Kiyoka

[Graybeard]

"Did you know him well?"

He'd interrupted Brother Farley and the girl, who'd given her name as Corporal Kristi Yugawa, in what looked like an exchange of crystal-net addresses and phone numbers. Farley gave him an irritated look for a moment, but subsided as Kristi said, "Not at all. Private Ryono was new in town, right off the turnip cart, as we say. He got fried before any of us got to know him. Could you give me a hand with this?" she asked, struggling with her sack of guts.

Farley was on it in an instant. As he helped wrestle the sack, he noted, "I don't think your lifemages are going to get much out of this. Looks to me like he got pretty well cooked by his own fireball. That'll impede the connection, unless you guys have something there that we don't." (Or at least don't admit to having, he thought, although he truly didn't know of anything that would work on charred flesh.)

"It was a lightning bolt, not a fireball, but you're probably right," Kristi said. "We don't have anyone deployed at the station here who can speak to the dead after something like this has happened; most of our folks are Sashi Mu graduates, but no real advanced work. On the other hand, I've heard that interest in this one goes all the way back to Tsuirakushiti, so maybe the big brains at S&M, as we call it, will be able to do something. Have you heard the Springheel Jack legends? There's some big shot back there that thinks there may be something to that, so maybe that's the explanation." She'd read the same Weekly Weird News article as Kureji...

"New one on me," Farley said, wiping his hands. "I haven't been here that long myself. What's the Springheel Jack thing?"

As Kristi launched into local folklore, spiced up by some tidbits from her "journal article," Argus realized, this kid is really good. He'd turned a mildly hostile encounter into one where he was learning a lot more about this young battlemage than she was about either of them, and he was doing it while setting the stage for more ... searching ... encounters in the future. It wouldn't do to underestimate these people.

"So who's your friend?" Kristi changed the subject, talking to Farley but indicating Argus. Farley's eyes flashed the message to the older man: you wanna help with this one?

[Drannin]

Argus bowed slightly. "Name's Argus. Just some fellow, struggling through life." The old mage shrugged self-deprecatingly. He glanced at the sack. "I'm sorry about your comrade. I've heard the rumors about what happened. Something must have terrified the young man." He paused. "But I doubt it was a bit of local folklore that happened to him. Any ideas?"

Maybe I can swing her back to what happened here.

[Graybeard]

[OOC: Drannin, hope you don't mind if I put one line in Argus' mouth here; I think you'll agree that it fits...]

The girl looked Argus up and down and decided, seems harmless enough ... and this priest has the biggest pects I've ever seen in my life. "Nice to meet you, sir. Sorry, I really don't have any ideas. I just never knew him, and Captain Kitaura isn't saying much about the investigation." She turned back to Brother Farley.

"You know," Farley said, "my church is here to promote better relations between Veracia and Tsuiraku." He didn't need to let the double entendre sink in; it already had, clearly. "We'll do what we can to help you find out what happened to Private Ryono. I'll ask around. Could we, um, get together for coffee later to talk about it? I'm free after 11."

Kristi smiled. "Sounds good to me, see you at the little cafe up the street at 11:30. Thanks for all the help." She set off with her bag of guts, waving a flirtatious goodbye over her shoulder as she batted her eyes.

The two men watched her go, then Farley said, "I know what you're thinking: it would have been nice to get some more information out of her. Thing is, though, she probably doesn't have any more information. Remember she said she's a corporal, and when was the last time any of those knew what the big shots were thinking? I'll talk to her over lunch; she's nice looking and looks like she might be fun to be with," he said honestly. "But don't expect much. This Captain Kitaura she mentioned, now ... that is where you will find out what's really going on."

Argus snorted. "And I'm supposed to just barge in on him in his no doubt highly military office, a Tsuirakuan military office at that, and he'll spill his guts voluntarily? I don't think so ..."

It was Farley's turn to snort. "Oh, you'll have help. Have you met Sister Rose yet?" Argus' blank look answered that one even before his words did, so Farley continued with a leer, "To put it mildly, she's not what she seems. If a sleeveless smiter's tunic can get through to a girl like Corporal Yugawa --" well, that and a carefully buffed torso inside it, he didn't have to say -- "just wait till you see what Sister Rose can do with a middle-level military man five hundred kilometers from home. If you can be there when that encounter happens, you'll just have to shake the information tree, and the fruit will fall into your hand.

"And now, let's keep looking at the damage to the building. I think there was a beam weakened around the corner here that you might want to take care of..."

[LordofNightmares]

Tsubasa decided to take a rest at a local cafe and just listen to the talk she had learned from her years of training, all you have to do is let a few people that you are looking for some one and word will spread. Then all you do is wait in one spot to see if they take the bait. "Come here my little fish" she said in a soft whisper, "Miss, I would like an Iced Green Tea, and a Grilled Chicken Salad no dressing just Oil on the side."

[Drannin]

A couple of hours later, Argus was standing outside of the Veracian church, patiently awaiting the arrival of Sister Rose. It had been a productive time, he had to admit. Once he had a chance to flex his mystical muscles, so to speak, the work on the church had been a snap. He had done all he could, and it was impressive, if he did say so himself. Most of the damage had been repaired, with only some minor detail work which could be touched up on by specialists. Argus had also taken extreme care that no more organic matter had been caught up during the reassembly (although a small mouse had been squashed while he was reassembling a statue of Luminosita- that had been cleaned up most discretely).

I don't know, pondered Argus. I'm still not sure about reassembling a church to a consensual mass-hallucination. On the other hand, it was still better than that old woman who was absolutely convinced that her cat was a divine being (though in her defense, most cats seemed to feel this anyway). Besides, some of the weirdos aside, it was plain that the church DID help people, and that was worth putting up with (read: ignoring) a little bit of rhetoric.

In the end, they were paying him. That made up for any reservations about the church. Money talked, and it usually said the most wonderful things about beer and naked females of negotiable affection. It also said things about a warm bath and a change of clothes.

And thus Argus stood before the church, washed, wearing a new robe (rather plain, but comfortable and rugged), with a pouch of Tsuis that Father Egbert had given him as a downpayment for his services. The priest has seemed quite pleased with his services so far. Argus had excused himself for a couple of hours so as to restore himself to a fairly respectable appearance. He had managed to regain some of the striking looks and commanding presence that had taken him so far in the past. He wondered vaguely if he'd be able to follow through. I'll just have to, he determined. Even if I have to throttle it out of this Captain Kitaura.

Hopefully, Sister Rose would be as advertised. And this was why Argus stood outside of the Mission at the appointed time, awaiting the good Sister so that she would accompany him to the military office.

"Dr. Cleiviein?" asked a soft voice to his side. "I'm Sister Rose. It's very nice to meet you."

Argus turned to the woman with a smile. "A pleasure to meet you as well, my dear." He said warmly. Caught sight of her. Forced his face to not devolve into a leer. Kept his eyes on hers with all his might. Oh, weave.

Kitaura doesn't stand a chance.

[Graybeard]

Sister Rose looked to be in her mid-thirties, with startling green eyes in an oval face that simultaneously radiated serenity and mystery. Tall and slender, she moved with the same easy grace as Sisters Eva and Marilyn, but without even the slightest hint of the menace and alertness that the other two women wore like robes. She wore nun's robes, but gathered at the waist, in such a way as to resemble a modest and unpretentious, yet intensely flattering, gown as much as something of the church. Argus had a mental image of a deer slipping through the forest -- a particularly lissome and beautiful deer. "And I'm pleased to meet you too," she said, in a voice that had the sound of a gently flowing stream. "Father Egbert has briefed me on our mission; he speaks highly of you." She extended a perfectly formed, immaculately manicured hand for Argus to shake, and kept it discreetly at just the right height to convey that the hand was to be shaken, not kissed.

After a quick handshake and a scan of the street to make sure they weren't being observed, she asked, "Now, would you mind terribly if I reverted to my more regular demeanor? I've been doing some shopping for the mission and have made a few ... alterations ... to my appearance to go to the market. It might be thought, well, pretentious if I maintained it here at the church." Argus looked disappointed, but what could he say? "Don't worry," she said, "this will only take a moment." Her green eyes glowed, and the air shimmered with magical force...

...And almost instantly, a different woman was standing by Argus' side. This version of Sister Rose was a few inches shorter, slightly older -- 40, maybe -- and much more conservatively dressed, wearing the same conservative nun's robes as had Eva and Margaret. Apart from a slight, and by no means unflattering, aging, however, her face remained much the same -- and nothing could ever transform those eyes. "I hope I don't disappoint you," she smiled at Argus, in a voice that was just a bit deeper, just a bit more pious-sounding, just a bit more appropriate in general for a conventional, 40-year-old nun, if still an unusually attractive one. "I have a certain ... proficiency ... with polymorph magic," she added unnecessarily, and waited for the man's response.

[Drannin]

Argus was genuinely impressed. "Proficiency is the least of it," he said in admiration. "Arguably some of the best transformational magic I've seen in a long time. Actually, I'm a little jealous." Argus shrugged. "I never did get the hang of polymorphic magic." He very carefully didn't allude as to what he would use said magic FOR.

Arugs turned serious. "Regardless, Sister Rose, I'm glad to have you here. I need information for my investigation. Hopefully, between the two of us, we'll be able to get some information out of the local battlemage commander. Do you know the way?"

[Graybeard]

"I think so," Sister Rose said. "The regular military compound is well outside town, but the detachment that serves as the Kiyokan police force has a headquarters up north, not far from the warp gate. It's about a 20-minute walk. Let's go do some reconnaissance, but first --"

Again there was that flashing of her eyes, the blurring of space. The conventional nun was replaced by a tall, large-framed (although certainly not overweight) woman in her late forties, wearing a fashionable (if somehow robe-like) dress with tasteful jewelry and upswept, immaculately coiffed hair -- and those same, startling eyes. If Rose's first apparition evoked terms like "graceful" and "stunning" and her second terms like "devout" and "subdued," this one summoned the words "imposing" and "majestic." She smiled at Argus, giving the effect of a businesswoman who'd just negotiated a million-tsui deal, and said, in a forceful, commanding voice, "For this outing, perhaps we should masquerade as a successful business couple, don't you think? Just while we're walking..." She took his arm, to his considerable surprise, and they started off.

[Viking-Sensei]

(OOC - Sorry for my extended absence, D*C proved more of a challenge than I could have anticipated... and, there's nothing like coming back to 60 or so new posts to have to slug through before ducking back into the story)

Kureji watched the drama unfold on the street below... the wall reassembing, the police officer coming and making her horrible discovery, the subsequent clean-up... Ah, yes, Springheel Jack has been here. She thought, the wind dramatically catching her travelling cloak and making it flutter behind her. I can smell him. Unless that's the docks... might just be the docks... no, that's the stentch of evil.

She cast featherfall on herself and leapt off the rooftop, springing from awning to balcony, descending from the city's skyline into it's seedy, dirty underbelly. This was HER city (at least for today, until she caught the villian Jack and returned to her rightful home) and it was crying out for her to right wrongs and triumph over evil...

...right after lunch.

Kureji ducked into the small cafe.

[Graybeard]

Looking every bit the distinguished and successful power couple, Argus and Sister Rose strolled up the street toward the station, talking a bit of shop as they walked.

"You Tsuirakuans have one advantage over us in the Church," Rose observed. "We're limited in our spell casting to the small number of skills that Luminosita chooses to bestow on us, and that sometimes leaves us with gaps in our magical toolkit, so to speak. You, on the other hand, can get a full magical education at that Sashi Mu academy that I keep hearing about, so you're able to go through the whole range -- healing, conjuration, transformation, evocation, all of the arts. You're much more complete mages than we are."

"Well, it's not quite that simple," Argus began, but Rose continued, "I know it's not. However, it's my way of introducing the point that I'll be somewhat limited in the spellcasting I can do once we get to the station. I have only very basic detection skills, for example, and I'll have to rely on you for that. I'm not much for offense, defense, that kind of thing. Really, there's only one area besides polymorph magic that I can do at the professional level."

"And that is?" Argus said, although he had a pretty good idea what it was already.

"Empathy."

She changed the subject as they rounded a corner. "Ah, here's the Happy Eater, which I presume is the cafe where Brother Farley and Corporal Yugawa are having their coffee. Shall we poke our heads in and see how things are going?"

There they were, all right, and it looked like things were going very well indeed; the conversation was cheerful, the table between them was piled high with munchies, and Kristi was reaching out shyly to touch Farley's hand. Between Rose's altered form and Argus' sprucing-up, they weren't recognized by the young couple, and decided to leave well enough alone. But they weren't the only people in the cafe...

Over in a corner, applying herself to a chicken salad and trying to look sinister and powerful, was the mysterious "Ms. Shade."

And in another corner, warped enthusiasm emanating from her every pore as she studied the menu, was the strange girl from the fountain.

Sister Rose swore in a most un-nun-like fashion as Kureji looked in their direction and got out of her chair, and said to Argus, "Looks like she recognized you..."