No Honor Among Thieves | Job | Cleona Collins

On the edge of the Forgotten Desert sat a lively town, more like a den of thieves, dubbed Dragon Town. God seemed nonexistent there, where the blood of murdered thugs littered the ground whilst the moans of the ladies of the night occupied the air. The howling of drunkards in the cantina shifted through the ears of passing pedestrians and the smoke generated by the town’s addicts clouded the air.

Despite the constant ruckus in Dragon Town, no one had loose lips. A gang of cutthroats calling themselves the Letloss ran the town with hopeless fury. If you were caught gossiping about them, you disappeared. If you were found talking to the authorities about anything, they took your tongue out with a rusty dagger. Just witnessing something you were not supposed to see warranted having an eye gouged out.  They were definitely not a group to be taken lightly. Recently, however, there authority was being undermined. A reckless group, the Cartel, had been extending their territory into Dragon Town. They had been disrupting the Letloss’ illegal businesses for months, but they took it farther than ever with the theft of a “special package” that belonged to the Letloss.

This is where Cleona came in…

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WC: 204/200
PC: 1/20

Mr. Clarkson’s office wreaked of smoke as he puffed his cigar from behind the wooden desk. The man was draped in a tailored suit and he was rather large man, well above six feet. His cliché beard-mustache combo screamed “villain” but it was hard to take him seriously when cuts and bruises littered his face along with a swollen black eye.

In contrast, Cleona floated in front of the desk with seemingly undamaged body and even smirk each time Mr. Clarkson winced in pain.

“So… how about it? Seven thousand Jewels to get back my package. No questions asked.”

With her arms crossed, Cleona wore a frank look upon her face and promptly retorted, “Was this ‘package’ even yours to begin with?”

Letloss was infamous, enough so that even Cleona had heard of them. It wasn’t much of a stretch to suggest that the supposed lacrima package wasn’t even theirs.

“Hmm… of course, of course. I wouldn’t send anyone after it otherwise.”

The pixie didn’t buy it but she shrugged, “Oh, then sure, I’ll get it. Just tell me where your little desert pals ran off.”

With almost child-like joy, Mr. Clarkson grinned and simply informed her, “Some ruins, five miles south of here.”

“And don’t worry. You can’t miss it: those sick bastards keep a bunch of corpses at the entrance.”

---

WC: 222/200
PC: 2/20

The member 'Cleona Collins' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

'Monster Dice' :

As Cleona ventured toward the designated spot, she noticed a large fort off in the distance. The sun was just coming up and saying good morning to the world. As it rose up, its brilliant light shown down on the fort. From afar, the pixie could tell that it was made of stone though it was rather bland and hard to pin on the type of architect one would call it. It certainly wasn’t as impressive as the Basilisk Fang fort but at least it made sense. Cleona still couldn’t understand the point of having a fort in the middle of a snowy tundra. It was doubtful they’d ever be attacked given that the snow storm prevented any large army from moving through to even see the guild hall.

She crossed into the desert on her wings, the gentle breeze gliding her across. The wind swept into her face from time to time, possibly the most annoying feeling ever. She came upon one of those cliché bovine skulls with the sound of a vulture off in the distance. The only thing missing was the stringing of a banjo. Cleona was surprised she didn’t start hallucinating a myriad of figures from her past.

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WC: 202/200
PC: 3/20

Cleona approached the entrance to the fort – a giant stone door. As Mr. Clarkson had warned her, there was a pile of corpses resting near the entrance. The stench of decay could be smelt for miles and the wind carrying it didn’t help. A lot of them were bloated and a few were already skeletons, the decaying process sped up by the heat of the sun. The sight of the dead would have worried most, but they didn’t seem to affect the pixie. She had seen her share of death, more than enough to demystify her to the concept of passing on to the next life.

Before going further, Cleona gathered magic power into her chest. Her chest then began glowing as the seal on her rib cage was released. A gust of sand swept up around her and slowly settled. Where a tiny pixie once was, now stood a human-sized pixie. She had activated the seal of her old master, Achlys, allowing her to grow. The process of growing had always made her feel eerie and moving around like so always took some adjusting. Achly, however, insisted it and the pixie was powerless to refuse the motherly venom goddess.

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WC: 200/200
PC: 4/20

For whatever reason, the Cartel decided it would be best to only leave two people on guard at the entrance. The two looked like imbeciles to Cleona; one was picking his nose while the other just stared into space. As she approached, the second one walked toward her, grinning like an idiot. He, as well as his companion, were dressed ruggedly. They had biker-esque shirts on, were clad in dirt jeans and awful boots. Each had scars and bruises all over them. Something told Cleona that they were probably single too. They were obviously nothing more than foot soldiers who were soon to be cannon fodder.

“Hey, girl… you are a girl, aren’t you?”

He stared at her for a bit. Clearly, he had never seen a giant pixie. Someone like him must have lived in a rock… then again, the Cartels fortress was made out of rock it seemed.

“Ah, well, whatever… I like me some green women. It’s an exotic color.”

Cleona just stared like a bitchy woman would, disgusted by the idea of turning the situation into a Star Trek scenario and becoming that man’s “green woman.” She was going to get physical with him however, just not how he would hope.

---

WC: 200/205
PC: 5/20

Cleona landed down on her feet and smirked.

“You know what my favorite color is? Red.”

With that, she quickly raised her foot and slammed her heel into his chest. He went flying back into the stone wall with a loud and yelp. The wall cracked a little and he landed on his butt with a thud. He merely shook his head and looked around in a daze in disbelief of what just happened.

His partner stopped picking his nose for a moment long enough to hold up his staff in a battle-ready position.

“Alright, you green freak. I don’t wanna have to hurt you but I will.”

“Out of my way. I don’t have time for you.”

Cleona crossed her arms as the man just frowned. He looked at his partner, second-guessed himself, and took a deep breath before charging the woman as he held his staff like a spear. Cleona simply sighed and raised her flexible leg up before bringing it down on the staff, digging it into the ground. In a short, adjoining movement, Cleona slammed her fist into the man’s chest, knocking him back as well, though not quite as far as his poor, perverted companion.

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WC: 200/200
PC: 6/20

Both guards got up and stared down the pixie. Cleona grinned once more and began channeling magic power into her mouth… and nothing happened. That’s when she received the unfortunate reminder that she was wearing the limiter that Elijah had set her up with. The sadistic, vampire guild master had made her wear as a test of strength; really though, the pixie figured it was just to be cruel. With the darn bracelet, the pixie was forced to use only her weakest spells. However, Cleona just shrugged the whole matter off and figured she’d be using nothing but her physical body to ram her way through the fort. First, she had to deal with Dumb and Dumber.

The first guard approached and slammed his staff down on the ground, causing a vertical wave of fire to come hurdling at the woman. The fire took Cleona off guard as she attempted to fly past it but found her arm nicked. She grabbed at the burned spot, the smell of burning flesh rising to her nostrils and stinging her senses. She hissed in pain but refused to yelp, not even a little. The two men simply smirked as they regained their confidence almost immediately.

---

WC: 202/200
PC: 7/20

“Don’t get cocky…”

Cleona regained her stance and, without the least bit of warning, she flew off the ground and toward the first guard. The dust whipped up around her, making it quite difficult for the man to prep himself. Regardless, he raised his staff but did not expect the swift kick to the stomach again. He fell back a few steps and coughed up blood. His rib cage had been broken by the pixie’s heel, prompting him to fall over. Rather proud of herself, Cleona stood and hovered over the man simply to look down on the man who dared to burn her ever beautiful green skin.

The second guard – or moron, as Cleona would call him – ran up behind her and swung his staff into her right leg. The smack forced out a yelp, contradicting Cleona’s own promise not to do so. She felt to her knee and looked up to the man before grabbing his, holding on to it as the man struggled to take it back, and slammed her fist into his stomach. Finally, he released his hold on the staff and wobbled back but kept his balance. The pixie returned to her feet and slowly walked toward him, gazing at him like a lion would a gazelle.

---

WC: 212/200
PC: 8/20

The totally selfless guard on the ground scampered to get on to his feet and shout, “Hey, man, wait right here while I go get some help! I’ll be right back, I promise!”

Cleona turned to see the man slumping off and even falling over as he tried to run away into the fort. He looked like an injured dog trying to escape the scene of a car crash. He was moving though, slowly but surely, with a small trickle of blood being left behind. As the pixie watched the sight, the second guard to the opportunity to get a sucker punch in; more specifically, he caused his fists to light up with fire before sending his knuckles in Cleona’s cheeks. She kept her stance though and simply stared at him for a brief moment as if saying, “What the hell!?” Instead, however, she remained silent, threw the staff on the ground and walked toward the man.

Charging for her next attack, Cleona lifted herself off the ground and flew into the poor man by kicking her hells into his ribs as she had done with the first guard. The man went flying and landed painfully on his back, entirely at the mercy of the pixie.

---

WC: 206/200
PC: 9/20

Inside the fort, the injured guard was running around shouting for help as he attracted the attention of all the guards inside. They rushed to his aide of course and nearly laughed when they heard his wild tale of a pixie growing and kicking their asses. They just took him for delusional, though three others agreed to follow him to the entrance of the facility. In truth, they were following more out of pity for all his wounds rather than because they believed him. Instead of letting the man lie down and get medical help, they did as jackasses would and forced him to go to the entrance for them.

Meanwhile, a mass of figures were gathering in the desert. They bore guns, swords, and all manners of magic. They looked mean, gruff, and absolutely pissed. Yet, each one had a smirk upon his face (they were all male) as they knew the time to take out their rivals was fast approaching. Each one proudly bore a jacket with the symbol of the Letloss gang. Leading the wild bunch was none other than Mr. Clarkson himself.

“Today, we take what’s ours!”

The large group roared like a mad chorus with blood-thirst.

---

WC: 202/200
PC: 10/20

The group of four guards arrived just in time to Cleona pressing her boots against the one guard’s head, crushing his skull and sending blood in every direction. The injured guard look with horror as his friend was so brutally executed. The three accompanying guards simply stared in awe and with a tad bit of freight.

Cleona threw her soured expression at the men and took a good look at them before gathering magic power into her throat. Her cheeks puffed up for a moment before she cocked her heard forward and spat out a black ball of goo. The men all looked in amazement as the black goo rapidly expanded and took the form of a monstrous spider. The black, goo-made spider looked around with curiosity as its many eyes stared at its targets.

“If you have any final prayers, now’s the time to say them.”

The spider lowered its legs and jumped off the ground toward the injured guard. One of the more heroic guards, however, took it upon himself to jump in the way and whack the giant spider with his bow staff. As soon the staff slammed into the arachnid, it exploded, covering all the men with its black goo.

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WC: 204/200
PC: 11/20

The men all hisses in pain as they quickly figured out that the black goo was a poison eating away at them. The injured man keeled over onto his knees before falling completely over and drawing his last breath. The men all stared hatefully at the pixie until one stepped forward and swept his staff, conjuring up a small, red fire cyclone. The heat pulsing off the cyclone incinerated the nearby bugs whilst the force of it wept up the sand. The heat was great enough that it caused the sand whipping up to harden into glass.

Cleona fluttered her wings in a desperate attempt to escape the cyclones reach but found herself too slow. The fire burned her body up, singing pieces of her hair as the shards of glass cut away at her flesh. Once the cyclone was over, Cleona fell to the ground, with burns covering several parts of her body. She seemed helpless and defeated, prompting the three guards to surrounded her and stare down at their victory. However, all three of them clenched themselves and shuttered as the poison continued to work at them.

“Jeez. What the hell did she throw at us? Acid goo?”

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WC: 200/200
PC: 12/20

Cleona’s body twitched as she looked up in pain at the men. The men looked complacently down at her, letting their guard down long enough for a goo to start producing around the pixie’s wings. The goo quickly covered her wings and hardened to form shells. The men backed away, somewhat confused by what they were seeing, but one attempted slam his bow staff down on the woman. With a bit of a yelp, the woman covered herself with her wings as if she were forming a shell. The staff managed to break through and shatter the shell; it even managed to cause some manner of pain for her, albeit at a reduced amount.

Quickly, Cleona brought herself back to her feet and head butted the guard who whacked her in his stomach. She followed it up with a quick kick to his side, sending him flying to the side. He landed a few feet away with a thump and fell into a state of unconsciousness. The force of the kick coupled with the stinging of the poison proved to be too much for the poor young man. The remaining two, far more confident than the others, held up their staffs and prepared for the enxt round.

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WC: 207/200
PC: 13/20

“Now… which one of you sent that tornado at me!?”

The men smirked at her comment and both aimed their staffs at her like they were wielding guns. They gathered the necessary magic power into their staffs and fired off a basketball-sized fire ball from each staff. Cleona flapped her wings managed to fly over one but was nicked in the foot by the other for minor damage, disrupting her flight for but a mere moment until she regained her balance in midair.

Meanwhile, on the fireside of the fort, the Letloss gang was beginning hteir assault on the fort. With the Cartel being far too busy laughing or wondering about the fiasco at the other entrance, they were caught entirely by surprise. The Letloss men yelled like rebels, firing their guns and slicing away at any poor fool who got in their way. Mr. Clarkson himself was having quite the ball as he took the time to perform makeshift executions in the midst of the battlefield. Both sides of fight preferred fire magic, but the fact that the fort was composed of rock made it nearly impossible for anything inside the facility to catch on fire.

Cleona was surprised by the ruckus she heard coming from the opposite side of the facility to say the least.

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WC: 217/200
PC: 14/20

Cleona counter attacked by doing as she had done before flying toward one until she managed to drop her heels on his head. A loud snapping sound could be heard as her swift kick broke the man’s neck, killing him instantly. His body fell to the ground, his dead hand still clenching the staff. The pixie landed on her feet gently, kicking up a little sand as she did.

The final remaining guard seemed startled at first but regained his composure. He gathered magic power into his staff once more and, like before, swept his staff out to bring about a fire cyclone. As before, it turned the sand into glass and became a whirling wind of burning fire and slicing glass. Rather than dodge though, Cleona formed a black needle in her hand and stabbed herself into the arm with it. The needle was filled with a poison that quickly began attacking her pain receptors and numbing her body to any form of pain. As the cyclone approached, the pixie held up her arms to protect her eyes and stood firm to prevent herself from being carried away by the force of the wind. Though the fire and glass worked on her body, she managed to remain completely still until the tornado dissipated and came to an end.

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WC: 219/200
PC: 15/20

Cleona looked as though she had just been through a blender: she was covered with cuts, her hair was burned in several different spots, and specks of blood seeped out of her. Her breathing was more rigid but she had a smile on her face. The feeling of a human having to go to such great lengths to try and kill her seemed euphoric. She felt not like a pixie but like the man’s equal. The limiter was beginning to look pretty good after all (not that Elijah still wasn’t an ass).

The pixie wiped the blood on the edge of her mouth and teased, “If that’s the best move you have, then I’m afraid this is your end.”

Cleona erected her back and took a few steps forward. The guard was exhausted from all the spells he had just casted coupled with the poison from earlier. He dropped his staff and ran deeper into the facility. Cleona bit her lip in angst, hoping he ropponent would be braver than that but merely sighed and accepted the cowardice. Her wings rose up and she was in flight soon enough. The man didn’t get far; Cleona caught up with him in mere seconds before giving him a powerful kick in the back. The force sent him to the ground, leaving him unconscious.

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WC: 221/200
PC: 16/20

Cleona landed on the ground and hovered over the unconscious guard. She gently pressed her boot against the back of his head before raising it and sending it straight down, caving in his skull. Making sure to leave no loose ends, she went back and stomped in the skulls of each unconscious guard. By the time she was finished, she was covered in the blood of others. It was messy business, but she had to make certain none would awake and cause trouble for her later. There was no shortage of vigilante justice in Fiore; that much was certain to the foreign pixie.

Cleona traveled deeper into the fort and found a bloodbath. Bodies were strewn out all over the place. Most of them belonged to the Cartel while a few belonged to the Letloss gang. Puddles of blood covered the stone floor and weapons were all over the place. Cleona felt obligated to hover just to avoid getting any dirtier than she already was. There were a few injured Letloss members crawling around, apparently abandoned by the bulk of the raiders until the battle came to an end. More concerned with obtaining the lacrima, the pixie didn’t even bother to help them despite their pleas.

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WC: 206/200
PC: 17/20

Cleona arrived at the center of the compound by the time the fighting had come to an end. The Letloss gang had won by a substantial victory. In the center room, Cleona had come upon Mr. Clarkson celebrating with the rest of the raiders. Not surprisingly, they were getting drunk off there ass next to a very large box presumed to hold the stolen lacrima (which was probably stolen from the Letloss gang before it belonged to them).

Celona entered in with a frown and hollered, “Why wasn’t I told about this raid!?”

Mr. Clarkson bellowed back, “Sorry, my dear, I didn’t think you’d make it. I sort of just thought you’d… you know. Die.”

The pixie went red in the face and shouted, “I was just a distraction then? Mere bait for you desert jackasses!?”

The men all laughed at the remark and cheered some more in celebration of their victory.

“Oh, come on now, you were a great big help! We couldn’t have done all this without you!”

Cleona crossed her arms. She was obviously pissed, seeing as how she was made into some ignorant gangster’s pawn. It was difficult to not just punch the man in the gut right there.

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WC: 203/200
PC: 18/20

Despite the anger Cleona felt over being played as a pawn, she still wanted those Jewels. When the drunken celebration came to an end, she was one of the volunteers to help move the giant package. It took quite a few people to move it, even with Cleona’s abnormal strength. The hard part was moving it out of the giant room; how the Cartel got it into the room despite the small doors would remain a mystery forever. Finally, they decided to just breakdown the walls and carry it out that way. It wasn’t as if total anarchy wasn’t already in effect in the region.

Mr. Clarkson did the hard part of supervising. He had a particularly strenuous duty of telling everyone to work faster and was forced to drink the cool water he had when the desert’s heat got to him. The poor man. By the time they had arrived back in Dragon Town, the carriers – Cleona included – were exhausted and drenched in sweat. Strangely, no one was stupid enough to ask why a bunch of people were carrying a gigantic crate from the desert into town. They likely didn’t want to get onto the Letloss’ hit list, especially those who had sympathized with the Cartel.

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WC: 207/200
PC: 19/20

The best part of the job was about to come: pay time. Once everything was done, the Letloss minions had placed the lacrima crate inside a shady warehouse on the edge of time. Of course, they decided to do some more celebrating by heading to the town’s tavern. When offered to join them, Celona respectively told them to shove it up their asses and went looking for the man who was supposed to pay her. She stepped out of the warehouse where a cool breeze hit her and the moonlight bathed her before heading to the same place she had spoken with Mr. Clarkson early that morning.

Cleona wondered into the building and found Mr. Clarkson’s office. He was relaxing behind his desk and enjoying a nice alcoholic drink along with a cigar.

“Well, look who it is! Our best helper of the day!”

“Shut up. Give me my money before I break your nose again.”

“Alright, alright. Calm down.”

Mr. Clarkson pulled out a drawer in his desk and plucked out a bag full of Jewels. He casually tossed it to the pixie who promptly gave him the bird before walking out of his office. She hated that town and never planned to come back.

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WC: 206/200
PC: 20/20