Link to the mission here
This was by far one of the happiest cities in Fiore. Or at the very least, whenever Levinia found herself in Magnolia, everyone seemed to be in a festive mood. At first, she had thought it was the holidays, but even on days that did not fall in any hallowed seasons or commemorations, the people were one cheerful bunch. It could be for any reason, but Levinia was not too bothered with such. At least, she was sure there wasn't some evil, nefarious purpose behind the gaiety... like an illusion cast over an already dead city with shuffling corpses to make it seem bubbling and full of life. Instinctively, she shuddered, but pushed the thought away. It was not even remotely possible. And if somehow, it was, then there was nothing she could do about it.
Laughing at herself for entertaining such macabre thoughts when even the sun encouraged one to feel optimistic, Levinia put her thoughts more towards what she had come to Magnolia to do. Okay, that was not very accurate, because she was not currently involved in any of the original business that had brought her to the city. This sunny day met her in a fruit market, sampling plant produce like any normal consumer, with no hint of the fact that about two weeks ago, she could not afford to do this without being looked at like she was a monster. Not to mention that from around that time, up to this point, repeated attacks had been made on her life, some subtle, but many glaringly obvious.
She reckoned that the major reason she was still alive was because of her mentor. She was, and would be eternally grateful to Beira who had no surname beyond the title of being from Utgardr. She was still making her theories about the older woman, but she assumed that like herself, this Utgardr rested on a plane different from Earthland, much like her place of birth. So that made Beira an extraplanar creature of sorts, like herself. She expected to meet her here; she had invited her to come over to Magnolia after all. However, Levinia was starting to suspect that perhaps the reason for the invitation was not exactly what she had mentioned.
You see, she had asked Beira over to help her with trying to fish out where the attacks were coming from. It was always wiser to uncover a hidden enemy as the first step in defeating them. Unfortunately, this enemy had proved time and again to be very evasive. Just when she thought she had a lead, a metal door would slam shut in her face, and she would be back to square one, with only speculations and hunches to go by. On the flip side, the breaking of Levinia's curse had unlocked some interesting magics and placed them at her disposal, and with these newfound powers, she was optimistic that finding her attackers was just a matter of time. Still, it wouldn't hurt to have another brain to think with, the perspective of another that was older than she.
She had invited Beira to help her hunt, but today, the mission would be mostly about picking and sampling fruits. Hospitality demanded that a visitor was first entertained before business matters were attended to, unless the matters were very pressing and required the utmost alacrity. Levinia was not racing to deactivate any time bomb, so she felt the both of them could stretch their limbs a little, before all the head spinning action began.
She idly inspected an oval fruit, while the vendor praised all its good qualities to her. She held back from bursting into laughter; most of what the woman said were anecdotal at best, and outrageous at worst. Being a polite person demanded that she showed no amusement at the other's ignorance, so she just engaged in small talk that focused on fruits. A part of her was ready to spring into action, though. Perhaps it was for the best; give a sense of lacking vigilance, so that if her enemy was watching her, they might be inspired to strike. But that raised the issue of collateral damage...
An attack here was unlikely. It was daytime, anyway. Her assailants seemed to prefer the cover of night.
This was by far one of the happiest cities in Fiore. Or at the very least, whenever Levinia found herself in Magnolia, everyone seemed to be in a festive mood. At first, she had thought it was the holidays, but even on days that did not fall in any hallowed seasons or commemorations, the people were one cheerful bunch. It could be for any reason, but Levinia was not too bothered with such. At least, she was sure there wasn't some evil, nefarious purpose behind the gaiety... like an illusion cast over an already dead city with shuffling corpses to make it seem bubbling and full of life. Instinctively, she shuddered, but pushed the thought away. It was not even remotely possible. And if somehow, it was, then there was nothing she could do about it.
Laughing at herself for entertaining such macabre thoughts when even the sun encouraged one to feel optimistic, Levinia put her thoughts more towards what she had come to Magnolia to do. Okay, that was not very accurate, because she was not currently involved in any of the original business that had brought her to the city. This sunny day met her in a fruit market, sampling plant produce like any normal consumer, with no hint of the fact that about two weeks ago, she could not afford to do this without being looked at like she was a monster. Not to mention that from around that time, up to this point, repeated attacks had been made on her life, some subtle, but many glaringly obvious.
She reckoned that the major reason she was still alive was because of her mentor. She was, and would be eternally grateful to Beira who had no surname beyond the title of being from Utgardr. She was still making her theories about the older woman, but she assumed that like herself, this Utgardr rested on a plane different from Earthland, much like her place of birth. So that made Beira an extraplanar creature of sorts, like herself. She expected to meet her here; she had invited her to come over to Magnolia after all. However, Levinia was starting to suspect that perhaps the reason for the invitation was not exactly what she had mentioned.
You see, she had asked Beira over to help her with trying to fish out where the attacks were coming from. It was always wiser to uncover a hidden enemy as the first step in defeating them. Unfortunately, this enemy had proved time and again to be very evasive. Just when she thought she had a lead, a metal door would slam shut in her face, and she would be back to square one, with only speculations and hunches to go by. On the flip side, the breaking of Levinia's curse had unlocked some interesting magics and placed them at her disposal, and with these newfound powers, she was optimistic that finding her attackers was just a matter of time. Still, it wouldn't hurt to have another brain to think with, the perspective of another that was older than she.
She had invited Beira to help her hunt, but today, the mission would be mostly about picking and sampling fruits. Hospitality demanded that a visitor was first entertained before business matters were attended to, unless the matters were very pressing and required the utmost alacrity. Levinia was not racing to deactivate any time bomb, so she felt the both of them could stretch their limbs a little, before all the head spinning action began.
She idly inspected an oval fruit, while the vendor praised all its good qualities to her. She held back from bursting into laughter; most of what the woman said were anecdotal at best, and outrageous at worst. Being a polite person demanded that she showed no amusement at the other's ignorance, so she just engaged in small talk that focused on fruits. A part of her was ready to spring into action, though. Perhaps it was for the best; give a sense of lacking vigilance, so that if her enemy was watching her, they might be inspired to strike. But that raised the issue of collateral damage...
An attack here was unlikely. It was daytime, anyway. Her assailants seemed to prefer the cover of night.
WC: 715/22000