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[New Friends]

                Clyde continued to stare into the woman’s eyes, refusing to relax the sword he was holding to her neck even as an amused grin broke across her face.

“Well, small world huh?” Vanitas VonDextor smirked as she recognized his face.

                He gritted his teeth and pressed the blade into her flesh to silence her, but only drawing out an amused giggle.

“That’s not going to work, you know,” she joked, folding her arms and making it clear that she wasn’t trying to resist, “Things are a bit different from last time.”

“Meaning how you can’t freeze me in place and run a sword through me?”

“Yes,” she shrugged, “But also,” she reached up and grabbed the sword, with a quick jerk, she sliced open her own throat, with a breathy gurgle, she finished, her thought, “…this…”

                Clyde backed away, covering his mouth as blood sprayed across his face, but despite the curtain of red that flooded down her chest, Vanitas remained unmoved. She even stepped into the doorway and pulled her head back to provide him with a better view while the wound knitted itself itself back together. He continued to glare at her as she chuckled and slipped back into the lit room, clearly wanting him to follow. Eventually, he stepped in and found her cleaning away the blood stains with a blanket she had soaked in the sink.

“Could you give me a hand here?” she asked pleasantly, “Maybe got a spare shirt I can borrow?”

“What the Hell do you think you’re doing here?” Clyde demanded sternly.

“Laundry, at the moment,” she looked back at him in the full light, his loose shirt and bandages clearly visible underneath, “But, if you wanted me to play nurse…”

“What do you think…”

“Take it easy,” she rolled her eyes, she turned to face him, her own blouse open, cold water dripping off of her stained brassier and sending little red-ish rivers down her belly, “I don’t want to fight.”

“Then you came to the wrong place then,” he stepped forward, gripping the sword tightly.

“It still hurts you know,” she told him, seemingly at random, “He made sure of that.”

                Clyde’s forward charge was blunted, curiosity, and a sudden flash of memory drew him to stop. Cautiously, he lowered the sword.

“…who…” he asked, and Vanitas smirked again.

“How much do you remember from the last time we met?”

“You mean when you were trying to…”

“Yeah, yeah, betraying my family, kidnapping my daughter and attempting a military coup,” she waved dismissively, “Let’s get past that for a moment, what else do you remember?”

                Clyde looked away and vaguely recalled the feeling of icy fingers closing around his neck, the merciless unmoving expression on that man’s face, and his wings.

“The Fay,” he whispered.

“Ragda, yes,” she nodded humorlessly, and bowed her head, “I’ll not bore you with the tawdry details, but, after he…absconded with me, he spent the next week breaking my will and…well, I work for him now.”

“Is that supposed to be comforting?” Clyde demanded.

“It’s supposed to be honest,” she explained and pointed to her throat, “This! This he did just to make sure I couldn’t give out before he was done.”

“So, you’re here because he sent you,” Clyde surmised, folding his arms, “You still haven’t answered ‘why’?”

“So cold…”

“You tried to rape me!” he snapped.

“Threatened actually, but…maybe that’s just splitting hairs, I definitely should have killed you though, no idea how you survived…” she trailed off before, he loudly clanged the sword against a nearby bedpost, “Right, you don’t care and you don’t trust me, but, you don’t know what he’s going to do to me when I get back, just for shits and giggles.”

                She stopped and looked into Clyde’s pitiless gaze and let out a nervous laugh.

“Of course…I’m not trying to mine for sympathy here, just wanting to make it clear, I’ve got no sympathy for this bastard, and you probably want to kill him because…you know, big hero and all.”

“Why did he send you here?!” Clyde pressed and she let out a sigh.

“Because…I told him about Yadara, the power available, the systems that he could exploit,” Vanitas shrugged, “The man needed a hobby, one that didn’t involve turning my ass inside out on an hourly basis.”

“So, he’s planning something,” Cylde surmised.

“Getting his feet wet, I was only sent here to see what you and yours were all about and if they were going to be a problem going forward.”

“Meaning that…if I kill you…” Clyde mused.

“You can’t kill me,” she scoffed.

“It’ll be a set-back to him, and he’ll lose a useful assistant.”

“Or, you’ll alert him to your presence, losing all element of surprise and pegging your entire crew as his personal enemies,” she looked back at him and smiled, “Counter offer, I will go back to him and report…that there was nothing to find, that you’re just smugglers and you’ll be gone as soon as you can, nothing he needs to worry about.”

“And all I have to do is trust you.”

“Makes the world go ‘round sweetpea,” she stepped towards him and he immediately put the sword between them, Vanitas scoffed again, “Of course, if you need me to prove my loyalty, well,” she gently touched his cheek, “I do have a few minutes.”

“Set a location,” he responded.

“Mmmm, I was thinking, below my belt but above my knees?”

“In the city, in the open,” Clyde pushed her away, “Give me a location, You will go there, and, when I am certain you’re not screwing with me, ‘I’ will get in contact with you.”

“…Three blocks down, two to the right,” Vanitas pointed and smirked, “Café Bombay, I should be free at around seven.”

                Clyde grunted, thinking it over and then offered her the sword.

“I imagine you’ll get in trouble if you show up without your weapon,” he mentioned.

“Well, I’m due for a spanking because of the stains at any rate,” she joked, taking the weapon, “But, thank you.”

“If you are messing with me, in any way…”

“You’ll be the first to know, love,” Vanitas sheathed her weapon and pinched him on the cheek as she walked out of the room.

                Clyde lowered his gaze and shook his head, he stared at the floor for a long while considering his options. He was a stranger in a strange land, and, though his first priority was to the rest of the crew, he had no idea where they could be right now. His first thought was to seek out the capitol building but, his presence would require no small amount of explaining and it might actually cause more problems for them in the long run. The thought did occur that he could ask around and find them, maybe arrange a meeting in a more clandestine place, but not now, in the middle of the night.

                With a frustrated sigh, he shut off the light and slumped out of the room. He was so lost in thought that he almost forgot the egg he had left in the corridor and quickly ran back to grab it. The moment he touched it, a stabbing pain erupted in his head, and he heard someone, some how, yelling at him: DON’T PUT ME DOWN AGAIN…Please…

                Blinking in surprise he nodded, and then bundled the egg under his arm. When he got back to his little hiding nook, he had his spiders create a cradle he could carry the egg in when he left in the morning.

                On the other side of the city, Granger sat on the bed in the hotel room and examined the new attachment they had grafted to his arm, a spinning spiked frame to cover his retractable fingers.

“So, you got that instead of the drill?” Evie wondered, watching him form and retract the weapon.

“In addition,” Granger explained, “The extra vibrations mean that it’ll do more damage when it hits.”

                She watched him, spinning the apparatus, marveling at how it glistened and hummed.

“Well, I’m just glad you like it,” she smiled.

“You know,” he commented, retracting the weapon and flexing his fingers, “I wouldn’t have expected it from a bunch of Clerics, but they really knew their stuff, thing works like a dream now.”

“Be careful man,” Sylvester commented from across the room lounging back on the other bed and staring at the ceiling while Zeesa skimmed through a book, sitting on the floor.

“Careful of what?” Granger scoffed at him.

“I’m just sayin’ you never know,” Sylvester shrugged, “They might’ve sabotaged it or something…”

“He’s saying that he’s bored and he wants to examine your arm,” Zeesa told them coldly.

                Everybody turned and stared at her, but she barely registered the accusation.

“Not much for small talk tonight huh?” Evie noticed.

“You know,” Zeesa glared at her accusingly, “There are things I could be doing right now, with my new boyfriend, if you weren’t here, but, because you lot had to go and piss off the captain, I’m the one who has to suffer in this situation, so stuff it up your collective asses and fuck off.”

“Can’t perform with an audience huh?” Granger smirked.

“No,” Zeesa turned back to her book, “He’s just too much of a prude.”

“We could leave, hit up a bar for a while,” Evie joked, “What do you need, fifteen, twenty seconds?”

“Okay, fuck you too,” Sylvester snapped, his face quickly turning beet red.

“Yeah, don’t mess with the marathon man,” Granger chuckled, “Why I bet he could last the full minute if he wanted to.”

“Can we please change the subject,” Sylvester complained, and Zeesa grunted in agreement, her own face flushing a deep shade of purple.

“Play with fire and you get burned darling,” Evie told her smugly, “But, speaking of our fearless leader, where do you think she is?”

“Spa,” Sylvester told her offhandedly.

“How the Hell do you know that?” Zeesa demanded.

“Ten minutes ago, when I was stretching my legs, I saw a closed sign over the spa entrance.”

“So?”

“’Bout an hour ago, when she locked us in here,” he shrugged, “I saw a nun headed into her room.”

“Well, sounds like she’s either wrist deep into negotiations or securing us our next contract,” Granger mentioned as he stood up from the bed, “Either way I’m hungry, you guys want something to eat?”

                Below the first floor of the building, Belix sat in steaming pool of vaguely pink, deeply perfumed, water, genuinely wishing that the scalding liquid was able to take away her stress. Above her, Talina loomed, only dipping her legs into the bath and periodically dabbing herself with a damp cloth to wick away the sweat. She looked down on Belix, her expression half amused and half concerned.

“You seem tense,” the Grand Vizier commented, “Was the massage not to your liking?”

“Speak plainly ma’am?” Belix responded to her bluntly, staring straight ahead.

“I would have it no other way.”

“I don’t like foreplay when I know it’s not going anywhere.”

“Rather bold of you,” she scoffed, “Perhaps you wanted to make me a suggestion?”

“That right there,” Belix turned to her at last, “Where I come from that’s called teasing,” she moved through the bath water until she was crouching right in front of Talina’s knees, “I’m no virginal waif to blush and titter just because you flashed me some skin, why don’t you tell me what this is, and let’s go from there.”

“Hmmm,” Talina gave her a lurid stare, and then tossed aside her towel, “Stand up!”

                Belix did as commanded and rose from the thigh-high pool, steam rising off of her well boiled skin as droplets skated across every inch of her glistening flesh. Talina’s eyes visibly brightened as she took in the sight and moved further into the bath to examine the woman in front of her.

“Quite beautiful,” she commented, tracing a hand across Belix’s collarbone, “I wanted to see this,” she admitted, her hand dropping to the painted hash-marks on the elfin girl’s arms, “To know how deep your faith truly reached,” she touched a specific marking on Belix’s shoulder blade and the Mao had to struggle not to pull away, “How far you went before you fell off the path.”

“Oh?” Belix sneered, “And here I thought you just wanted to fuck me so I could get my people out of port.”

“Well…it might come to that,” Talina admitted, “But, for now, let’s just call this what it is, curiosity,” her fingers licked down Belix’s spine, following a trail of dots, “I’ve studied your kind, I know what every one of these markings means.”

“That makes two of us,” Belix remarked.

“It was the one on your forehead that threw me,” Talina continued, her hand still tracing a line over Belix’s skin as she circled around, “The sun and the moon displayed over the sky and the sea, it’s the symbol of a warrior who’s chosen a nomadic lifestyle, someone without a home,” she leaned closer and whispered into Belix’s ear, “But, you’re supposed to wear it on your chest.”

“Are we gonna do this or are you just going to keep pawing at me all night?”

“Maybe that’s what I’m into,” Talina mentioned, letting her hand drop to her side as stepped away, “I’ve seen many of your kind, so you know, and that marking, most put it on their arm or their back, but you, you put it on your face, why?”

“Because I thought it looked cool,” Belix shook her head in frustration, “Do I really need a reason?”

“Everything has a reason, a point and a purpose,” Talina mused, “I think you wanted to disfigure yourself, to make yourself ugly, do you not wish to be desired? Do you prefer to be unwanted? To be seen as nothing more than an object, does that make it easier for you?”

“You know…” she sighed, rubbing her eyes, “This right here is exactly why I went back to men.”

“Because men are simpler? You don’t like that I pry?”

“I don’t mind being treated like a piece of meat,” Belix stated folding her arms across her chest, “I just prefer when people are honest about it.”

“Oh…well, in that case, this is what you are to me,” Talina admitted, “Flesh and bone, ‘Meat’ in every sense,” she sat on the edge of the bath, finally turning back to Belix, resting her chin in her palm, a smug smile on her lips, “But meat can be useful, sliced and seasoned, or tanned and stretched, it even makes a good fertilizer.”

“Well,” Belix eyed her coyly and stepped closer, “Now we’re getting somewhere.”

“That doesn’t scare you?” Talina chuckled, “Here I thought it was a fairly effective threat.”

“Why?” Belix wondered, “Because we’re in your city? Surrounded by your people?”

“Because you will run,” Talina whispered back menacingly, “For the rest of your life, you will look over your shoulder, terrified that you will one day turn about and see the glimmer of our spears in the dead of night.”

                Belix moved close enough to look Talina in the eye.

“Scary…” she whispered back, a smirk on her lips, “The world’s a lot bigger than your piddling little church honey.”

“Then why return,” Talina mentioned, gently caressing Belix’s cheek and letting her hand drift along the elfin girl’s neckline, “Why come here and smile to my face as though you hadn’t just stained your hands with the blood of my kin?”

“It made things easier,” Belix shrugged, and climbed out of the bath, strolling around the edge of the pool, she reached for a towel, “If I have a choice, I’d rather not, but I can run, go to places you can’t follow.”

“You really believe that don’t you,” Talina let out a derisive guffaw, “No, no, the only way you could hide from us is to find yourself a nice little husband, settle down into a hamlet somewhere and pretend you aren’t who you are, maybe squirt out a few kids to really sell the illusion…”

                Belix turned around, directing an icy stare at Talina, who only chuckled.

“Ooops, sorry,” she laughed, “Forgot myself.”

“Do you know how many ways I can kill you using just this towel?” Belix wondered.

“Heh…but of course,” Talina continued to smirk, “That would only cover you wouldn’t it. Evie? Hmmm, we know everything about her, there’s nowhere she can go that we wouldn’t follow, And the big man with the arm…HA! He’d have to be buried before he can go missing, The avatar might be a problem, but we have our ways, we’d find him eventually, and, with him, the fish-girl.”

“You know what,” she dropped the cloth and stomped towards Talina, “Fuck the towel, I’m just gonna use my bare hands.”

“Am I not being clear?” Talina smiled at her, “I know what you did.”

“Not motivating me to stop.”

“What did Evie tell you I wonder, that I’m the appointed head?”

“You really love the sound of your own voice,” Belix snarled, cocking back her fist.

                Talina raised her hand and her golden staff flew across the room, curving and slamming into the back of Belix’s knee, knocking her down. As she lay sprawled on the ground, Talina caught the staff out of the air and used it to stand, then she knelt down over the elfin girl’s body.

“You really think…” Belix growled.

“Oh I know quite well that you could stand up, render the life from my…delicate frame, but, you should understand something as well,” she leaned closer, speaking into Belix’s ear, “I am not just this flesh before you, I am this city, this nation, this faith, every note and whispered conspiracy, I am the power of this faith, no matter what figurehead they put on the throne.”

“I killed a demon you smug little whore,” Belix hissed back.

“Well, I’m sure you did your part…”

                Belix reached up and grabbed hold of Talina’s neck, pulling her close.

“I Killed The Demon!” she snarled before spinning around on the ground and kicking her away.

                She stumbled away, dropping her staff and Belix rose up.

“But sure, I get the politics,” she shrugged, sauntering over, fists clenched at her side, “Don’t fuck with you, or you’ll make sure I drown in a river of shit.”

“Poetic,” Talina sneered, throwing her hand out and sending the staff flying at Belix again.

                Belix grabbed the weapon out of the air and pinned it against the wall.

“You don’t care that I killed your kin,” Belix observed, “If you did we’d be dead already, to me, that means you see a use in us, and I’m fine with that for now, so,” she let go of the staff and it dropped to the floor, “Seeing as how I’ve already shit this bed, let’s try to make this work.”

                She knelt in front of Talina and offered her hand. Talina eyed her cautiously, not willing to accept the gesture at first.

“You need work done, I’m your girl,” Belix stated, “But you talk to me like a person, not a lapdog.”

“Fair enough,” Talina agreed, and shook her hand.

“Good,” Belix nodded, “Now stop staring at my crotch.”

                She stood up and started to walk away when Talina called out.

“So we’re clear!” she shouted after Belix, “I don’t care, the old bitch was crazy and she needed to be taken care of, if not you, then someone else, BUT! That’s just me talking, if anybody else figures it out…”

“I won’t go around bragging about it,” Belix cut her off, “And next time you want to go out on a date, candles, flowers, and hard whiskey,” she grabbed another towel on her way out, “I prefer to bathe alone.”

Description

[New Friends]

                Clyde continued to stare into the woman’s eyes, refusing to relax the sword he was holding to her neck even as an amused grin broke across her face.

“Well, small world huh?” Vanitas VonDextor smirked as she recognized his face.

                He gritted his teeth and pressed the blade into her flesh to silence her, but only drawing out an amused giggle.

“That’s not going to work, you know,” she joked, folding her arms and making it clear that she wasn’t trying to resist, “Things are a bit different from last time.”

“Meaning how you can’t freeze me in place and run a sword through me?”

“Yes,” she shrugged, “But also,” she reached up and grabbed the sword, with a quick jerk, she sliced open her own throat, with a breathy gurgle, she finished, her thought, “…this…”

                Clyde backed away, covering his mouth as blood sprayed across his face, but despite the curtain of red that flooded down her chest, Vanitas remained unmoved. She even stepped into the doorway and pulled her head back to provide him with a better view while the wound knitted itself itself back together. He continued to glare at her as she chuckled and slipped back into the lit room, clearly wanting him to follow. Eventually, he stepped in and found her cleaning away the blood stains with a blanket she had soaked in the sink.

“Could you give me a hand here?” she asked pleasantly, “Maybe got a spare shirt I can borrow?”

“What the Hell do you think you’re doing here?” Clyde demanded sternly.

“Laundry, at the moment,” she looked back at him in the full light, his loose shirt and bandages clearly visible underneath, “But, if you wanted me to play nurse…”

“What do you think…”

“Take it easy,” she rolled her eyes, she turned to face him, her own blouse open, cold water dripping off of her stained brassier and sending little red-ish rivers down her belly, “I don’t want to fight.”

“Then you came to the wrong place then,” he stepped forward, gripping the sword tightly.

“It still hurts you know,” she told him, seemingly at random, “He made sure of that.”

                Clyde’s forward charge was blunted, curiosity, and a sudden flash of memory drew him to stop. Cautiously, he lowered the sword.

“…who…” he asked, and Vanitas smirked again.

“How much do you remember from the last time we met?”

“You mean when you were trying to…”

“Yeah, yeah, betraying my family, kidnapping my daughter and attempting a military coup,” she waved dismissively, “Let’s get past that for a moment, what else do you remember?”

                Clyde looked away and vaguely recalled the feeling of icy fingers closing around his neck, the merciless unmoving expression on that man’s face, and his wings.

“The Fay,” he whispered.

“Ragda, yes,” she nodded humorlessly, and bowed her head, “I’ll not bore you with the tawdry details, but, after he…absconded with me, he spent the next week breaking my will and…well, I work for him now.”

“Is that supposed to be comforting?” Clyde demanded.

“It’s supposed to be honest,” she explained and pointed to her throat, “This! This he did just to make sure I couldn’t give out before he was done.”

“So, you’re here because he sent you,” Clyde surmised, folding his arms, “You still haven’t answered ‘why’?”

“So cold…”

“You tried to rape me!” he snapped.

“Threatened actually, but…maybe that’s just splitting hairs, I definitely should have killed you though, no idea how you survived…” she trailed off before, he loudly clanged the sword against a nearby bedpost, “Right, you don’t care and you don’t trust me, but, you don’t know what he’s going to do to me when I get back, just for shits and giggles.”

                She stopped and looked into Clyde’s pitiless gaze and let out a nervous laugh.

“Of course…I’m not trying to mine for sympathy here, just wanting to make it clear, I’ve got no sympathy for this bastard, and you probably want to kill him because…you know, big hero and all.”

“Why did he send you here?!” Clyde pressed and she let out a sigh.

“Because…I told him about Yadara, the power available, the systems that he could exploit,” Vanitas shrugged, “The man needed a hobby, one that didn’t involve turning my ass inside out on an hourly basis.”

“So, he’s planning something,” Cylde surmised.

“Getting his feet wet, I was only sent here to see what you and yours were all about and if they were going to be a problem going forward.”

“Meaning that…if I kill you…” Clyde mused.

“You can’t kill me,” she scoffed.

“It’ll be a set-back to him, and he’ll lose a useful assistant.”

“Or, you’ll alert him to your presence, losing all element of surprise and pegging your entire crew as his personal enemies,” she looked back at him and smiled, “Counter offer, I will go back to him and report…that there was nothing to find, that you’re just smugglers and you’ll be gone as soon as you can, nothing he needs to worry about.”

“And all I have to do is trust you.”

“Makes the world go ‘round sweetpea,” she stepped towards him and he immediately put the sword between them, Vanitas scoffed again, “Of course, if you need me to prove my loyalty, well,” she gently touched his cheek, “I do have a few minutes.”

“Set a location,” he responded.

“Mmmm, I was thinking, below my belt but above my knees?”

“In the city, in the open,” Clyde pushed her away, “Give me a location, You will go there, and, when I am certain you’re not screwing with me, ‘I’ will get in contact with you.”

“…Three blocks down, two to the right,” Vanitas pointed and smirked, “Café Bombay, I should be free at around seven.”

                Clyde grunted, thinking it over and then offered her the sword.

“I imagine you’ll get in trouble if you show up without your weapon,” he mentioned.

“Well, I’m due for a spanking because of the stains at any rate,” she joked, taking the weapon, “But, thank you.”

“If you are messing with me, in any way…”

“You’ll be the first to know, love,” Vanitas sheathed her weapon and pinched him on the cheek as she walked out of the room.

                Clyde lowered his gaze and shook his head, he stared at the floor for a long while considering his options. He was a stranger in a strange land, and, though his first priority was to the rest of the crew, he had no idea where they could be right now. His first thought was to seek out the capitol building but, his presence would require no small amount of explaining and it might actually cause more problems for them in the long run. The thought did occur that he could ask around and find them, maybe arrange a meeting in a more clandestine place, but not now, in the middle of the night.

                With a frustrated sigh, he shut off the light and slumped out of the room. He was so lost in thought that he almost forgot the egg he had left in the corridor and quickly ran back to grab it. The moment he touched it, a stabbing pain erupted in his head, and he heard someone, some how, yelling at him: DON’T PUT ME DOWN AGAIN…Please…

                Blinking in surprise he nodded, and then bundled the egg under his arm. When he got back to his little hiding nook, he had his spiders create a cradle he could carry the egg in when he left in the morning.

                On the other side of the city, Granger sat on the bed in the hotel room and examined the new attachment they had grafted to his arm, a spinning spiked frame to cover his retractable fingers.

“So, you got that instead of the drill?” Evie wondered, watching him form and retract the weapon.

“In addition,” Granger explained, “The extra vibrations mean that it’ll do more damage when it hits.”

                She watched him, spinning the apparatus, marveling at how it glistened and hummed.

“Well, I’m just glad you like it,” she smiled.

“You know,” he commented, retracting the weapon and flexing his fingers, “I wouldn’t have expected it from a bunch of Clerics, but they really knew their stuff, thing works like a dream now.”

“Be careful man,” Sylvester commented from across the room lounging back on the other bed and staring at the ceiling while Zeesa skimmed through a book, sitting on the floor.

“Careful of what?” Granger scoffed at him.

“I’m just sayin’ you never know,” Sylvester shrugged, “They might’ve sabotaged it or something…”

“He’s saying that he’s bored and he wants to examine your arm,” Zeesa told them coldly.

                Everybody turned and stared at her, but she barely registered the accusation.

“Not much for small talk tonight huh?” Evie noticed.

“You know,” Zeesa glared at her accusingly, “There are things I could be doing right now, with my new boyfriend, if you weren’t here, but, because you lot had to go and piss off the captain, I’m the one who has to suffer in this situation, so stuff it up your collective asses and fuck off.”

“Can’t perform with an audience huh?” Granger smirked.

“No,” Zeesa turned back to her book, “He’s just too much of a prude.”

“We could leave, hit up a bar for a while,” Evie joked, “What do you need, fifteen, twenty seconds?”

“Okay, fuck you too,” Sylvester snapped, his face quickly turning beet red.

“Yeah, don’t mess with the marathon man,” Granger chuckled, “Why I bet he could last the full minute if he wanted to.”

“Can we please change the subject,” Sylvester complained, and Zeesa grunted in agreement, her own face flushing a deep shade of purple.

“Play with fire and you get burned darling,” Evie told her smugly, “But, speaking of our fearless leader, where do you think she is?”

“Spa,” Sylvester told her offhandedly.

“How the Hell do you know that?” Zeesa demanded.

“Ten minutes ago, when I was stretching my legs, I saw a closed sign over the spa entrance.”

“So?”

“’Bout an hour ago, when she locked us in here,” he shrugged, “I saw a nun headed into her room.”

“Well, sounds like she’s either wrist deep into negotiations or securing us our next contract,” Granger mentioned as he stood up from the bed, “Either way I’m hungry, you guys want something to eat?”

                Below the first floor of the building, Belix sat in steaming pool of vaguely pink, deeply perfumed, water, genuinely wishing that the scalding liquid was able to take away her stress. Above her, Talina loomed, only dipping her legs into the bath and periodically dabbing herself with a damp cloth to wick away the sweat. She looked down on Belix, her expression half amused and half concerned.

“You seem tense,” the Grand Vizier commented, “Was the massage not to your liking?”

“Speak plainly ma’am?” Belix responded to her bluntly, staring straight ahead.

“I would have it no other way.”

“I don’t like foreplay when I know it’s not going anywhere.”

“Rather bold of you,” she scoffed, “Perhaps you wanted to make me a suggestion?”

“That right there,” Belix turned to her at last, “Where I come from that’s called teasing,” she moved through the bath water until she was crouching right in front of Talina’s knees, “I’m no virginal waif to blush and titter just because you flashed me some skin, why don’t you tell me what this is, and let’s go from there.”

“Hmmm,” Talina gave her a lurid stare, and then tossed aside her towel, “Stand up!”

                Belix did as commanded and rose from the thigh-high pool, steam rising off of her well boiled skin as droplets skated across every inch of her glistening flesh. Talina’s eyes visibly brightened as she took in the sight and moved further into the bath to examine the woman in front of her.

“Quite beautiful,” she commented, tracing a hand across Belix’s collarbone, “I wanted to see this,” she admitted, her hand dropping to the painted hash-marks on the elfin girl’s arms, “To know how deep your faith truly reached,” she touched a specific marking on Belix’s shoulder blade and the Mao had to struggle not to pull away, “How far you went before you fell off the path.”

“Oh?” Belix sneered, “And here I thought you just wanted to fuck me so I could get my people out of port.”

“Well…it might come to that,” Talina admitted, “But, for now, let’s just call this what it is, curiosity,” her fingers licked down Belix’s spine, following a trail of dots, “I’ve studied your kind, I know what every one of these markings means.”

“That makes two of us,” Belix remarked.

“It was the one on your forehead that threw me,” Talina continued, her hand still tracing a line over Belix’s skin as she circled around, “The sun and the moon displayed over the sky and the sea, it’s the symbol of a warrior who’s chosen a nomadic lifestyle, someone without a home,” she leaned closer and whispered into Belix’s ear, “But, you’re supposed to wear it on your chest.”

“Are we gonna do this or are you just going to keep pawing at me all night?”

“Maybe that’s what I’m into,” Talina mentioned, letting her hand drop to her side as stepped away, “I’ve seen many of your kind, so you know, and that marking, most put it on their arm or their back, but you, you put it on your face, why?”

“Because I thought it looked cool,” Belix shook her head in frustration, “Do I really need a reason?”

“Everything has a reason, a point and a purpose,” Talina mused, “I think you wanted to disfigure yourself, to make yourself ugly, do you not wish to be desired? Do you prefer to be unwanted? To be seen as nothing more than an object, does that make it easier for you?”

“You know…” she sighed, rubbing her eyes, “This right here is exactly why I went back to men.”

“Because men are simpler? You don’t like that I pry?”

“I don’t mind being treated like a piece of meat,” Belix stated folding her arms across her chest, “I just prefer when people are honest about it.”

“Oh…well, in that case, this is what you are to me,” Talina admitted, “Flesh and bone, ‘Meat’ in every sense,” she sat on the edge of the bath, finally turning back to Belix, resting her chin in her palm, a smug smile on her lips, “But meat can be useful, sliced and seasoned, or tanned and stretched, it even makes a good fertilizer.”

“Well,” Belix eyed her coyly and stepped closer, “Now we’re getting somewhere.”

“That doesn’t scare you?” Talina chuckled, “Here I thought it was a fairly effective threat.”

“Why?” Belix wondered, “Because we’re in your city? Surrounded by your people?”

“Because you will run,” Talina whispered back menacingly, “For the rest of your life, you will look over your shoulder, terrified that you will one day turn about and see the glimmer of our spears in the dead of night.”

                Belix moved close enough to look Talina in the eye.

“Scary…” she whispered back, a smirk on her lips, “The world’s a lot bigger than your piddling little church honey.”

“Then why return,” Talina mentioned, gently caressing Belix’s cheek and letting her hand drift along the elfin girl’s neckline, “Why come here and smile to my face as though you hadn’t just stained your hands with the blood of my kin?”

“It made things easier,” Belix shrugged, and climbed out of the bath, strolling around the edge of the pool, she reached for a towel, “If I have a choice, I’d rather not, but I can run, go to places you can’t follow.”

“You really believe that don’t you,” Talina let out a derisive guffaw, “No, no, the only way you could hide from us is to find yourself a nice little husband, settle down into a hamlet somewhere and pretend you aren’t who you are, maybe squirt out a few kids to really sell the illusion…”

                Belix turned around, directing an icy stare at Talina, who only chuckled.

“Ooops, sorry,” she laughed, “Forgot myself.”

“Do you know how many ways I can kill you using just this towel?” Belix wondered.

“Heh…but of course,” Talina continued to smirk, “That would only cover you wouldn’t it. Evie? Hmmm, we know everything about her, there’s nowhere she can go that we wouldn’t follow, And the big man with the arm…HA! He’d have to be buried before he can go missing, The avatar might be a problem, but we have our ways, we’d find him eventually, and, with him, the fish-girl.”

“You know what,” she dropped the cloth and stomped towards Talina, “Fuck the towel, I’m just gonna use my bare hands.”

“Am I not being clear?” Talina smiled at her, “I know what you did.”

“Not motivating me to stop.”

“What did Evie tell you I wonder, that I’m the appointed head?”

“You really love the sound of your own voice,” Belix snarled, cocking back her fist.

                Talina raised her hand and her golden staff flew across the room, curving and slamming into the back of Belix’s knee, knocking her down. As she lay sprawled on the ground, Talina caught the staff out of the air and used it to stand, then she knelt down over the elfin girl’s body.

“You really think…” Belix growled.

“Oh I know quite well that you could stand up, render the life from my…delicate frame, but, you should understand something as well,” she leaned closer, speaking into Belix’s ear, “I am not just this flesh before you, I am this city, this nation, this faith, every note and whispered conspiracy, I am the power of this faith, no matter what figurehead they put on the throne.”

“I killed a demon you smug little whore,” Belix hissed back.

“Well, I’m sure you did your part…”

                Belix reached up and grabbed hold of Talina’s neck, pulling her close.

“I Killed The Demon!” she snarled before spinning around on the ground and kicking her away.

                She stumbled away, dropping her staff and Belix rose up.

“But sure, I get the politics,” she shrugged, sauntering over, fists clenched at her side, “Don’t fuck with you, or you’ll make sure I drown in a river of shit.”

“Poetic,” Talina sneered, throwing her hand out and sending the staff flying at Belix again.

                Belix grabbed the weapon out of the air and pinned it against the wall.

“You don’t care that I killed your kin,” Belix observed, “If you did we’d be dead already, to me, that means you see a use in us, and I’m fine with that for now, so,” she let go of the staff and it dropped to the floor, “Seeing as how I’ve already shit this bed, let’s try to make this work.”

                She knelt in front of Talina and offered her hand. Talina eyed her cautiously, not willing to accept the gesture at first.

“You need work done, I’m your girl,” Belix stated, “But you talk to me like a person, not a lapdog.”

“Fair enough,” Talina agreed, and shook her hand.

“Good,” Belix nodded, “Now stop staring at my crotch.”

                She stood up and started to walk away when Talina called out.

“So we’re clear!” she shouted after Belix, “I don’t care, the old bitch was crazy and she needed to be taken care of, if not you, then someone else, BUT! That’s just me talking, if anybody else figures it out…”

“I won’t go around bragging about it,” Belix cut her off, “And next time you want to go out on a date, candles, flowers, and hard whiskey,” she grabbed another towel on her way out, “I prefer to bathe alone.”