Something, Something, Seaside [Rela]

Yet another beautiful day in Hargeon town-- sun shining, its rays dancing off the dazzling waves and reflecting the gorgeous blue of the ocean. Seabirds cawed as they flapped in flocks, adding to the ambiance and proving a reminder that, yes, you were absolutely by the sea. This was a gorgeous place, if it wasn’t being attacked by sea monsters or anything like that.

Lyra knew, in the back of her head, that she was here to do a job. However, she couldn’t help but wish that she had the time to take in the sights, enjoy the local food and relax. But, no. She had work to do. She’d booked her train ticket for two days so that she could force herself to get this job done as quickly and efficiently as possible; one day to track down the culprit that she was targeting, and a second day to deal with him. There wasn’t going to be any messing around. Besides, more importantly than that, she had a purpose here; she’d contacted one of her old friends, who she absolutely knew could help her take on this mission. Even to this day, having awakened her powers, Lyra was not confident in her capability to fight. So she’d called a friend who could. Rela was, in short, way better at fighting that she was. Lyra tried her best, but she hadn’t quite gotten her head around it. Why not ask someone who could do it, right? Besides, splitting the money wasn’t a bad idea. If it was enough incentive to get help to solve a problem, she’d take it. Besides, Lyra hadn’t seen Rela in a few years. It was a good time to catch up.

She’d called ahead, organised for them to meet up at a local restaurant at noon, and left it at that.

Unwittingly, Lyra had spent her time in the restaurant just sitting. Punctual as ever, she’d arrived half an hour early, but decided that it would be a fun way to pass the time sitting there playing on her iLac and keeping her mind amused. Finding a killer wasn’t going to be easy for her to shift into doing without thinking. Even as a Rose, this was her first real time experiencing something like this. How she’d come through it, if at all, was still a reality that she hadn’t considered.

Getting cold feet, kid?

“No,” the girl whispered, considering her next words carefully - she had to keep the volume down. Nobody needed to know that she was talking to herself. “Nervous, maybe.”

You’ll be fine. Find this guy, take him down-- subdue him and take his ability to fight back away-- and then leave it at that. It’s all you need to do.

Without so much as an acknowledgement of the voice in her head, she looked back down at her device. It was almost time. Her heart kept skipping beats - the closer the time got, the closer this all was to being real.

 

Oh, shit.

That thought in the back of her mind was enough to perk up Lyra’s ears from the reverie that she found herself in; the iLac was an unfortunately addictive device, and it had stolen all of her attention. And, truth told, her ability to pay attention to her surroundings. That was going to be a problem in the future, inevitably.

“What’s wrong?” came the reply, almost imperceptibly silent.

You can’t sense that? That… that murderous intent, that callous indifference? It’s… chilling.

Whatever it was, it was enough to spook Rhett beyond belief, which was… unusual, to say the least. There was very little that rattled him, but generally speaking it was a sense that she wasn’t about to ignore. Such being the case, Lyra looked up and cast a quick glance around the room, only to find a single person having just entered. Yeah, there was absolutely no mistaking that particular visage. Rela and Lyra had… differences in their opinions, to say the least. However, it was incredibly telling that she’d turned up to this request when she could have easily said no. Whether it was the promise of jewels, camaraderie or just curiosity, Lyra was not about to say no to the fact that she had someone coming that knew what they were doing.

And cue an inevitable freakout. Silently, behind closed doors, the tempest raged against its bindings.

Y...you’re kidding me right now.

“Rela! Thank you for coming.” Lyra sounded positively cheerful by contrast, indicating the seat across from her. “If you’d like something to eat or drink, please, it’s on me. It’s the least I can do.”

Lyra, what in the nine hells are you doing? How do you know this woman?

It took Lyra every ounce of willpower not to respond to the voice in her head, and to those perceptive enough, there was just the tiniest shift in her demeanour for a moment as she bit down the reflex to respond to Rhett. The iLac was returned to its pocket, certainly to be left there. It was rude to ignore your company, after all.

Lyra, what have you done?!

The tempest went ignored.

 

“Pink is entirely aesthetically pleasing and tasteful,” the fire mage commented with a smile,

Unfortunately, it was made so blatantly clear that Rela carried the same unfortunate disdain that she had for so long. It was almost sad, in its own way. It had to be such an incredible burden to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. In Rela’s case, Lyra knew it was the weight of war, of death, of selling your soul for the kind of power that had come to her-- the kind of strength that she had. The assassin carried herself in such a way that it was clear that it was difficult to cross her.

Besides, Lyra knew that feeling now. Selling your soul for power… wasn’t that exactly what she’d done? If Rela knew how similar they were, she would have choked on her words, and hated every bleeding moment of it.

“A lot has happened since last we met,” Lyra said, eyes falling down to the table in front of her as she considered just what to tell her new battle companion. Probably little, which was for the best. It was, however, entirely evident with an ever so slight shift in her tone that there was a burden that the rosebud carried. Knowledge was a weapon that Rela was unafraid to use, in the exact same way as someone twisted the assassin’s blade deep into the body, between the ribs, to twist - crack the ribs, force the enemy to bleed out with a wound so great that no suture could close it.

From Rela, Lyra would have barely bat an eyelid at that action.

She’s already getting to you, Lyra. I heard that.

Her eyes darted up reflexively to meet the gaze of her friend. Lyra couldn’t show this. At all, ever. It was not a secret she possessed willingly, after all, and something that most minds probably couldn’t comprehend; how could she even begin to explain it anyway? Lyra could not. She would not. As long as the issue was not pressed.

“However, out of respect for your want for punctuality and efficiency, I don’t want to waste your time. Here.”

Her iLac was extracted, the screen brimming with the information of the job that she had accepted. It outlaid everything about the string of murders in Hargeon, plus the basic details of the culprit involved - as well as a warning that he was to be considered heavily armed and highly dangerous. Which, in reality, was exactly what her ersatz friend would have called a good day.

“I thought we could ask the local authorities for all of the latest information on our target, then track and subdue him. Is that okay?”

 

 

"This is what we are going to do," Rela said once they arrived at the abandoned warehouse. She gave the area a quick once over as she slipped on her black leather gloves. She never went to battle without them. They were a strong indicator she expected the fight to be messy. “I saw a window in the back. We’re going to slip inside and we’re going to check this place out. If he is there, you will stay far back with your magic while I face him. I don’t need you in your blissful ignorance to –“
Rela turned to face her companion, only to find her nowhere in sight.

“…Lyra?”

A creak brought Rela’s attention to the front of the warehouse. The door was wide open.

“Damn it, Lyra,” she sighed. With no other choice left, she discarded the plan and ran inside.

That is where she found Lyra: standing face to face with the murderer. Stupid girl. Brave, Rela would give her that, but stupid. She wasn’t oblivious to the pile of bodies behind the burly man. For once the authorities did not exaggerate their description of the person. Nor the weapon. Rela took a silent note on the mean looking hook in his hand and reminded herself to take that with her as a souvenir when the job was done. That could be quite handy in her next job, and possibly make it more fun.
With Lyra in the face of danger, and possibly death itself, and with Rela’s cleverly crafted plan now useless, she did the only thing she could think of.

She threw a nearby rock at his chest. It did absolutely no damage.

“Eyes on me, big boy,” Rela called. She grinned when his gaze shifted to hers. “I have a large sum of gold on my person with your name on it. Come and get it.”

The taunt worked. He charged forward, and Rela quickly ducked out of the way. She withdrew her dagger and jammed it into his back. He didn’t make a sound. She thought that was the end of it and yanked on the weapon to pull it out and let him bleed out, if he wasn’t dead already, but the dagger wouldn’t budge. It was stuck.

The dagger was stuck in the burly man’s back.

To Rela’s surprise, he turned around. Alive. Grinning at her. She hardly did any damage.
“Oh, fu—”

A single sweep of his arm threw Rela across the room and on her back. Pain shot down her shoulders and all the way down her left leg. Her anger burned more than the pain. There were two things that Rela hated more than people itself – to lose and to be hit, and she never loses. He was already charging for her again. For a whale, he was fast. Time for a new plan. She scrambled to her feet, ignoring the sharp ache protesting in her body, and withdrew the sword sheathed on her back. Good thing she put on her gloves.

Rela swiped her sword against his throat, and that was the end of it as he dropped to the floor with a loud thud.



Word Count: 531/1,850