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Post by Tokrochiru on May 29, 2016 9:08:50 GMT -5
"Good to hear," said Norman with a sigh of relief. Jessit was having problems keeping the store afloat when I was there last. Good to know business improved for her"
Norman rubbed his gloved hands together, as if the friction would somehow penetrate the layer of wool and plastic and warm his hands further. It was an idle gesture. He wasn't really cold. He just needed something to do with his hands.
"Say, Sasha. This might sound like it's coming from out of nowhere, but..."
He looked to the horizon. The same horizon he was gazing at before he noticed Sasha approach. The view of the half-built Skaldran capital, Agria.
"When you look off into the distance...what do you see?"
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"Mars?" Selatia said as she raised her brow. "Are you alright? You went pale there for a second." She looked concerned. She may have been full of herself, but her selfless side always made itself known whenever one of her friends was in pain. Mars experienced this firsthand during last flu season, when she ended up trying to care for Mars and several sick workers despite being ill herself.
"Oh, please. Like a weak little bug like this could keep me down. Clearly I'm the only one well enough to take care of you all. Seriously, what would any of you do without me?" She then proceeded to faint from exhaustion. Moments later, she ended up being carried off to bed by a cleric-nurse.
"Look alive," said Duster. He never really got sick. Ever.
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Post by Jisui on May 31, 2016 13:08:10 GMT -5
"Ah... no, I'm fine. Sorry." Mars replied, gaze flickering to his coworker and quickly averting away in slight embarrassment.
It seemed he had his companions concerned. While Duster was a little harder to read, Mars knew that Selatia was considerably less self-centered than she appeared. In a way, he admired her. Retaining that kind of compassion was difficult in their line of work.
It was... refreshing.
"Just a bad thought." He admitted, shaking out the rest of the ill thoughts from his mind. Mars was usually not a person that was overly concerned with the future. If he was, then he probably would have gone mad a long time ago. Yet, he couldn't deny the odd twinge in his stomach whenever he heard about the recent occurrences.
The mercenary shifted his feet slightly, fingers drumming against the back of his rifle's casing in a constant rhythm. Guard duty was never exciting. Mars didn't particularly mind it, and neither did Duster (at least he thought so). But Selatia was bound to start complaining before long at the prolonged silence.
"I'll be fine after Duster buys a few drinks for us after this." Mars said with his view to the distance, his expression completely sober as to make it impossible to tell whether he had just told a joke or not.
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Post by SlvrNight on Jun 2, 2016 13:57:55 GMT -5
Sasha followed Norman's lead and looked towards the horizon, her eyes scanning the embryo of a capital city, studying the half finished buildings and skeletal frames of the structures in the process of being birthed. She could see the potential the land held and what it could become. She figured such a question was another part of Mr. Salm's attempts to get a better look at her but she didn't rule out that he could have possibly just been a contemplative man.
"I see a city filled with potential. A place that can prosper and give birth to great people. But I can also see the opposite, I can see how badly things can go if certain criteria are met."
The detective took a step forward, eyes still on the horizon. "Beyond that, I see a world on the brink. I suppose this city is a fairly good representation of that. The city can go one of two ways, and so can the rest of the world with its current situation. Suppose that has something to do with why I became a private investigator. Pushing a little more goodwill onto one side of this scale."
Sasha laughed quietly to herself.
"Guess that's all I see. What about you Mr. Salm?"
During her time with Norman, her ears continued taking in Mars's conversation with his mercenary allies. Apparently he had shown signs of looking ill but blew it off as simply bad thoughts. She could tell he was lying, of course, but what was the truth? A rush of traumatic memories from the past? Sasha wasn't sure if this warranted further investigating but she decided to keep it in mind for later.
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Post by Tokrochiru on Jun 3, 2016 7:48:49 GMT -5
"Payed last time." Duster replied.
"Well, yes you did. However, the both of us were under the assumption that you'd be doing more than paying for our drinks. All you did was stand next to Mars and watch me get smashed. You didn't drink a drop yourself." Selatia placed her hands on her hips.
"Alcohal's bitter."
"Oh, would you have preferred a nice, tall glass of orange juice instead?"
"Tomato sauce and mustard."
Selatia looked to Duster like he'd just committed an unforgivable carnal sin. She took a couple steps away from him and drew a line in the snow with her foot. 'Stay on your side' it said without words.
"Aaaanyway,whatever this Sasha person is here for, I hope she doesn't plan on bunking with us. The worker quarters are over capacity as is. Which reminds me...Duster, did I hear wrong, or did she say something along the lines of 'nice to see you again?'"
Duster gave a grunt and a nod. "Was involved in a case of hers. Guys in JdV dying in weird ways. Knew some of the victims. Better to ask her about it."
"And why is that?" Selatia folded her arms.
"She did the investigating. All I did was give her some info."
Selatia shrugged. "You certainly get around, Dusty. One would think that someone so well traveled would have more interesting things to say, but no. You're still dryer than a prune in summer."
"Yup."
There was some silence between the three for a short while. Unexpectedly, it was Duster who eventually broke the silence with a rather blunt, if vague queation.
"...She doing alright?" His voice was a bit softer than usual as he spoke to Mars.
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"Really? I was hoping that you'd say something along the lines of 'that skyscraper's too tall,' but symbolism and future-mulling works too." Norman chuckled. He wasn't serious. "Though, in all honesty, I'm glad you're able to see it that way. Not everyone sees the bigger picture. Of course, they often don't have the chance to view it like we are now. Sometimes, you have to look at something from farther away in order to see things for what they really are."
Norman's words were passionate; almost excited. He was definitely enthusiastic about his work and the people of Skaldra. However, his tone shifted to something darker as he continued, showing that there was worry in his heart as well.
"...Sometimes we see things that we don't like. Things that we'd like to ignore, but can't. Like a red wine stain on hardwood floor."
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Post by SlvrNight on Jun 4, 2016 20:10:57 GMT -5
Sasha was silent for a full minute, taking in Norman's words and continuing to listen to the three mercenaries' conversation, especially when her name came up. Was far too soon for them to find out about her abilities though, so she continued to simply listen and not respond.
"...Sometimes we see things that we don't like. Things that we'd like to ignore, but can't. Like a red wine stain on hardwood floor."
"I know what you mean." She replied solemnly. Her mind was filled with the various sleepless nights, the nightmares of that event from her childhood, the flames that consumed it and their heat that threatened to melt her body like candle wax. The smell of burning flesh, the screams of the dying, and the silence of the many already departed. It had happened over a decade ago and she believed she was over it. But the fact that she continued to have occasional nightmares about it would always be her mind's reminder that she was, in fact, not over it at all. Then again, how could one hope to simply "get over" such a traumatic event? Something that was the base catalyst for their life? It was an unreasonable expectation said only by those who didn't truly grasp the severity of what happened, by those who were not there themselves to see the carnage and death.
"There's many things in this world I'd like to ignore, Mr. Salm. Ignoring them would make my life so much easier. There's already so many people out there who do that though, who ignore the problems of others and care only for themselves, while those who cause the suffering of others are left unhindered because of that behavior. I refuse to be like that, no matter how much easier it would be if I did."
Sasha turned to him fully. "I'm not like those heroes you've seen out there. I'm not like The People's Hero of JX City, or the Emperor of Racamgi, or any other hero out there with extravagant abilities. I know my actions alone won't be saving the world or making it a better place, but if I can at least make individuals feel safe or solve their problems, find their loved ones, avenge them if needed, then that's fine. That's the most people like me can do, and I'm okay with that."
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Post by Jisui on Jun 5, 2016 2:42:33 GMT -5
Mars continued his vigil in slight amusement as his companions bickered... or at least, Selatia bickered. Despite how the two acted, very rarely did it ever escalate into anything more, so Mars was content to leave it be for now. It also didn't particularly surprise him that Duster had met with Sasha before. Like Selatia had said, he was well traveled. Even in his old days in Alten Shwartz, the man had been known for taking contracts in bulk (inadvertently causing the ire of many larger mercenary bands).
Well, it was none of his business either way. If Duster had found it necessary to tell them about the details of his mission with Sasha, he would have told them.
A familiar silence blanketed the trio again, broken only by the occasional gust of wind and shuffled feet. Mars prepared to drown himself in familiar silence until his employer finished speaking with Sasha, before Duster's words abruptly brought him back.
"...She doing alright?"
A set of crimson eyes snapped to Duster far more sharply than its owner had intended, although they quickly softened upon realizing the nature of the question.
The image of white hair framing empty teal eyes flickered across his mind once again, this time belonging to a young woman around his age.
"...About the same as yesterday, and the day before."
His tone was the same as it always was, cool and collected without a hint of excess emotion betraying his thoughts. Yet, no matter how much he concealed his tone, the mercenary's words could not understood as anything but bitter.
"It's not hard to see. That most of the doctors and nurses don't have much hope anymore." The mercenary admitted quietly. "Well... its not like I blame them either. Five years is a long time."
Mars' gaze was pointed towards the distance, where they could see the half-built city of Agria. His voice as even as always, Mars left his words trailing as if wanting to continue onward. His mouth opened slightly as if wanting to say something else, but inevitably decided against it.
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Post by Tokrochiru on Jun 5, 2016 10:22:43 GMT -5
Duster reached a hand out to Mars and patted his shoulder softly. "You need anything, let us know."
Selatia was at a rare loss for words. She thrived on energy, and during moments of solemness, she was at her weakest. It was perhaps the one thing socially that Duster excelled at more than her. She could offer little more than a sympathetic frown and nod.
In her place, Duster continued. "Don't give up hope." That was all Duster said. That was all that needed to be said. Selatia was able to piggyback on the statement and finally speak up herself.
"That's right. I mean, we're going through a magi-medical revolution now, aren't we darling? Everyone knows that the doctors here are stuffy old men anyway. I haven't seen doctor Thorrol crack a smile since the day I met him."
Many of the recently immigrated medical practitioners were, in fact, sourpusses. It was one of the reasons that many of the workers preferred to visit Silverleaf tribe's witch healers for medical checkups. They made for much more pleasant conversation. Mars knew this first hand, since she was under their care until the hospital was completed. While the hospital's facilities were technically more advanced, one couldn't give such praise to the staff, who were either still adjusting to the region's weather or simply crotchety. Norman himself said that he was aware of the situation and that it would improve over time.
There was a chance, however small, that things could get better for her. Mars just needed to hold onto that hope.
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Norman nodded. She'd just earned his trust with that statement, and maybe his admiration as well. He pulled out a folder from the inside of his coat. "Dossiers. Information on local people of interest, both under and outside of my employ."
Norman placed his hands in his pockets. "It's probably best if you get started today rather than tomorrow. Take your time if you need it, though. Just make sure that none of it's wasted."
This was all rather jarring. He hadn't even told Sasha what her mission was. He hadn't, given her any information on the case she was hired to solve. Of course, she already had a good idea of what it might be, but did he know that?
Something in Sasha's gut told her that he did.
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Post by Jisui on Jun 5, 2016 23:25:58 GMT -5
"Don't give up hope."
Mars had never been good at hiding what he thought or felt. That was why, at Duster's words, he couldn't help but furrow his brows and deepen his frown. Again, his mouth opened as if wanting to speak up. Maybe it would be okay. If it was these two, maybe it would be fine telling them.
"I..."
Maybe, just this once...
"...It's fine. I'm not a helpless teen anymore." His mouth, which had always seemed to say his mind's thoughts without warning, failed him this time. Averting his gaze in slight embarrassment, the mercenary rubbed the back of his head with his left hand and stared downwards at the ground. Despite his words however, the slight tilt of his mouth showed that he was giving a rare, if not small smile of gratitude.
"But... thanks."
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Post by SlvrNight on Jun 6, 2016 20:38:25 GMT -5
Sasha took the folder from Norman and flipped through it, briefly looking at each page before shutting it. He hadn't said a single word of what he wanted her to investigate exactly. He was possibly waiting for her to ask and part of her wanted to play dumb and act as if she were truly normal. But Mr. Salm seemed to be more observant and cunning than your average businessman. It wouldn't surprised her if he had already known about her abilities from the rumors. Hell, with his wealth and influence it wouldn't have been too difficult to investigate said rumors himself and get a decently solid idea of the truth.
The red-haired woman stared at Norman for several seconds, as if studying his character, then adjusted her glasses.
"There are people vanishing from Skaldra, some workers under your employment, some random citizens, and now even some of the natives. Given how hardy the people of this frozen land need to be to survive, abducting them, which is more likely than simple murder since I haven't heard of any real bloody scenes, isn't an easy thing to do. I'm concerned enough from that alone. Obviously you want me to figure out what's going on about that."
Sasha then looked towards Mars in the distance.
"Would I be right in assuming that mercenary, Mars, is more than a simple escort? A bodyguard of some kind in case I run into some type of superhuman resistance that's beyond my abilities?"
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Post by Tokrochiru on Jun 7, 2016 1:49:39 GMT -5
"Well, yeah, that's the his most basic role in this investigation. There aren't many fighters out there like him. More than that though, Mars has a...peculiar quirk. I won't get into the finer details of it. Those are for him to tell, not me. What I can tell you is that it'll be invaluable to your investigation."
Norman looked to Mars as the mercenary socialized with his colleagues. "If he ever says he has a gut feeling about something, trust him. Even if it doesn't make any sense, even if there's no evidence to support it, trust him."
With that, Norman glanced back at Sasha once and started to move towards his employees. He clapped his gloves hands together in anticipation. "Alright, let's get this show on the road. Mars! Duster! Selatia! I've got some new assignments for you!"
At Norman's call, Duster and Selatia immediately turned around, giving him their full, undivided attention. It could be compared to a soldier's reaction when he hears "ATTEN-SION!!" but without the sting of a drill sergeant's aggressive tone. They were attentive, but relaxed.
"Selatia, I want you to work with Duster on the northern survey. Duster already has the details on the assignment. He'll give you a rundown of what exactly your objectives are once you reach Origin Point Alpha."
Selatia didn't speak a single word. Her face did, however, scrunch up in terror at the prospect of spending more time doing mundane work with Duster. No doubt she would have preferred to work with Mars, but she probably knew better than to request an immediate reassignment for the sake of alleviating her own boredom.
Duster in contrast simply said "we'll get it done" and took the order in stride.
Norman looked back over to Mars. "Mars, you'll be helping miss Ratamu with an investigation. Follow her lead. Make sure she's well protected. Depending on how deep this rabbit hole goes, you might end up having to venture out into the wilderness. If you do, make sure that you teach her what survival techniques you can and ensure that the environment hinders her as little as possible. I'd suggest that you two start with the last known location of the latest victim. That'd be about two miles east of the Silverfern tribe's southmost village. You should be able to make it there in about an hour if the sweet old lady at the bottom of the mountain gives you another ride. Any questions?"
"Why does Mars always get the fun assignments?" Selatia quipped.
"Oh come on, survey work can be fun." Norman replied....though his tone wasn't very convincing. He ended up having to add a "sometimes" at the end.
"Alright. But Mars, next time we have some time off, you have to help me test some new incantations I've created."
Selatia's incantations had the potential to be wondrous, messy, and terrifying, and occasionally all three at once. Whether or not one could consider testing them out to be a "good time" really depended on how much the person in question enjoyed pure, unbridled chaos.
Norman cleared his throat. "Any other questions?"
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Post by Jisui on Jun 8, 2016 4:06:21 GMT -5
Mars briefly paused after hearing his employer's orders, his gaze sweeping over the detective next to him. It was straightforward enough, but Selatia had a point. Duster was certainly on par, if not better at him at fighting, and Selatia was by far the best magic-user out of the three of them... the other two would have been just as qualified. He did have an inkling as to why Norman had specifically chosen him, but there was no use mulling over it too much.
"Understood. Leave it to me." The mercenary said simply, giving a slight nod to Sasha. He didn't particularly mind bodyguard work, and Sasha seemed reasonable enough. It was certainly better than the recon duty his coworkers had been given.
"Alright. But Mars, next time we have some time off, you have to help me test some new incantations I've created."
Inwardly and perhaps outwardly, Mars grimaced, recalling the memories of the last test run. He had been dangerously close to losing his other arm, and had no desire to repeat that ordeal. However, it was quite difficult to turn down the trickster. She knew how to get her way.
"...Next time." He reluctantly promised, glancing over at his two coworkers. "Stay safe."
Mars wasn't particularly worried about the two given their prowess and expertise, along with the nature of their mission. If anything, he was in more danger than them. Still, Skaldra could be a dangerous place. And that brought him to his next question.
The mercenary's scarlet eyes peered over at Norman, locking gazes with the businessman.
"And if we encounter hostiles?"
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Post by SlvrNight on Jun 8, 2016 20:58:45 GMT -5
Trust Mars's gut feelings no matter what? Such a piece of advice would normally be ignored entirely, labeled at nonsensical words of a madman. Granted, a person's gut feelings could be right but it was all simple chance. What was it about the mercenary that made Norman Salm so confident in whatever "gut feelings" he would have? Sasha's ears detected no change in his heartbeat, solidifying that his confidence was genuine. Didn't mean he was right though, simply that he believed he was right.
The detective followed Norman back to the mercenaries and listened to their conversation, staying silent. Seemed like the woman, Selatia, wasn't too happy about her assignment. Of course, Sasha would take a boring safe assignment over a life-threatening one any day. She wasn't a coward by any means, she just didn't enjoy sustaining horrific injuries and pushing through mind-shattering pain in a mad scramble for survival.
"And if we encounter hostiles?"
Sasha's eyes moved onto Norman, waiting for his answer. She was curious as well as to how Mars was intended to handle any hostiles during this case. Was he alright with Mars killing them or did the businessman want to avoid as much bloodshed as possible? The matter could be complicated further depending on exactly who any hostiles were too. If this case went deep enough to where there were some natives on the opposite side of the battlefield, killing them would likely be a horrible mistake.
She would cross that bridge if she came to it.
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Post by Tokrochiru on Jun 9, 2016 16:23:22 GMT -5
"I trust your judgement on this, Mars." Norman nodded to him. "You know where the line is. Kill only if necessary. In this particular case, if you're ever severely outnumbered, I'm giving you permission to go all out, but bring at least one subject back alive, provided it's sapient. Speaking of which..."
Norman pulled few things more things out of the bag, visibly emptying it. He tossed a flat, glowing blue stone and a metallic orb at Mars and Sasha respectively.
"The rock's a Stone of Recall. Hold it close to your heart and mutter the word "home" if you two ever need an instant one-way teleport back to Agria. In case of an emergency, mutter "retreat" instead. The metal sphere's a holophone, but you probably already know that. Use that if you need to to call me. Mars has his own, just like it. I'm granting you permission to contact Duster and Selatia as well if you think their input will be useful. Their numbers as well as mine are in the phone's contact list. No need to be shy, for the record. As long as you're working on this case, I'm going to give you my full attention. In fact, I'm hoping daily progress reports if you can give it."
Norman's smile returned. It had gradually faded as he went into detail regarding the case, but it was now back in full. He obviously didn't object to the idea of talking to the two as they work. Mars knew that he enjoyed breaking away from all the monotonous paperwork he often has to handle, so it made perfect sense to him. Sadly, depending on how dark their findings might be, that smile could have been in danger of fading again.
"You can call me anytime, Mars." Selatia winked slyly as she smirked. "...Seriously, I'll go crazy if you don't. My sanity is in your hands."
Selatia's eyes suddenly turned dead and cold. Unfortunately, this did little to help her case, as this was just another melodramatic moment in a sea of overreactions.
"Oh! One more thing," Norman said, bringing everyone's mind back to things that were actually important. "Mars, I want you to make liberal use of that map of Skaldra I gave you. If you ever plan on heading somewhere, I suggest touching that area on the map with your index finger. It'll glow blue, giving you a visual reference. Wherever you are right now should be glowing green, with an arrow indicating which direction you're facing."
Norman clapped his hands together. "Alright! That about covers it. Wherever you two plan on heading, make your way there now. If you need me, contact me. I'll let you know if anything new turns up on my end."
That was their cue to leave.
"Stay safe," Duster said, nodded to the two of them.
"Talk to you later Mars....Please?" Selatia clasped her hands together, begging.
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Post by Jisui on Jun 10, 2016 22:49:08 GMT -5
So it was up to his discretion in the end. Mars wasn't entirely sure whether to be flattered at Norman's level of trust or not. At the very least, he was appreciative. Having that level of freedom would make protecting his new charge significantly easier.
The mercenary nodded in acknowledgement to his superior, before reaching out and smoothly catching the stone with his left hand. Something that you had to get used to when working for Norman Salm was using the technology he would provide his agents. Initially he had been somewhat wary of the strange devices that Norman would give him, but there was no denying the fact that they were plainly useful. He didn't doubt that the map would be invaluable when navigating Skaldra.
"Until next time." Mars nodded in agreement to his companions, locking gazes with Duster.
Don't look at her.
It'd be easier that way, he told himself. Whenever Selatia wanted something, the easiest way to deny her and keep a straight conscious was to not look at her face while she was pleading. There were plenty of reasons why he shouldn't oblige her. It would potentially compromise the mission, distract him and consequentially her (which would lead to a displeased Duster). Just don't look at her.
His gaze slipped, falling to the pleading trickster.
By the second, his willpower began crumbling like pastries, and the man feared as "Scarlet" caved in.
"...Talk to you later."
He attempted to salvage his professionalism by turning to his new charge, and giving her a slight nod to signify that they should leave.
"I'll trust your judgment as to where we should go. Just let me know."
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Post by SlvrNight on Jun 13, 2016 18:05:18 GMT -5
Sasha caught the metallic orb and studied it, turning it ever way. She knew what it was, having used similar devices in her previous work. It would undoubtedly come in handy and was one of the most basic and essential tools a private investigator needed. Some way to keep in contact with her employer.
"Daily progress reports. That shouldn't be a problem really. Hopefully each day brings some kind of notable progression or our phone conversations will be getting rather dull, Mr. Salm."
She then looked towards Duster and Selatia.
"I hope you two don't mind the possibility of me contacting either of you for some input every now and then. Plus, I'm sure Mars would feel more comfortable if whatever leads I think I uncover have some support from people he actually knows. Much easier to follow the words of a stranger if they're backed by friends."
Sasha watched the mercenaries say their goodbyes as well as Selatia's little dramatic display towards Mars. She could see the trio had a rather good bond, reminding her of herself and her old allies. The detective gave her own goodbye in the form of a small wave and smile. She then looked at Mars as they began walking, studying him for a moment before speaking.
"So Mr. Salm said we should head two miles east of the Silverfern tribe's southmost village. Hopefully my ride will figure out exactly where that is from here because I have no idea."
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