Nabriales, Vi, and Sophia
Day 3 - Ominar - 07:30
All things considered, the shop looked harmless enough. Gaudy name aside, Vi couldn't find much to complain about it, but it was the individual that was waiting for her inside that gave her the slightest hesitation to her step. She had met Nabriales a few days ago, yet she was still unable to put her finger on what exactly it was about him that was making her feel so uneasy. Maybe it was his odd horns that let off the occasional crackle of Vis. Perhaps it was the completely laid back way he accepted her offer to be his employee as payment for finding a way to restore the power that she had lost. But perhaps the simplest answer, and coincidentally the one that made her want to grimace the most, was the simple fact that she had to be working under someone for the first time in over a century.
The redhead realized she was stalling, so with a small sigh she placed a steady hand on the door and entered the ridiculously named Victorious Secret. Small rays of light accompanied her entrance, dancing off the multitude of glass containers that lined the walls of the shop. Without really thinking about it, Vi's eyes made a quick pass over the room, sizing up its contents for any possible threats. Thankfully, all she found were bottles filled with an uncountable array of colors shimmering in the daylight and two humans, one of which was her new employer. Vi did not recognize the girl that was next to the enigmatic man, but for now she was of little consequence to the former Exeo.
"Nabriales," she called, striding up to the pair like she owned the place.
"You still haven't told me what exactly I'll be doing here." "Have I ever forgotten your breakfast, Nabri?" The woman chuckled softly, reaching toward the bag on the counter. She pulled it to her and unfolded the top. After rifling through it for a moment, she pulled out something wrapped in wax paper. With a triumphant smile, she handed over the wrapped pile of carbs. Were Nabri to unwrap it, he would find that--as usual--Sophia had gotten him a Salmon and Cream Cheese bagel. If he removed the bagel from the wrapping completely, he would even find a neatly scrawled note which read
This bagel paid for an orphan's education. :) <3Once her brother's breakfast was handed over, the familiar jingle of the bell rang throughout the store, causing Sophia to turn and look at the door.
"Welc-" The Descendant's greeting was cut short as a woman with firey red hair--seemingly--unintentionally interrupted her to address her brother.
She wasn't aware he had taken on any part-timers. Interesting.
Nabriales couldn't help but beam as the surprisingly chunky package was passed his way, taking it with a free hand and placing it on the desk while he proceeded to gulp down what should have been a boiling cup of coffee. Alchemy had its perks.
"I suppoooose you haven't, but one day I'll catch you on my doorstep without a bagel and a coffee..." he replied, visibly perked up by the coffee he'd just drunk and the idea of the breakfast waiting for him. As he reached his hand out to pick the hefty bagel up, he was interrupted by the familiar tinkle of the doorbell, and his eyes looked up just slightly to catch a glimpse at the individual responsible for interrupting his breakfast. The second he saw the brilliant flash of red catch on the morning rays he knew exactly who it was - and with a quick glance at his phone confirmed that she was on time quite literally to the second - and picked up his bagel regardless. Scary Prae lady or no, there were practically no forces in the universe that could get between him and breakfast.
He unwrapped the thing with one hand, picked it up, and promptly shoved half of it into his awaiting gullet. Having no free hands and his mouth full he couldn't exactly greet Vi, but as she practically stormed down the aisle a quizzical raise of his eyebrow would be greeting and reply enough. A couple of chews later, followed by a singularly satisfying swallow, he deigned to respond:
"You'll have to wait for orientation for that, hon. Breakfast comes before busywork, you know?" he half-beamed and half-exhaled as he picked up the remainder of the bagel and began the process of devouring it in a fashion almost identical to that which had caused the first half to disappear.
After yet another gulp, and a quick belch, he turned his head to Sophia and asked simply: "Back to bed?""Yes, please! It is far too early. But, I know you don't like getting breakfast on your own, so I am happy to oblige.""Aren't you just a l'il peach?" he laughed before waving his hand somewhat nonchalantly, poofing Sophia back to her bedroom. It was, after all, a manoeuvre he had practiced often enough to get right without looking, thinking, or speaking.As Vi walked past the veritable explosion of colors that made up the shop's walls, the redhead could have sworn that her nose was starting to pick up the nostalgic smell of her favorite boot polish. She had no idea what in the Queen's name Nabriales could possibly be brewing to emit such a specific odour, but she was certain that she likely did not want to find out. In fact, she was certain the same sentiment would end up being applied to many of the oddities that littered the all too vibrant store. So until it proved to beome a much more life threatening concern, she decided it was best to act as if it simply didn't exist.
Throughout all of the dark haired man's antics, Vi looked awfully unimpressed. His manners - or lack thereof - hardly fazed her, as did his flippant disregard for her question. After all, even though their previous meeting had been short, he was already living up to the initial impression she had gotten from him.
But when the short one that had apparently stopped by just to supply him breakfast vanished, Vi found herself cocking her head slightly to the side, her eyes lighting up ever so slightly in surprise. Teleportion magic was not something that just any mage could do, especially not as effortlessly as Nabriales had just made it look. The fact that he must have went out of his way to add the small "poofing" noise only added a small note of irritation to her small burst of bewilderment.
So, there was more to this one after all.
"You'll find that I much prefer busywork to senseless idleness," she replied coolly, looking her employer straight in the eyes.
"How soon can we begin this orientation of yours?" "Now, given that I've finished my breakfast!" Nabriales smiled, cocking his head to the side and waving his hand in Vi's general direction. With another audible poof she'd find herself directly outside the shop, just in front of the door.
"The first lesson is remembering that I'm the owner, hon!" he called out, waving a little as he did so. Normally he'd have let interrupting his breakfast lie, but he too had found that Vi had fared exactly as his initial impression had suggested - she was going to be incredibly easy to mess with.To even a casual observer, it would appear as if the air around Vi had sharply surged upwards in temperature as her eyes crackled with annoyance. Everything, from the playful tone in his voice to that damned poofing sound found a way to grind against her nerves. But Vi was hardly one to let her emotions rule her, so after a brief exhale with her eyes shut tight, she let the frustration drain out of her before she approached the door once more.
The jingling bounced off the shop's walls again as Vi strode back in, her expression once more composed and intent to get through this, no matter what Nabriales had in store for her.
"And what, pray tell, is the second lesson?" she asked the horned man, unable to completely remove every last trace of annoyance from her voice.
"You'll need to know your way around the lingerie section. I used to man it myself, but people kept saying that I didn't have a feminine enough presence!" he chuckled, stepping out from behind the counter and sauntering directly over to his new employee. Surprisingly, he was just barely taller than her (though the difference was somewhat more noticeable by virtue of his horns, now a corona of shimmering iridescent light), and he looked her straight in the eyes and straightened out his smile as much as he was physically capable - which to say was not a great deal.
"What I need from you, mostly, is a test subject. Many of my potions work regardless of the biology belonging to whom they're administered, but there are some effects that require different mechanisms of action, pharmacologically speaking, and I need someone who can accurately and succinctly report mental, physical, and emotional effects back to me. I'll also require the aforementioned labour - for appearance's sake if nothing else, darling - and someone to watch over things when I have business elsewhere. Your payment will either be in cash or in any of the various services I can provide, and you'll need to sign a coooouple of documents saying I can teleport into your home whenever I want. I despise Ubers and personally teleport all employees to and from work, you see." Nabriales smiled, his voice losing only the slightest hint of its inherent lilt as he moved on to more serious topic. He figured it best to at least allow Vi to begin this relationship on a level she was comfortable with, because comfort was a luxury that she wasn't going to be able to get used to in the near future.Vi didn't even bat an eye at Nabriales decision to leave her in charge of the store's lingerie. After all, it hardly seemed like a difficult task for the centuries old Prae, but at the same time she wasn't entirely sure she was well versed enough to actually give useful recommendations. It would certainly be prudent for her to ask the strange man for some pointers on the topic later.
Nabriales small attempt, no matter how unseccessful, at looking somewhat serious was not lost on Vi. Silently, she steeled herself for whatever deranged catch the man must have been hiding regarding their arrangement, as she was certain that the deal was likely too good to be true. Restoring one's Vis was no small task, so it was only logical that something of such a scale would require an equally great cost from her.
But when he finished his little speech, Vi could only scoff lightly.
"Is that all?" she asked without breaking eye contact with the man. The list of things that she wouldn't do in order to bring the Spire crumbling down on Aismael's head was quite short, so it went without saying that Nabriales conditions sounded all too tame in comparison. The corona of light emanating from the man's horns seemed to dance with the fiery resolve in Vi's eyes.
"I accept your terms. I don't care about money, just do what you can to make me whole again." The redhead took a quick step, placing her face mere inches away from Nabriales', before she continued, far more coldly,
"And it's not hon - certainly not darling either - it's Vist-" But the name caught in her throat. No,that name didn't belong to her anymore. The woman took a small step back as she collected herself for the shortest of moments.
"It's Vi. Just... Vi."Though a smile was nearly always plastered on Nabriales' face, the corners of his lips twisted up in an oddly malefic fashion. It was a smile that gave off the impression of being not very nice at all, a sharp juxtaposition to the mirthful look that almost always accompanied the horned alchemist.
"You clearly don't understand the nature of my work... Vi." Nabriales spoke, before turning around to walk over to the cauldron that he'd been brewing ingredients within - the pungent aroma was far intensified, now, and he moved his hand down to the liquid as if to submerge it within the viscous red liquid, but summoned a glass vial to his hand and dipped its rim gingerly below the surface. As the liquid trickled over the threshold and into the bottle, he used his other hand to beckon Vi over to him while it filled. After he made the motion, his free hand summoned another vial - though this one was clearly far different in nature. The vis it gave off would be palpable, and the weight of it hit him briefly and he stumbled over its intensity. His vis crystal vials were reserved for the most powerful and rare of his potions, and this one in particular was one that Vi would be extremely interested in.
As the liquid reached the two-thirds full mark in the cauldron, he pulled the vial up and placed it on the counter, then thrust the crystal vial towards his new employee.
"I believe in fostering good business, so consider this your down payment. I can't restore you to what you were exactly - I'm not a God-Queen. But I can infuse you with enough Vis to kill lesser beings and we can go from there!"Vi watched the alchemist's measured movements closely, trying to glean as much information about the process as she could. After all, if she was going to be here for any length of time, it would be prudent to understand how it all worked even if she wasn't personally responsible for any of it. But it was difficult to keep her foucs on his work as the scent that permeated the room became much more potent, almost as if it was trying to whisk her away to some nostalgic place.
The sight of the odd crystal vial that Nabriales produced did a fine job of pulling her back to reality. She didn't so much as sense the vis that was leaking out of thing as she did
feel it, forcing her to fight the urge to back away from the stuff. And given it seemed potent enough to make Nabriales slightly stagger, she was certain that it wasn't some mere prank of his. This was the real deal. It may not make her as strong as an Exeo, but it would definitely be a start.
Vi eyed the vial her employer offered her carefully, her eyes an odd mixture of wariness and excitement. But still, she listened to Nabriales carefully, raising an eyebrow at his God-Queen comment. She had never specifically said that she had once been an Exeo, but it was hardly a far leap to make if one were to examine the woman and her situation with any amount of scrutiny. Not that it really mattered at this point, so with a steady hand she accepted the vial from him.
Judging from how Nabriales reacted from the stuff being close to him, Vi figured there was only one way to handle the monstrous concoction in her hand. And that was by tilting her head back and chugging the stuff down in as few gulps as possible.
The first bite of the liquid hitting her tongue wasn't that bad, merely making every surface it touched tingle slightly. But the before she finished the bottle, that small tingle grew into a sharp burning, causing even the stern Prae to wince from the feeling as it slammed into the back of her throat. Vi tried to open her eyes, but every color in the room seemed to be magnified to unbearable levels, quickly overloading her senses. There was a sharp ringing noise in her ears that made coherent thought a mere fantasy. The vis coursing through her system was overwhelming, yet intoxicating at the same time.
Moments passed, which to her heightened senses felt like minutes, but as she came to she realized that she had fallen to her hands and knees. But as her vision returned, Vi could feel power the likes of which she hadn't felt in far too long.
"Well then," she coughed as she struggled to her feet, ready to wave off any offer of help the alchemist may have offered her,
"I can definitely work with this." A shaky hand looked for the closest surface to rest on as an equally shaky grin graced her lips. It was one hell of a rocky start, but one that the redhead was more than happy to take.
As the effect of the potion took hold, Nabriales was indeed half-tempted to at least attempt to pre-emptively offer Vi his support, but very quickly rethought that course of action and figured it would be best to let the potion take its course. If one not used to the level of power it provided had taken it, he would probably be teleporting their corpse into the nearest ditch and/or sewer entrance - he was glad that his assessment of her previous nature was correct. Still, even for her, it was likely to be a bit much for her for the next couple of hours. Unfortunately, Vi had already agreed to Nabriales' terms and he really didn't feel like waiting for her to recover before feeding her as many potions as physically possible.
"Give yourself a minute, hon. Then you can go ahead and drink the other vial! Not quite as potent as the first, but it'll certainly get you where you need to go..." Nabriales chuckled, turning around to begin bottling the rest of the potions as he did so. It would only take a brief second for him to summon the rest of the vials necessary, before his eyes lit up with the rainbow glow he was ever so fond of and he turned to Vi again.
"Actually, scratch that - I presume you were skilled with that telekinesis thing that the Prae tend to do, right? Why not try it again - bottle these potions for me as quickly as you can!" he half-questioned and half-demanded, the giddiness obvious in his voice and in his look as he did so. This was, after all, still another experiment to him - and one he dearly hoped worked.Skilled at telekinesis? Oh, if only Nabriales could have seen what Vi was once able to do. The small grin dimmed a bit, but now was not the time to get caught up in the past. No, right now Vi wanted to see what she could pull off at this very moment.
The Prae's hand glided gracefully across the vials Nabriales had offered her, the tips of her fingers barely brushing against them. Yet as soon as the contact ended, each one took to the air and quickly flew towards the cauldron. A rapid series of popping sounds echoed throughout the shop as each one quickly uncorked itself mid flight, with each one circling around its designated vial for added showmanship. Throughout the entire process Vi's eyes did not once glance at her target, showing just how confident she was in her ability. The bottles swooped down towards the questionable concoction, looking every bit like a bird that was diving towards water for prey. Each one emerged two--thrids filled, just like the one the alchemist had demonstrated for her, and returned to the counter at breakneck speeds. Thankfully they seemed to have been made out of sterner stuff, as the rough landing they were subjected to did not even leave them cracked.
Once more, Vi raised an eyebrow at her employer, only this time the expression seemed to be asking whether or not he was satisfied with the little performance.
It felt good to feel strong again, Vi realized. It had been so long since she had been able to flex her magic like this that she had almost forgotten how satisfying it could be. Her entire body felt light, like she had taken off a weight that she had never even realized she had been carrying. She could feel the vis coursing through her, seemingly imparting every cell in her body with power. She felt... her heart thundering dangerously fast in her chest. The slight buzzing that had been stuck in her ears since she had taken the potion had grown to an unbearable blare. More and more obnoxious spots kept cropping up in her vision and she noticed just how light headed she had become.
And then, Vi was on the floor.
As Vi crumpled to the floor, Nabriales only nodded solemnly. It had not been a question of if but a question of when - and frankly, she had lasted longer than most people would have. Some might even have been killed by the potent energy, especially a Prae - the crystal in their forehead was largely a good measure of how much vis they had taken in, and the alchemist checked it carefully to ensure there were no problems with Vi's health. It wouldn't do to have someone getting seriously injured on their first day at work - the paperwork alone would be horrendous. He'd have to employ another person to do it for him, and then they could be injured... His mind travelled down the path for a few seconds before he snapped himself back to reality and picked the woman up off of the floor with an almighty surge of effort and exhalation of breath.
She hadn't told him where she lived, and he didn't want to chance teleporting her to an unfamiliar location, so off they poofed to his penthouse suite. He laid her down in one of the four spare guest bedrooms, ensured there were adequate provisions in place, and quickly wrote a note on the bedside table:
"Try to rest, hon. I'll be back when I'm done at the store, and we can talk about things then."
Fetzen
FernStone
Alby47
Shienvien
The Grey Dust
Punished GN
