- again! [color=red][b][i]Again!? Why did she have to die!? She wasn't supposed to! She had to protect everyone![/i][/b][/color]

“[color=ebaf4c][b]Geh-Geh-Geh -- Bluuurg~!!![/b][/color]" Chuunitrixx, for the first time, in all the time she could remember, threw up in fear of [b][u]someone[/u][/b]. Listlessly, her eyes rolled back in fear towards the Chateau; a single, instinctive affirmation of her home in danger.

[color=9370DB][b]”Poor thing,”[/b][/color] The figure said, ripping off a piece of her cloak to gingerly wipe Chuunitrixx’s mouth free of vomit, her very touch chilling Chuunitrixx. Not a single opening existed. Chuunitrixx could be killed at any moment...yet, the figure never moved to. Smiling ever so slightly, she said: [color=9370DB][b]”Thanks for being so honest. You can go now. Go home,”[/b][/color] she said, looking towards the Chateau’s direction, eyes shining as if she could see through absolutely everything. 

After all that...she was letting Chuunitrixx go with only one question answered. The one that completely gave away where she was from. The one that let someone know the Chateau was inhabited by non-human species. The one that was never supposed to be revealed until the time was ready. 

Chuunitrixx couldn't move. Her body was frozen, as every aspect of her Racial Classes was shaken to the core; the Mimic was unable to feel solid ground; the Greater Doppelganger's Heart refused to beat; the many Doppelgangers were mentally broken; the Homunculus's artificial soul was frozen; the Automaton's hypercomplex brain was unable to process.

The Hivequeen was violently dethroned.

Chuunitrixx was going anywhere...

[color=9370DB][b]”Hm? What’s wrong? Did you die of shock?”[/b][/color] the figure would ask, suddenly slapping Chuunitrixx’s shoulder. It didn’t hurt more than one would expect it to, but it did show how in control of her strength this woman was. Stepping away, she chuckled. [color=9370DB][b]”I said that you can go now. As in, you have my [i]permission[/i] to leave. You NPCs are always so finicky...go on, get out of here,”[/b][/color] she said, before suddenly pressing her leg to the nearest wall and just...walking vertically up it, onto a roof, and vanishing over a few rooftops.

Chuunitrixx collapsed, unconscious from the shock of it all; her feet touched solidly, and she completed the trigger, which threw her back into the Chateau. Unable to direct herself, she slammed into one of Kath's bookshelves, and came to a harsh stop -- unconscious and broken beyond measure...[hr]Collab with [@The Irish Tree]
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