The Kraken

Sacred World (Engel x The Kraken)

Kasai had finally decided to move from her spot on the couch to her bed long after the sun had set over the city. Nestled into her bed, she had just about found sleep when a loud rumbling and a honk came from the street outside. A smile played across her face before she even opened her eyes. She made it to the window in time to see the tail lights disappear down the block.

The next morning Kasai woke and put on some tea to brew before she would need to get ready for work. The card with the number on it still sat on her coffee table, staring her in the face. What was the big deal? She should just call the number and find out if the person on the other end of the line can give her what she wanted. Unfortunately, Kasai was more skeptical than that.

She drank her tea and picked up the card again. That was that. She decided she would call the number today when she got off work. Afterall, the worse thing that could happen is she gets rejected from yet another news reporter. Nothing she hadn't experienced already. And after Avani's little drive by last night, she decided to go ahead and try to see Avani today as well.

Kasai groaned and stood up from the couch, placing her cup in the sink before heading to get dressed for the day. She would be stuck on surveillance again, which meant she needed to be wearing civilian clothing. Well, it wasn't as protective as her police uniform was but she couldn't complain as it was certainly more comfortable to sit around in. Kasai grabbed her badge and the rest of her things, shoving the card from the table in her pocket before heading out the door to her car.

She made it to the station, where the captain briefed her on what the previous officer had observed. Apparently the place was seeing a little more action than it had yesterday. She was told to keep her radio handy and keep her eyes peeled. Satisfied with the information she was given, she headed out towards the gang's hangout.

Kasai parked her car a couple blocks away as to not raise any suspicion on her part. She slipped her radio onto the waist of her pants and covered it up with her shirt before making her way to the bench where she would unfortunately spend the next several hours of her life. Taking a seat, she sighed and faced the building across the street to look for any signs of illegal activity. All was clear for now, so she got comfortable and settled in for the job.

Sacred World (Engel x The Kraken)

Kasai had made her way back to the police station, set to fill out her report and get to work on finding a reporter willing to listen to her rather insane story. As she placed the paperwork down on her captain's desk, he turned and looked at her.

"How did it look out there? Anything big seem to be in the works?" He questioned her. She gave a sigh, the last thing she wanted to do was stick around to entertain his mini-interrogation of her observations. In the end though she remembered to remain respectful and cleared her throat, shaking her head.

"No sir. Place was pretty quiet, just a few of the regulars mingling about. They didn't even seem to be organizing at the moment, Niko is out there now continuing surveillance." She gave her verbal report and waited for him to dismiss her, which he did after giving a nod and a grunt.

She gladly and quickly exited his office and grabbed her things to leave for the day. Now she was on another mission: to find a newspaper willing to do an interview and tell their story. That could prove difficult due to the fact that the paper will willingly have to speak against the mayor in a way, make sure the people see his fault in ignoring the severity of the issue.

Kasai set out with a few news outlets in mind, but she was promptly turned away from each of them before they even heard what she wanted to tell them. After a few arguments and some unkind words, she was back out on the street thinking up a plan B. A tapping on her shoulder made her turn around, a dissatisfied look still donned her face. A thin man with a card in his outstretched hand stood behind her.

"I recognize you, you're an RCPD officer." Kasai slowly nodded her head, unsure of what that had to do with anything this stranger could want. "I work for the Republic City Times. I saw them turn you away; we don't interview anyone that isn't well-known and promising of a headliner." Kasai was quickly getting annoyed with the man, and went to turn away.

"No, wait! I know this is all stuff you already know. But here," he handed her the card that was in his hand. "This is someone who can listen to what you have to say. They work independently of the big papers, but they can get your story out for you if that's what you really want." He gave her one more nod and turned to go back to his place of work.

Kasai looked down at the business card, with nothing else written on it than a phone number. She shoved the card in her pocket and marched down the sidewalk again, frustrated by the numerous rejections she had received so far today. It had been a long day, and she was ready to head home to have a drink and relax. She got in her car and drove to her apartment.

Once inside, she tossed her keys on the table along with the card while she went to pour a drink. When she returned to sit down on her couch, she stared at the card. Should she even trust the guy? Why did he care enough to even give her a number? And why the hell wasn't there a name to go along with it? She sipped her drink while she pondered the validity of it all, willing her body to relax from the long day.

When she finally started to relax, she thought of Avani. She wondered when they would see each other again, but she knew better than to be pushy. Avani was the type of woman who would make her presence known when she wanted. For now, she enjoyed the whiskey in her glass and watched the sun set across the harbor.

Sacred World (Engel x The Kraken)

The week so far had gone by slowly, each day dragging on into the next. Kasai had returned to work at the PD, her probation was finally lifted and she was allowed to go back out on patrol instead of spending her days drowning in endless oceans of paperwork. Of course, this excited her. After she was allowed back on field duty the days seemed to move quicker, keeping up pace with her job.

It had been nearly a week since Avani had taken her to that fancy restaurant, wine and dine in an exclusive manner. The next morning Kasai had woken up to a headache, courtesy of the wine. In her mind she had recalled the prior day's activities, and a blush fell upon her when she realized her slight intoxication may have influenced her actions in a risqué way.

However, she couldn't help but smile at the fact. There was nothing to regret about it, in fact it was a rather fulfilling night. The only thing that seemed odd to her was what appeared to be an enormous amount of money that Avani had handed over as they left. It wasn't that she thought Avani didn't have the money, it just seemed to be a rather large amount to just be carrying around. More than Kasai herself could afford to spend on one night out. But in the end, she also attributed her interpretation of the amount of money to her drunken state.

One thing she was keen on looking into was the mayor and checking in with local newspapers. Kasai hadn't had any plans to follow through with their little "blackmailing" idea, but when the Captain called her in earlier that week to ask if she would like to have a new partner assigned to her she changed her mind. 'I shouldn't have to have a new partner...' The loss still weighed heavily on her, and the least she could do is earn the fallen friends the recognition they deserve.

Kasai intended on scoping out some of the local news businesses after work today, then discussing it further with Avani. For now, she sat alone on a bench down the block from a well-known gang hang out. She was on surveillance duty, this gang was under investigation for several heists and robberies, some where there were civilian injuries. The department feared they may be going for bigger targets, so Kasai was sent to observe if they were bringing in anything that would suggest it.

The scene had remained fairly quiet, nothing too suspicious going on. Soon enough, her relief arrived and she stood from her seat. Shaking the other undercover officer's hand, she gave him a nod and then headed to her car that was parked a couple blocks away. All she had left for the day was to go back to the PD and file her surveillance report and then she was free to go, so off she went once she reached her car.

The Circus At The End Of The World (Engel X The Kraken)

Elijah and Kate had made their way back to the animal enclosures and poked around to see where Claire had run off to. Eventually she resurfaced, whip in hand. This time, Kate stood still and kept quiet instead of opening her mouth again. What Eli had said still sat fresh in her mind and she knew she needed to leave Claire be.

It took Kate by great surprise when Claire took her hand and gave her a reassuring squeeze. She did her best not to react too greatly to the gesture, simply smiling ever so slightly and returning the squeeze. Her heart thumped in her chest at the notion that things were going to be alright. Hopefully at the very least their friendship would remain unharmed throughout the process, she could only hope.

"Well, I didn't bring my pitchfork with me or else I'd say we should burn her at the stake." Elijah returned the nervous laughter with a less awkward chuckle, shaking his head. "We might as well see what she has to say, at the very least she may have some answers that could prove useful to us." He shrugged his shoulders.

Kate nodded in agreement, "That's true. I don't suggest we act until we have an idea of what's really going on." She doubted Elena had done anything like this on purpose, and it was hard to believe that she was capable of such magic. That is until recently, of course. Too many oddities had occurred to deny such forces could exist.

"Very well then, let's go pay the boss a visit, yeah?" Elijah tucked the blade that was on his waist into his trousers and covered it up with his shirt. No point in looking threatening if there was no need, especially not with all of the cops patrolling the grounds for their investigation. He set off leading the way, checking over his shoulder to make sure the girls were following.

"Well, what are we going to say to her? We can't just knock on her door and say 'Hey Elena, mind telling us about that voodoo stuff you did the other night? Seemed a little murderous if you ask us.' She'll probably send us to the same fate as that poor woman earlier." Kate questioned.

Elijah raised an eyebrow at her, but kept walking. "I think maybe you should leave the talking to me or Claire, Kate. Your way with words seems to be fleeting today." He flashed a grin, which she returned with a huff. "We should probably start vague, wait to see if she fesses up before we have to bring it up ourselves."

Lets do fandoms! Updated

Been looking for a Bioshock rp for a while, and the Burial at Sea DLC made me really interested in pre-fall Rapture. Have any ideas for that one?

The Circus At The End Of The World (Engel X The Kraken)

Elijah and Kate walked mostly in silence as they weaved their way between wagons and tents towards the weapons range. Kate's mind was heavy as she trudged along, her eyes aimed at her feet while she silently cursed and had arguments with herself. Why was is that she was the one being punished here? She hadn't done anything wrong, other than profess her suppressed feelings for her best friend. Ugh, if she had just suppressed them further maybe they would have disappeared altogether and they wouldn't be in this mess right now.

Of course it was her fault, she couldn't just be 'normal' like all the other people in the world. No, that would be too easy. Instead she had to have the most difficult rendering of reality possible for her. Then again, she didn't deserve the disappointing look that Claire threw at her either. After all, if she hadn't done what she had they would probably still be trapped in that crazy nightmare, forever doomed. She continued to mumble to herself and throw her hands around like a mad person while she walked.

Eli raised an eyebrow at her but let her be while they walked, nodding to passing coworkers while they walked through a commons area and shrugging when they pointed at Kate with a confused expression. They arrived at the place where they kept their weapons and practiced their acts all too often. But something was off. There was some type of gelatinous goop covering the chests that the weapons were kept in, and the wooden targets standing several yards away appeared to be bloodstained. Kate approached cautiously, blinking several times and rubbing her eyes before turning to Elijah.

"You... see this too, right?" She asked.

"Unfortunately, yes..." He approached the chest and opened it up. The contents were liquefied, the slimy substance coating the entire thing and filing it nearly to the brim. Eli grimaced, but kicked the chest over to empty it out. It nearly appeared as if the weapons had been dissolved by whatever the stuff was. It spilled out in a giant plop, coating the ground.

"We should get out of here before whatever did this comes back... I've got more blades at my wagon, we can stop by there before heading back to Claire." Kate said as she had to keep herself from gagging at the sight of the gelatin goo that spread from the crate. Elijah nodded and wiped his hands with a kerchief from his pocket, tossing it to the ground after his hands were cleaned.

They made it to her wagon and both entered, cautiously at first after what had been witnessed earlier near the wagons. Once Kate saw it was safe, she closed the door behind them and opened her closet. She retrieved her own throwing blades and holster before handing a larger knife to Eli, which he placed at his side.

"You know, Katie, you shouldn't be so hard on yourself." Eli said after a few moments of silence. To which, she raised her eyebrow in speculation. "With Claire, I mean. Give her some time, you just dropped something big on her. 'Bout damn time you did too."

"Wait, you knew?" Her mouth fell slightly agape.

Eli chuckled and nodded, "Well, it wasn't that hard to figure it out. Not after the multitude of times you ignored my attempts at flirting that is." He smiled softly, "I wondered why you blew me off, but then I started to pay attention to the way you looked at her, every time she was around."

Kate's face turned red and she let her jaw drop. It had never occurred to her that Eli had tried to make advances on her, though now that he mentioned it... she swallowed the lump in her throat and had to sit down. "Why didn't you tell me?"

He shrugged, "What was there to tell? I love you Katie, but I've moved past those feelings for you. You love her, you just need to let her realize that."

Kate was still a bit embarrassed, but she was able to gather her thoughts and talk to Elijah about it. Strange as it may be, it made her feel better about the situation. She realized she needed to back off and give herself and Claire a break. They finished their chat after a while and decided it was time to head back to the big cat enclosures to make sure nothing strange happened there like back at the practice range.

Sacred World (Engel x The Kraken)

The first week Kasai spent bored in her apartment, meandering around and cleaning things that she had already cleaned three times by now. It wasn't particularly easy for her to mope around lazily for such extended periods of time, since she was used to such an active lifestyle. Soon enough though, the aching in her leg was quelled and she returned to the doctor.

Lucky for her, the break was healed enough that the cast could be removed and she could walk without crutches. The doctor instructed her to ease back into vigorous activity though, to avoid re-injury. She listened to his instructions but by the time she was able to walk out of the doctor's office on her own two feet, she was already throwing a few kicks around with her leg. There was a slight soreness, but she figured it would have time to heal the following week.

Kasai gladly returned to work, though when she arrived she was met with a written warning on her desk and instructions that prohibited her from field work for two weeks. Great, she always wanted to be a desk jockey. Her boredom continued as she shuffled papers and signed off on reports that landed on her desk. Each time a call came in she jumped up, ready to head out. But she was always met with a cold glare from her lieutenant, so she would sit back down.

The day before she was supposed to go out with Avani she spent doing the same thing. The boring empty thoughts in her head were this time replaced with thoughts of Avani, the weekend they shared together and what would come next. Just before she clocked out she had to sign off on a robbery report, with two unidentified accomplices to the gang in question. Just another day as a pencil pusher, she signed off and handed it over to the investigating officers.

The next day she woke and spent part of the morning stretching and loosening her muscles, remembering how Avani planned on having that bet like they talked about. It was weird to her, but she was excited to see Avani. Kasai took a shower and changed into some casual clothes, not knowing what the other woman may have planned, and then waited about.

Soon enough she heard a horn honk outside of her apartment, and she looked out the window to see Avani on her motorcycle. Luckily, she wasn't dressed up either so Kasai grabbed her things and headed downstairs, greeting Avani with a smile.

"Well, hey there hot stuff." She looked over the motorcycle and noticed the sidecar. "No need for that, I've got my legs back." She said with a smile, which soon turned to a smirk. "Oh, you think you can beat me huh? Big talk, let's hope you aren't all bark and no bite." Kasai waited for Avani to detach the cart before climbing on the motorcycle behind her, this time not worried about a helmet.

"Off we go then, hope you're ready to lose that bet." Kasai said as she grinned and wrapped her arms around Avani's torso, holding on as they began to move.

Sacred World (Engel x The Kraken)

Kasai laughed and followed Avani back to the table, where she took her seat and leaned her crutch against the wall nearby. She poured herself some tea and popped a pill out of the bottle that the doctor had given her, placing it on her tongue before washing it down the hatch. Kasai put the bottle back down on the table and motioned towards it while she swallowed.

"Seriously though, if you need one of those go for it."

A playful smile worked its way across her face again as she piled food onto her own plate and licked her lips in anticipation of a real meal. Eagerly, she began to eat. It didn't occur to her just how hungry she was until she took that first bite. Then, she had to control her table manners to keep from looking like a pig, as Avani so lovingly called the members of the police, as she ate.

Kasai had brought her cup to her lips again and was taking a drink when Avani commented on her satisfaction of the weekends events and such. She nearly choked on the liquid and sat the cup back down on the table while she laughed and coughed at the same time.

"Such lovely table conversations you have."

Kasai gathered herself and cleared her throat before speaking again. "Well, I think it's safe to say that after this weekend I could definitely get used to cooking you breakfast." She smiled and shrugged her shoulders. She hadn't really thought about what would happen next, but considering all she had done to see Avani again those days ago and to keep her from going to prison Kasai figured they would be having that dinner after all.

However, she did sit there for a moment in silence to think while she chewed. After what had happened the other day over a few shots, she had to make sure her feelings were in the right place to avoid a similar situation. It was true that she liked Avani, differently than she had liked any woman before. And it was also true that the past weekend was definitely an effective experience. Kasai came back to the way she had felt when Avani had walked out of her door, when she thought she wouldn't see her again.

"Tell ya what. Give me a week to get out of this cast, that way I can keep up without these stupid things," she poked the crutch and made it fall over to the floor. "Then, I'd be more than happy to have dinner with you. So long as you don't mind being seen out with a cop." Kasai grabbed her tea and sipped on it again, wondering if Avani truly minded the fact that she was a police officer or if it was just a point for teasing with her.

The Circus At The End Of The World (Engel X The Kraken)

Kate sighed and stepped away from Claire, shaking her head to herself. As much as Kate didn't want Claire to go off alone and be a potential target to whatever forces were at work here, she couldn't ignore the cold tone and distaste that Claire was directing at her. It was clear she didn't want to be anywhere near her at the moment, but they were under some unfortunate circumstances.

Claire was right though, she probably would be perfectly safe surrounded by her big cats. If not for their fierceness, the sight of them alone would be enough to stave off any potential attacker who was not familiar with them. Kate supposed that if she wanted to be left alone then she would give her space once they made it to the animal keeps.

"Fine. If you want to be left alone with the cats then so be it." Kate mumbled before walking in the direction of the cages. She cared about Claire's well being, but she wasn't going to stick around if she was going to be treated coldly by her most valued friend. Kate supposed that once Claire was safely with her creatures, Kate would leave her alone as she wished.

The effects of the dream seemed to have no negative effect on any of the trio's awakened life except Kate's. Elijah and Claire had been freed from a fear, while Kate's was slowly developing before her eyes. It scared her, but she decided to not worry until Claire had had time to process what exactly Kate had admitted to her in the dreamland.

Kate didn't feel like talking anymore after Claire's comment, so she left the answering of her question to Eli. He followed behind the girls and shrugged his shoulders.

"Well first we need to figure out what we're dealing with. And I think in order to do that we need to figure out what kind of mumbo-jumbo Elena was rattling off in the big top. But I doubt she'll be willing to just tell us, so you two better grab your spy gear." He chuckled, trying to lighten the damp mood that was surrounding the group, but to no avail.

They walked the rest of the way in silence, arriving at the cages a few minutes later. There was a peculiar feel to the area, but Kate attributed it to her general nervousness. Kate stopped when they got nearer to Solomon's keep and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Well here we are, if this is where you feel the safest then Eli and I will leave you to it. Besides, it would serve us well to go gather some of our blades to keep on hand anyways." Kate didn't bother making eye contact with Claire again after the looks of resentment that she had already thrown her way, so she turned to walk towards their training area where the weapons were kept.

"We'll be back later, holler if you need."

The Circus At The End Of The World (Engel X The Kraken)

Kate rolled her eyes when Claire tried to convince them further about her sleeping state. Elijah chuckled and shook his head as he watched Claire roll off of Kate and give up on the antics. He tossed a canteen of water towards Claire, since she had been the one to request it earlier when he had left.

Kate sat up after Claire had moved off of her, brushing the grass off of her back and arms. There was a crick in her neck, a result of what she presumed to be sleeping so awkwardly for those hours. Her hand rubbed the base of her neck and she raised an eyebrow at Claire, who seemed to be sitting uncomfortably a few feet away.

She wondered if something was bothering her, perhaps what had gone down in the crazy dreamland. Kate didn't have to ponder on it long though, because Claire's sudden ramblings confirmed that something was up. All she could do was hope that her actions hadn't caused some sort of rift between them. That was exactly why she hadn't acted on her emotions beforehand, but she really didn't have a choice in the nightmare if they all wanted to get out of it without going mad first.

"Well, we need to-"

Kate opened her mouth to respond to Claire but was cut off when the woman decided to talk at an increasingly fast pace. Elijah looked over at her and they exchanged looks of concern and confusion before standing up after Claire. It seemed as though she was just searching for excuses to escape the conversation and get away from the pair, or more particularly, from Kate.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Kate said as Claire turned around to leave. Regardless of if she was uncomfortable around her, they were all probably better off sticking together considering recent events. Kate quickly closed the distance Claire had made from them and reached her hand out, grabbing Claire's arm to stop her from leaving.

"Claire, wait. It isn't wise to just run off by yourself." She realized that she was still holding on to Claire's wrist, and she quickly released her grip, fearing it may just make her want to get away even more. Kate took in a deep breath and sighed. "Look, what happened in the 'illusion' as you call it... I understand if you don't want to talk about it." She shifted uncomfortably on her feet and looked at the ground.

"We don't have to talk about that right now. You can pretend like it was all some mind trick, but look at everything that's been happening. Something sinister is going on around here and we need to stick together." Kate looked to Eli for some support, before Claire tried to run off by herself.

He nodded his head, "Kate is right. If you want to check on the animals, that is fine. But we should go with you."