House Of Lies [Job] [Vox x Mythica]

The scenery of rolling plains was a blur from within the train’s cabin, as its mighty engines roared with life and carried it towards the capital, to Crocus itself. It was luxuriously decorated, fitting for the wealthy and high-born to keep them entertained for hours of constant travel. Wine, food, large screen televisions and a small back room for more, intimate activities. The journey was coming to an end soon, the sight of the city upon the horizon as the train carried its nefarious cargo and ignorant citizens. Two people to soil the name of a good man, and hand a government chair to corruption and abuse. In this story, there would be no hero to raise up and speak out against injustice, only the subtle raise of a tainted soul.

Today however, the cabin itself and the next three down the line were all reserved; all for the sake of the two people seated within it and the man on the screen before them, Thomas Stone. A blonde haired man with a lean frame, blue eyes, and a polite smile. His face was kind and patient, even while the words he spoke with his silver tongue were far from pure and kind.  

Seated upon one of the chairs as Vox, in the form of a plain looking male with typical brown hair and eyes, dressed with a simple dress shirt and pants as he flipped through the pages as he listened to Stone prattle on about how it was imperative nothing was traced back, and that his opponent wasn’t killed. Beyond that, it seemed as if nothing else truly mattered.

Vox read silently at the detailed reports on the rival’s family, wife and children. A wife who is thought to be wanting something more, children experimenting, his gaze shifted towards the woman at his side that Stone had chosen for the mission as well. On his own, he could ruin the politician with ease, but it would be far more interesting to see if the lady had a more entertaining way than the typical scandalous affairs that Stone was hinting at.

“ The deadline is the most troubling thing of all it seems … A week, sure time to set up more evidence to lend weight to it. But only twenty four hours. One would have to do the dirty work, the other prepare things for it to be believable. An easy but boring fix, could be merely to kill steal his wallet, purchase a motel room. Kill a hooker in there and have it linked back to him. Just enough to raise eyebrows and doubt, while giving us time to add onto more throughout the week perhaps. ”

Post # 1, WC = 451

The clock in her eye ticked silently as Mythica stared out the window with an expression of complete and utter boredom. Her face leaning against the palm of her hand as her mind wandered, ignoring the conversation between the client and the mysterious partner she knew nothing about. She could've fixed that, but decided that until he proved interesting she wouldn't bother using any mana on figuring out who he was. That, or he'd probably end up telling her himself. Mythica however, wasn't even sure why she was here in the first place. She rarely took jobs anymore that served anyone other than herself. She simply didn't find it entertaining too. Although as Mythica's power grew, so too did the popularity of her exploits. She couldn't rely on the fact that nobody knew who she was anymore. Therefore it would be paramount to attempt to blend in. Best way to do that was to use actual money to get what she wanted. Not the preferred method, but if it got the more powerful legal mages off her scent, it was her only choice.

Now this Mr. Stone did have an interesting job proposal after all. Classic political competition, and he was willing to get his hands dirty in order to take home the trophy. Something Mythica could admire. Although his rules turned Mythica off. She couldn't kill the target? What fun was that? Instead she was expected to just undermine his operations or frame him for a crime that would land him in a comfortable prison? She scoffed at the idea. That plan had no flare in it. Neither did Mythica's partner's plan either. "Well, not sure about you but I plan to make a little fun out of this job." She remarked, sneering at both of them as the train continued to rush towards the capital. Mythica could see the buildings slowly appear in the distance.

Mr. Stone’s hand dismissed both of their comments with disinterest, his other one already picking up a folder as he set to work on something else. “You already have the terms. No killing him, it raises too many suspicions. Deal with it, ensure it doesn’t trace back to me. Beyond that, I don’t care what you do. So long as it's done and in the news tomorrow. Now get to it, I have an election to win.”  

With that, the screen turned blank as the feed was cut off. Leaving the two of them alone as the train plowed onwards. “So.” Vox started, ignoring the sneer that had been sent his way as he turned his unremarkable face towards the… teenager? To his side. Either that, or she was what the humans would be considered ancient and longed to feel young again.

“ I’m the same as Stone, so long as the job gets done; doesn’t matter how.”

Vox responded with a light shrug as he put away the dossier that had been given to them. “You can call me Fredrick, but as long as we get paid do things as you wish. Seduce the son, get him hoped up on drugs and convince him to rape the sister. Get the father drunk, sleep with you and release the sex tape of him potentially being with an under aged girl. Kidnap the wife and have him do something to ruin his own good name, yadda yadda yadda.” Vox’s hands slipped the paperwork into the suitcase he had brought and rose to his feet before sending a polite smile towards the young girl. “So, any of that sound fun to you?”

And as soon as Mythica was about to fall asleep from the sheer boredom of the conversation, it ended abruptly with their client signing off. She scruntched her face up at the camera before yawning and stretching her arms out. That's when her partner spoke up again. She raised an eyebrow and turned to his direction as he concurred with their client. She could only roll her eyes and turn back towards the window. How lucky of her to catch one of the most dull jobs out there. No. She wouldn't let this bother her. Mythica WOULD find a way to put a twist on this without angering the client. And if he didn't like her results, well she'd just kill him and take his money. It'd work out in the end. Mythica would make sure of that.

Her interest however was brought back slightly when the man next to her started bringing up possible ideas. However, she couldn't help but show a face of disgust at the suggestion of more vulgar processes. Mythica would never allow herself to become one of those woman. "If you must know, I am 18. And I think I can find a more *painful* way of getting him in trouble." She grinned, the slight fangs of her yokai lineage showing. "We'll slaughter his entire family, strewn their blood across his room. And let him soak it all in before we call the guards.: She said with a sinister tone, the golden clock of her eye ticking now with anticipation.

Nut Case… Vox thought to himself upon seeing the sinister sight before him. A seemingly young girl, with the ticking clock of an eye and fanged maw happily suggesting the slaughter of innocent people as sport. … This is going to be fun. “Then the headlines would most likely, lean towards his entire family being slaughtered and build sympathy for him. ‘Oh, look someone murdered his family.. They must really fear him!’ “

Vox responded in a high pitched, feminine tone. Eyes watching the tick, tick of the clock. “If you want to strangle his daughter by his son’s intestines, there has to be some sort of build up. To create a reason for the media to throw in the suggestion he did it. Have him be seen drinking at a bar, complaining about his family and slowly growing angrier about it… later have a tape catch him purchasing drugs from a back alley and so on. Stuff that isn’t completely obvious at first, but easy enough to find so that as tomorrow goes on more and more stuff is leaked that suggests he could have done it. And if you really want to drive the nail home, leave one of them alive so that they can accuse him of it before succumbing to their injuries. That fun enough for the sadist, or do you wish to explore more painful options for him?”

Mythica remained silent as she listened to the man's being nit picky about her plan. Why did there always need to be a backstory for every action someone took! She hated it. But she couldn't exactly argue with his logic either. If they did just go and kill off the entire family seemingly at random, that would indeed raise some questions. After all, their target didn't exactly have any motive to brutally murder his own children. Instead they'd need to frame him by causing a stir in his personal life. How bothersome. She gave an annoyed "tsk" sound and leaned back against the softness of the chair. However, staring at her own reflection in the window caused an idea to stir... Something sinister.

She turned back to Vox with a dark grin and a glint in her eye. "What if we don't need to frame him?" She said suddenly. "After all, nobody more guilty than the man who performed the action himself..." Mythica got up and walked towards Vox, grabbing both his hands suddenly and pulling herself closer, gazing straight into his eyes with her own, the yellow glow reflecting on his face. "Not sure why, but I seem to have a knack for making people go insane... All it takes a single stare.." She then let go and turned around with a skip in her step, looking out the window again as the capital finally came into view. "Well looks like we're here! Oh, by the way. Name's Mythica." She sneered.

“How-” He had started to say before a pair of small, soft hands envoloped his own and his gaze was met with the sight of evil incarnate. What would otherwise have been, by human standards, an adorable girl having the expression of a psychotic murderess. As the words slipped out from her lips, he waited. Waited for her to attempt to make him go insane as she stared straight into his own eyes; to his disappointment however it never came.

No assault on his mind, no strange visions or urgings. Nothing at all to hint at an alteration, or did he merely not sense it? His gaze blinked as he watched her skip away towards the window like a schoolgirl, the corners of his lips falling into a frown. Disappointment, that is what he felt at the lack of such an interesting experience of being driven insane. Or at the very least, the attempt of it.

“Gerald, and you may want to start wearing glasses.” He responded as he watched the buildings come into view as the train plowed its way off towards the station.   “So the plan is to get him alone before meeting his family. Give him the seductive eye flutter, then send him off with a knife in hand? Unless you have some illusion based magic I don’t see how you can shift his insane mind to see his family as a threat… Unless, we convince him that the ones inside are shapeshifters, slowly feeding off of his real family locked away.” Vox responded with a slight smile. “Are  you sure you can break his mind with a single glance?”

Mythica would say nothing in response to Gerald's question or his suggestion. She'd simply stare out the window, watching the train rush its way through towards the capital. As it did they quickly entered the tunnel. Outside it got dark almost instantly, the only light coming from inside the car itself. After he finished speaking... The lights began to flicker slightly and Mythica had seemingly vanished from sight! Where had she gone? It appeared as if she poofed almost instantly, with no trace of her existence left to be seen. That's when the entire train began to creak, the car groaning with stress from an unknown force... And then the lights shut off suddenly and without warning. Darkness took hold of the train car... Except for one small light that flickered, clinging to life at the opposite end of the car.

Kneeling underneath the dying light was a woman. Not Mythica, but someone else...? Someone deep from Vox's past. Someone he feared. She slowly stood up in the flickering light and turned her head to face him directly. It was Celestine. The only words to escape her mouth were. "I don't know.... YOU TELL ME." And then instantly the train exited the tunnel, light flooded back into the car and the lights turned back on. Celestine gone, and Mythica standing where she had been before, still facing the window looking at the station. She'd turn and chuckle as her golden eye's glow began to fade back to its normal light...

One of his few, personal reapers stood before Vox within the train. It was the deadliest of them, and also the most captivating. Even without gazing upon any of its distinguishable features and merely looking upon its leather trenchcoated form, he knew who stood before him. It was the relaxed, arrogant posture of such self-assured confidence it was reminiscent of an ancient dragon indulging a fledgling with a game.

As it turned to face him Vox was once again graced with a sight of such beauty it was beyond words to describe. Rolling clouds of interstellar dust, swirling and forming into young stars. Age old beacons of light still shining bright after billions of year, the nebulas aglow with creation of new planets and life. It was the sight of creation and destruction on a cosmic scale, a sympothy of the ages to witness. It was Celestine, the lost celestial. The first and greatest of his creations, and one of the only things which the very sight of had the claws of terror caressing his throat.

Even quicker than she had appeared, the sight vanished and was replaced with the little girl before him. A dimming eye, ticking down the seconds looked upon him. His face was stoic, however pale as not even his self control could keep the sight of a freed Celestine before him, from forcing his mortal flesh from reacting to the sensation of inevitable destruction.

“... Yay... Most people would say ‘Fuck you’ right about now…. Allow me to add my name to that list..” Vox said before taking a breath to steady his beating heart. “So. Plan is to get him to see visions until he goes insane, butchers his family, then have the cops arrive? It might take awhile… I could get him alone, and have a replacement take over for him until you finish breaking him.”

Mythica couldn't help herself but giggle at his statement. It was obvious she had gotten to him with that little trick she had just pulled. Maybe she'd be able to pull some more fun with it later. But on a much different target. Although it seemed like they had a plan to use Mythica's illusion magic, the time wizard wasn't overly sure what a man like the one they were trying to manipulate could have. Then again, she did not know anything about him yet. And it was clear to her by now that everyone, no matter who they are, always has a dark side they try to keep hidden. Well most people tried to keep it hidden anyways. Mythica didn't. Based off of that little display she had just pulled it seemed rather obvious by now. Of course, Mythica had only briefly glanced into Vox's past. And she saw that being that he both loved and feared. However, she didn't know why. Not yet. She hadn't looked that far. It seemed whoever he was, he was far from an ordinary human. His history went years beyond hers. Mythica was only human anyways. That didn't really surprise her, though. It seemed like almost every wizard Mythica had met that she hadn't tried to kill was some sort of non human demi god or demon king or something like that. This world was truly filled with strange people.

"That would work out rather nicely. Every man has his secrets... And I'll make his drive him crazy." She said through another toothy grin looking back at Vox just as the train began to slow. It appeared as if they had arrived at their destination. "Well then,
game faces!" She said pulling a white eye patch from her side and placing it over her head. The glow of her eye hidden from view temporarily. "Whadya say, handsome? Wait for darkness? Or go in now?"