[center][h3]Esaka’s Low Tier / Middle Tier[/h3]
Lvl 15 Ms Fortune (146/150) Level 11 Big Band (46/110)
Amaterasu’s [@DracoLunaris] Roland’s [@Archmage MC] Zenkichi’s [@MULTI_MEDIA_MAN] Pit’s [@Yankee] Sakura & Juri’s [@Zoey Boey] Captain Falcon’s [@Double] Harry and Kim’s [@Eviledd1984] Terry’s [@Terry Bogard] Yayama’s [@Chevaleresse]
[b]Word Count:[/b] 1861 / 1310[/center]

With Yayama successfully talked down and nobody else in their way, Nadia and Asher could finally bring their duel to a close. Once the latter declared, “Let’s finish this,” she began a slow, confident walk forward. Despite her opponent’s improbable second wind, the proud bruiser brimmed with confidence, and her dauntless swagger assuaged the gnawing concerns of the spectators upstairs. Nadia could respect how badass Asher looked right now, but she couldn’t wait to humble her, to show Yayama that de-escalation had been the right choice. Most of all, she was ready to show those gamblers just how badly they’d miscalculated. Today, Fortune wasn’t in their favor.

“Aaaalrighty then,” Nadia announced, placing one hand on her noggin. With a bowing motion she cleanly detached her head, much to the shock of the onlookers, then held it like a bowling ball. “Heady or not, here I come!” With a cheeky laugh she [url=https://i.imgur.com/sH8g6vs.png]rolled her head[/url] across the floor toward Asher. When it began to lose momentum it face-planted, then shot blood from her neck to rocket-propel her across the floor. Asher had been taken by surprise for a moment, but as the head drew close she gathered herself to punt it like a football. As one might imagine, though, Nadia was one step a-head. “Careful~” In the distance her body had crouched down on all fours, her tail in the air and wriggling as she prepared to pounce. “I charge extra!”

With a violent crackling buzz her body bolted across the first floor in the form of a lightning bolt, blasting into and through Asher. As she reeled, Nadia’s body coalesced behind her, even as her voice came from in front. “Arm-a gonna getcha!” In a flash the feral’s arms momentarily transformed into the limbs of a white tiger, and when she used them to slash Asher’s back with Battery, they inflicted two Marks to cut her target’s defense by ten percent total. 

Normally Nadia couldn’t combo off Battery thanks to the extra knockback from the critical hits, but this time her incoming cranium smacked Asher head-on from the opposite side, knocking her back toward Nadia. As the feral followed up with a roundhouse, both her Elation boons kicked in to boost her damage and speed slightly. Nadia unleashed a [url=https://i.imgur.com/uJ099xy.png]Limber Up[/url] high kick to pop her foe into the air. “It’s high time!” From there she rattled off a [url=https://i.imgur.com/3PWIfKn.png]quick slash[/url], a [url=https://i.imgur.com/Tkz3eoX.png]one[/url]-[url=https://i.imgur.com/RTr039g.png]two[/url] leg strike, and a [url=https://i.imgur.com/R5flmeI.png]hellish copter[/url] before finishing with an El Gato axe kick to spike Asher to the ground. “Get your kicks!” The feral landed mid-bounce, then spent one bar of Dramatic Tension on a level-one blockbuster. “Let’s cut to the chase!” Her Furrserker Purrage brought both from one side of the stage to the other in a flurry of advancing claw slashes. For the final hit, she spun one arm like a drill to send Asher spinning across the floor. “Get the point?”

All around, a number of spectators focused on the tag match refocused on the one-on-one, astonished by what they were seeing. Tension began to rise as gamblers began to realize just how much Nadia had been holding back in the first round of her fight, and excitement mounted among the brave -or very wise- few who’d bet in her favor.

“Oh no…”

“This is some bull-”

“Always play the odds, baby!”

“Random crits are fair and balanced.”

“I knew it! Rob ‘em blind!”

“Wow, I sure love not having the Heavenly Principles involved.”

“What is this cheese!?”

Though her grin stretched ear to ear, Nadia tried to shut them out, and focus on her pressure. As Asher recovered, bruised but angry and ready to take revenge, the feral brought her head over, popped it up with a kick, then bumped it like a volleyball toward her foe’s head. This time Asher blocked the tricky projectile, but that gave Nadia time to get in. She tested her foe’s guard with two light slashes, then just reached around the shields and grabbed her. In an instant she extruded a huge mass of muscle fiber, trapping Asher in a [url=https://i.imgur.com/tyXyMCx.png]fleshy yarn ball[/url], then rolled onto her back to bat it around. “I’m havin’ a ball!” After a moment she tossed Asher away, her fibers snaking back inside her, and as the two regained their feet the feral made a call. “Rhodeiaaa!”

Behind her, an [url=https://i.imgur.com/9llORq7.png]ghostly siren[/url] manifested, and streams of water began to dance around it. As she got to work, Nadia sprinted ahead on all fours, only to take a surprise armored shield charge to the face. “Bleh!” Asher’s blow sent her tumbling back, but by the time she rose, two Hydro Mimics of the feral had been summoned by Rhodeia.

Asher grit her teeth. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Huh? Water you lookin’ at?” Increasingly giddy, Nadia taunted alongside her two copycats, prompting Asher to attack. She sent her shields whirling forward like buzz saws, and Nadia pointed, sending the hydro mimics. They each darted forward in order to intercept a shield by blocking, and then Nadia sped past. She scooped up her head, jumped, and spiked it down. Asher stepped forward, dodging the head, then cut Nadia’s airdash short with a well-placed uppercut. “Oof!” The bruiser leaped up, grabbed a shield, then used it to wallop Nadia down. She landed by the fallen feral with a slam, then tried to grab her, just as Nadia attempted a grab of her own. The two batted each other away, pushed apart, but Asher brought her floating shields together in a massive clap. Nadia attempted a Blue Monday counter, but the shields functioned as projectiles, so it didn’t work. Instead she got stunned, then floored by a haymaker, only to spring back into action when her head chomped Asher from behind. “Omnomnomnom!” Her copycats charged forward, the first to perform [url=https://i.imgur.com/rl1pw2Q.png]Cat Slide[/url] and knock Asher off her feet, and the second to bounce her off the ground with El Gato. Finally, Nadia herself transformed her legs with Fluffy Soft, then ran in faster than ever to send Asher flying with a dropkick. “Paws button!”

When her foe stopped tumbling, she rose slower than before, breathing heavily. Things weren’t looking good, but she still had some fight left in her. Both fighters hesitated for a moment as Terry unleashed a column of energy, blowing clean through the Teahouse’s roof. Something told Asher that there wouldn’t be any more fights in here for a while. She mustered what strength she had left. “This isn’t over!” 

Nadia grinned as she turned away from the distraction. “Then prove it!”

The three catgirls charged, and Asher took action. She cast one shield forward as a barrier to separate them, staggering their attacks. When the first Hydro Mimic attacked with a kick, it struck her shield and got blasted away. The next went for a slash that Asher side-stepped, then countered with a powerful hook punch to the jaw that crumpled the clone to the ground. Finally, Nadia herself swept in, and this time her schemes paid off. Asher’s attempted upset punch struck Nadia’s Blue Monday counter, and after her knee popped the bruiser into the air, the catgirl grabbed her, slammed her down, then finished with an elbow drop to drive Asher’s wind from her lungs. 

At the perfect moment, Wounds of Plenty activated. Crazed laughter resounded through the Teahouse as the Elation’s aftertaste locked Asher in hitstun. In a frenzy Nadia launched into an Unchain combo. She started with a Step to close the distance, punched low with Under Blow, performed a high Sobat kick, then finished with a rolling flip kick to send Asher tumbling. The bruiser rolled to her feet, disheveled and on her last legs, knowing this was her last chance. When she looked around, though, she saw no trace of Nadia–only a trail of yellow electricity leading into the air. She looked up at the last moment as the feral descended with a massive curtain-shredding double claw slash, raking not just across her torso, but through her sarashi.

“Ugh!” Asher dropped to one knee as her bandages fell apart, quickly covering herself with one arm. Her face turned beet-red as she struggled to catch her breath, her strength spent. “Hey! You-! You-!”

The catgirl shrugged as she turned away. “You know what they say: all’s fair in love and war-drobe malfunction!” She grinned mischievously. “Maybe you oughta wear bandages [i]after[/i] you get hurt. As for me…” She raised one arm in victory. “I think that’s a win!”

Madam Bo and her staff stepped in to help clean things up. Asher stormed off as fast as her injuries could allow, her face even redder than her hair, and upstairs the money changed hands. Nadia retired to her table, and after a few minutes a server arrived with a silver platter. Nadia grinned, licking her lips, and lifted the lid to reveal a pile of zenny. A small pile. Much smaller than she expected, actually. “Huh.“ She furrowed her brow. “That’s…no way that’s it, right?”

Since the other fight had finished by this time, Nadia found her way to Sakura. “Hey, uh…not to be greedy or anythin’, but is this, like…a normal amount to win?”

As it turned out, while Nadia had engineered a big upset, there just hadn’t been that many people and yokai betting to begin with, they didn’t bet any huge amounts, and Nadia herself only got a cut of the total payout. Her winnings were enough to pay for a meal or two, maybe a night’s stay in some motel, but no more than that. Worse still, even though Amaterasu had fixed the hole in the Teahouse’s ceiling, Madam Bo was angry enough at the collateral damage to close up shop for the day. Seekers and spectators alike had five minutes to finish their business and make themselves scarce, and if anyone wrecked anything else, they could look forward to a brutal smack to the face from her shoe. “Aw, maaan,” the feral sighed, sulking in her chair with the wind taken out of her sails. “After I put on such a big show, too…” Making her fortune in fight clubs like this seemed like it’d take more time and effort than it was worth.

After draining her glass, Nadia stood up again. Nobody around here seemed happy, least of all the spectators who got hustled. Even if Madam Bo wasn’t making everyone leave, this pond was dry. With a sigh, the feral got up, paid her tab, and headed for the door. “Don’t wait up for me, guys. I’m headin’ up to the High Tier. See ya later!” Anyone familiar with the cat burglar could probably guess at what she intended to do there. On the way out, she glanced at Yayama, wondering what the lalafell was thinking after all this ludicrous spectacle. Nadia gave her a cheeky salute just to be sure, then ducked out into the afternoon sunlight.

[hr]

Once out of the temple, Band met back up with Harry, Kim, and Zenkichi, with no sign of Roland or Pit anywhere. While the first two detectives hadn’t found much of anything, the former Turk had discovered the name of somewhere the team might be able to stay, not too far from their current location. “Good to know,” he remarked. It wouldn’t hurt to head that way, but Band had a sneaking suspicion that none of them could afford a week-long stay even in a cut-rate motel. No amount of digging through dumpsters for lost change would turn up that kind of money, either. Although the detectives had set out to learn more about Esaka, they now found themselves stuck in the same predicament that the other detachment of Seekers had set out to solve. Band sure didn’t relish the prospect of having to fight for his meals or find some place in need of temporary workers. [i]Well, nothing for it but to keep looking around[/i], he supposed. 

Band continued to peruse the streets of Esaka’s Middle Tier, combing over the middle-class cityscape at a leisurely pace. He did not intend to lead, and nor did he intend the others to follow, but the fact that they continued to stay in close proximity was probably for the best. Strength in numbers, and all that. Not that he saw a great deal of danger in his trek. Of course, since the overwhelming majority of Esaka’s citizens were fighters of some stripe, there were plenty of rough-and-tumble denizens around, with a variety of beefy biceps and weapons on display just about everywhere Band looked, but few seemed to get into trouble. He could only guess that everyone being more or less able to fend for themselves evened the playing field, creating a strong social contract in which everyone (at least within each tier) generally treated one another with fairness and respect. At the same time, though, Band detected undercurrents of unease and dread. While things seemed calm on the surface, the presence of so many strong personalities in close proximity could mean that this place was a powder-keg, ready to blow sky-high if something slipped. Was it the Four Kings keeping everyone in line? The Heavenly Principles? Band couldn’t help but worry about what would happen to Esaka once the Four Kings were gone, and even before that, what the Kings might do to keep themselves safe.

After wandering for a while, and just listening both to the citizens and the city itself, Band finally found what looked like a disturbance. A loose crowd of people had gathered in a circle, with a mostly empty space in the center. To Band that suggested an impromptu audience for a street fight, but he heard no exchange of blows nor elevated voices. As he got closer, his height allowed him to peer over most folks’ heads to get an idea of what might be going on in the middle. Two black men with black shorts and red fighting gloves, their primarily blue outfits bearing red and white highlights, stood dangerously close, their faces mere inches away from another as they squared off. Both were brawny, but the [url=https://i.imgur.com/aVYn9sV.png]hooded man with gold accessories[/url] had at least seventy pounds and five inches on the [url=https://i.imgur.com/0U3we9W.png]other man[/url], who was leaner, with scarred arms, a high-top hairstyle, and a goatee. Nevertheless, he did not bat an eye as he stared up at his counterpart’s pinpoint peepers.

Some of the onlookers were egging their favorite on, while others encouraged them to not give the other the time of day. Most just wanted to see what would happen as a result of these flaring tensions and tempers. Band stopped at the edge of the crowd to listen as the two traded barbed words.

“I’ve had just about enough of folks callin’ us clones, Combo,” the bigger man seethed. “Li’l shrimp like you’s got nothin’ on a ragin’ bull like me. Musta been why you got those implants–tryin’ to punch above your weight class.”

TJ Combo did not flinch. “I don’t got ‘em anymore, Balrog. But I ain’t scared to punch up either, ‘specially if I got some two-bit thug crampin’ my style. Sure, you’re big, but while I’ve been goin’ straight, I’m always hearin’ how you keep on fightin’ dirty. Headbutts, elbows, foot stomps. If that’s what strength looks like to you, all them muscles must be for show.”

The two went back and forth like that, getting angrier and angrier, especially Balrog, who seemed to have a lot less self-control than TJ. A brutal fight seemed imminent, but that wasn’t the only reason why he felt inclined to step in. It sounded like these men had been forced into a feud by popular opinion, being superficially similar enough to receive the derogatory appellation ‘clone’. As a black man himself, he didn’t like that these men seemed to be typecast and pitted against one another for others’ entertainment. Sure, it might be none of his business, but he couldn’t staunch his misgivings. After a few moments, Band pushed into the crowd.

“Hey, you two! Break it up!” The spectators parted around him like fish around a shark as he approached. Both TJ and Balrog looked his way, neither happy for the interruption. “Big Band, NMPD.” The detective flashed his badge. Even if he hadn’t actually been part of that police department for a long time, the prop occasionally still came in handy. “Break it up, fellas. You’re fixin’ to disturb the peace.”

“Hah,” Balrog grunted, shouldering TJ aside as he turned an exceptionally ornery face Band’s way. He seemed to regard the detective with scorn, as if he’d personally wronged him somehow. “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet, man. How ‘bout you run along and leave us to our business?”

TJ took a different tact. “Ain’t ever heard of the NMPD,” he told Band. “Somethin’ tells me you’re outta your jurisdiction.”

Looking between the two, Band gave them a pleading look. “C’mon, brothers. We don’t gotta be doin’ this.”

Balrog bared his teeth. “You ain’t my brother, [i]cop[/i]. I ain’t anythin’ like either of ya.” He turned back toward TJ. “There ain’t enough room at the top for two champs. We’re gonna finish this, one way or another.”

“Man’s got a point, though. This ain’t the time or the place to settle the score,” TJ told him. He seemed more sympathetic to Band, though it was difficult for him to tell. “I know you in World Warrior, Balrog. I’ll meet you in bracket, where we’ll decide who’s champ for all of Esaka to see.” He crossed his arms. “So you better hit the speed bag, big dog, ‘cause I don’t want you fallin’ outta bracket unless it’s my gloves punchin’ you out!”

“Hah! Keep talkin’ your shit while you still can! I’m gonna enjoy seein’ the look on your face when I knock your pansy ass flat, Combo!” Balrog spat, his spittle flying.

“Fellas,” Band interjected, his voice hard and insistent.

After a long, mean stare, the two boxers pulled apart, going their separate ways. The crowd evaporated, leaving Band and the other detectives behind. Shaking his head, the cyborg let out a sigh. He glanced at Harry. “Guess we’ll have our work cut out for us startin’ tomorrow.” It sounded like World Warrior was the most popular tournament, which meant a lot of opponents to chew through before even getting close to the Seekers’ goal. This was going to be difficult, and Band was already regretting his choice.

By now it had been about an hour since lunch, and the detectives still weren’t any richer than before. They resumed their trek, searching the Middle Tier’s streets for any useful information.

[center][h3]Krat Zoo - Botanical Garden[/h3]
Lvl 8 Sandalphon (76/80) Level 5 Heismay (39/50)
Edward’s [@DracoLunaris] Blazermate & Sectonia’s [@Archmage MC] Geralt’s [@MULTI_MEDIA_MAN] Ace Cadet’s [@Yankee] Roxas & Ganondorf’s [@Double], Ramattra’s [@XoXKieroBombXoX] Mokou’s [@Goggy]
[b]Word Count:[/b] 2018

[b][url=https://i.imgur.com/p76VSWM.png]Nameless Stagecoach[/url][/b]
𖥞: 8/8 | 🛡️: 7/8 | [b]Equipment:[/b] Stewpot/Windchime/Lamps/(None)/(None)/(None) | [b]Companion[/b]: Ratshaker Rat[/center]

Before setting off, Sandalphon took the opportunity to rendezvous with Ramattra. When he returned alone, save for the dogs bound to his sled, she could only assume the worst about the others. Her worries proved unfounded, though, as Ramattra reported that the others had made it. “Good.” She glanced at the materials he’d retrieved. Hopefully someone else could put them to good use, since tinkering was not at all her forte. When her eyes returned to Ramattra during his question, her pupils were X’s. “I’m afraid I do not know the monastery’s whereabouts. I can keep an eye out for it as we continue, however.”

As Sectonia buzzed off to investigate the part of the Hall of Adventure hinted at by the letter within her decrypted vessel, a few teammates gathered around to join Sandalphon’s foray into the Botanical Garden. While two monster hunters and two primarily ranged strategists did not make for the most diverse expedition, the archangel had a high degree of confidence in all three men. Plus, an excursion into the climate-controlled greenhouse would help warm Geralt up after his dip in the flooded Safari Zone’s frigid waters. Ramattra, meanwhile, was more of a liability while gleaming, but maybe the team would find an opportunity to free him within this structure.

Inside, the Seekers quickly became acquainted with the Botanical Garden’s defenders. Slender, elegant, and deadly Arche Puppets patrolled its winding walkways. Rather than any conventional weapons, they wielded their long, tempered limbs for a variety of quick, precise kicks. They also fought with surprising cohesion, attempting to maneuver to advantageous positions and to block when their opponents went on the offensive. Their presence confirmed to the archangel that Markiona herself must be here somewhere, lurking behind the scenes. The Seekers would have to proceed under the assumption that the Puppeteer of Death was watching, whether or not she chose to speak to them again.

While Sandalphon and the others managed to skirt around a few of them, they were forced to fight more than once. Naturally Sandalphon supported the others with well-placed shots from afar, grateful whenever the hexagun’s special effect kicked in to transform a formidable Arche Puppet into a hapless chicken. They made good progress, but it wasn’t long before a large-scale brawl got underway in one of the more open areas with a number of Arche Puppets pitted against Edward’s own mechanical minions. Metallic feet trampled colorful flowers, ancient ferns, and rare cacti underfoot as increasingly numerous automata fought back and forth, dexterity and speed against strength and durability. Reasoning that the spectacle would draw the defenders’ attention, giving his allies a chance to explore, the others left the tactician to it and head further in.

The Botanical Garden offered the newcomers a perplexingly unintuitive layout. Designed to guide visitors on a journey that fully utilized every available inch to showcase its myriad flora, the main route snaked around trees, walls, locked gates, and small animal enclosures. Sandalphon knew that she could simply vault over the various barriers, but she didn’t want to blindly leap into any ambushes, so she stuck to the intended path alongside Geralt and Ace. Together they made short work of the few puppets that remained in their path, steadily moving clockwise through the warm, spacious interior. Sandalphon examined the various plants as she went, avoiding any specimens that seemed excessively volatile or voracious. She identified plenty of edible vegetables that could be thrown into the stewpot outside, or perhaps hoarded and sent to the Avenger, but the manual labor of collecting them could be left to the golems that survived Edward’s skirmish.

Soon, the team gained some elevation and began to circle around the elevated walkway along the perimeter wall. It gave them a better look at the gardens’ layout, as well as the conclusion of the impromptu battle. With the puppets destroyed and a handful of troops tasked with the harvest, Edward got moving as well, using his wings to bypass the black iron ladders and catwalks in order to reach the highest point in the building. Meanwhile, once Ace spotted a likely way through from his vantage point, he forged ahead while Geralt, Ramattra, and Sandalphon followed behind. One after another, they crossed cobbled plaza between a couple cagelike enclosures, one cylindrical and one square, then hiked across an arched stone bridge. That bridge led over a verdant enclosure where thick, vibrant foliage seemed to shine under the brilliant fairy-light of Star Bramble bulbs, among which the last few Arche Puppets stalked, their faces motionless and doll-like.

Though none of them were particularly gifted in stealth, the trio managed to avoid alerting them, then descended from the bridge to find themselves on a secluded walkway. On one end stood a gate, locked from this side, which Ace could easily unlock to open the way back to the Botanical Garden’s entrance. On the other side, an [url=https://i.imgur.com/mPRVaOo.png]elaborate gizmo[/url] stood near a set of double doors, its soft blue glow attracting azure butterflies as its delicate clockwork instruments clicked and spun. According to Sandalphon’s mental map, this ought to be the way through to the greenhouse. Since there had been no sign of Markiona during her contingent’s excursion so far, there were only a couple unexplored spots left where she could be. And though the stargaze contraption seemed to pose no threat, and Sandalphon couldn’t find any obvious signs of danger, this greenery-lined corridor still seemed oddly sinister to her. She couldn’t help but be curious about what lay behind those doors.

When Edward called her, the archangel half-expected him to report that he’d discovered Markiona. Instead, it seemed he’d found some sort of workshop or study, stuffed with research material and overseen by some sort of prototype held aloft by wires. An information cache was exactly what Sandalphon had been hoping to discover since she first arrived in Krat Zoo, and she knew nobody was better suited to peruse the Alchemists’ documents. “I’ll be right there,” she replied, only to hesitate when she turned to report to Ace, Ramattra, and Geralt. These hunters were plenty capable, of course, but she didn’t want to shirk her duty as a leader -not to mention healer- if danger really did lurk beyond these doors. “That said, it would be ill-advised for me to abandon you three,” she admitted, her pupils becoming inverted triangles. “Perhaps I should remain to support you?”

“Having second thoughts?” When Sandalphon turned to look, she found Heismay hanging upside-down from the leafy limb of a monkey puzzle tree. It did not surprise her to see the eugief here, and she could only assume he’d discreetly tailed her team as extra insurance against any unseen threats. “I can join these two, if you like,” he offered. “If there’s any chance to learn more about what happened in this dreadful place, and to prevent it happening again, you should take it.”

Sandalphon nodded. While Heismay was no substitute for a healer, four Seekers would always be better than three. “Be careful,” she told them.

The archangel then disappeared, using her link skill to warp to Edward’s side rather than wear herself out climbing ladders. When the column of light dispersed, she stood at the tactician’s side, and thanks to his newly summoned Bronze Golems it was a little cramped in this chamber. She left him to dismantle the nonfunctional winged puppet, carefully maneuvered between a couple of the burly constructs, and bent over the nearest desk to begin reading. Her specialized eyes scanned document after document with inhuman speed, internalizing every report, memo, and research paper. Ergo, the Petrification Disease, puppets, Kroud, and carcasses…these documents covered a lot of topics. The team’s most pressing concerns were the carcasses and their potentially infectious contagion that had turned the once-proud Krat Zoo into a menagerie of twisted monstrosities, and on that subject Sandalphon found a lot of good news.

As she read more about the Petrification Disease and ergo, however, the sounds of tinkering faded further into the background. With bated breath she absorbed every theory, experiment, and finding, her mind racing. At certain points she could scarcely believe what she was reading, but the men and women who’d penned these papers had been scientists through and through, testing each conjecture without regard for consequences or cost. Could this be what she’d been searching for?

In short order, Sandalphon knew everything she needed to know. She knew what she needed to do, even if it filled her nascent human side with fear. She had no other options presently, and precious little time. Maybe a more pleasant option would arise within the coming days, but she couldn’t hang her hopes on that remote possibility. This evening, when the Seekers finally stopped to set up camp for the night, she would have to put this plan into action. After a few moments Sandalphon lifted her gaze, staring out the penthouse windows into the overcast gloom with pupils like empty rings. For the first time since awakening today she allowed her eyes to close as she breathed in, then out. There was no knowing if this plan would work, and even if it did, things would never be the same. Starting tonight, the archangel would have to say her prayers, as long and hard as she could.

Downstairs, she could hear loud noises from the direction of the greenhouse. Quickly the archangel collected all the most sensitive documents into a briefcase, then warped back to her starting point next to the stargazer. 

Shortly prior, Heismay had lent his strength to the task of pushing the doors open, more as a show of good faith to the Cadet and the Witcher than as an actual help. When the doors opened wide, they revealed the greenhouse in all its splendor, a single massive open room with a variety of enormous, exotic trees around its fringes. Most of the greenhouse was empty space, though, with nothing but uneven cobblestones and patches of grass in between the floor and the vaulted glass ceiling.

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/pwauD2x.png[/img][/center]

Without daylight to pour in through the domed windowpanes, it was dark in this spacious atrium, but Heismay could see one thing of note through the gloom. All the way on the other side of this derelict dance floor stood a strange throne constructed from welded puppet remains, and on that chair lounged a woman with her legs crossed. Her skin was a pale, stony slate blue, but her hair was blonde, parted off-center as curtains to frame her beautiful face and ruby-red eyes. She wore a corset, tight black leather pants, and a white silk shirt with puffy short sleeves, her look completed by a fur-lined collar, red necklace, and black fingerless gloves. On her left hand she also wore an odd, disc-shaped device, with brass cables embedded beneath her skin. A long blue fingernail teased her bottom lip before she began to speak.

“I was told that a murderous puppet would come to call on me,” she remarked, her English accent rather husky. “So who are these handsome guests standing before me?” With Heismay hidden in the shadow of a tree by the door, she only seemed to be looking at Ace, Ramttra, and Geralt. This must be Markiona, Heismay realized, the elusive Puppeteer of Death. She sighed, uncrossed her legs, and stood. “It matters not.” When she held up her hand blue strings shot out of her fingertips and snaked upward through the air, flying toward something white that squatted among the branches of the tree behind her. They plugged into the mechanical shape, and as it came to life it not only unfurled large wings, but brandished a huge mace. It took flight, soaring through the heights of the greenhouse before swooping down to Markiona’s side. The [url=https://i.imgur.com/YbNobcn.png]Queen’s Arche Puppet[/url] loomed half again as tall as its master, connected to her by ethereal strings.

Markiona smiled at her visitors. “You belong to me now.”