[Job] Shimmering Feelings (Akeya/Nymara)

Hmmm... So far Lord Harringoth had given the impression of being someone who was quite ambitious himself, despite having been born into a wealthy environment. For him to say that only the gods could stop an ambitious man could be his way of saying that he wouldn't let anyone get in his way.

But more curious was his direct reference to Slayers and the feats they were capable of. Akemi had been carefully hiding her magic to avoid being discovered, but maybe he'd noticed somehow? It was always possible that Nymara had let something slip: capable as she was when it came to combat and survival, stealth and subterfuge were areas where she still had a lot to learn. Even so, it would be best to play dumb for now, Akemi inclining her head to agree with the male. "Magic intended to allow for humans to challenge those they would otherwise be helpless against? A true example of humanity's will to overcome any obstacles."

However, she couldn't help but sound a tad sharp as she spoke those words. It was a source of annoyance for her that humans truly thought that dragon slayer magic was something that humans themselves had designed to fight dragons with. The dragons who had first decided to share their magic with humans had invited their own deaths, and Akemi didn't pity them for anything other than their short-sightedness, but the fact that humans truly thought it was their own invention was a display of their conceit and self-centeredness. "Of course, how often does a deity deign to interfere with worldly affairs?"

Dragons existed in this world as a matter of established fact, but deities rarely directly got involved in the realms of mortals. In that sense, developing a type of magic with the primary goal of challenging deities was excessive: Akemi herself wouldn't mind obtaining a power that could cut down deities, but she'd rather it be an extension of a more expansive skillset that was applicable to more common scenarios.

"Thank you, Lord Harringoth. Fortune willing, I too hope that the two of you shall meet." Of course, Akemi's hypothetical father was already old enough that if Lord Harringoth didn't hurry the man would already be too senile to serve as a good conversational partner. She lightly sighed, but at that point Nymara had apparently decided that it was time for her to carry some of the weight in upholding their deception.

Well, she certainly was carrying out the party of the daughter of nobility who'd never been taught much about attending such events. Akemi raised an eyebrow at the cheerfulness Nymara displayed, but didn't resist when her redheaded apprentice locked arms with her. "Your company does make the journey much more worthwhile." She'd smile as she agreed with Nymara's words, although her expression became a bit more stoic as Harringoth also voiced his approval. His focus on the redhead was bothering her increasingly: mere interest wouldn't justify his attitude.

But it seems even his curiosity towards Nymara couldn't keep him here forever. She didn't fail to notice a sudden change in his demeanour, especially since it coincided with another event happening in another part of the building: Lucky's fight with the gargoyle, and the invisible assailant the exceed was now trying to escape from without getting hurt. The timing was uncanny: was she overthinking this?

"No apologies needed: it was a pleasure to meet you, and I look forward to when we shall meet again." Akemi inclined her head in response to the lord's words, then watched him leave before turning towards Nymara. "Lucky is investigating the rest of the manor and encountered a gargoyle. Let's hope you're the only one who noticed." A vain hope, since she'd already seen other people look confused in reaction to the bang, but hopefully they'd quickly dismiss it as irrelevant. "As for that man... it'd be better to avoid him for the rest of the evening. He's hiding something important." If Nymara had known anything about the man that could have been useful she probably would have said so already, so it was better to have the firebrand stay out of his way without confusing her with mere speculation.

"There's someone on the upper floors with Lucky who appears to have an interest in this gathering. For now just keep an eye on things here while I talk with Lucky. There's a chance we'll have to ditch the act if things get worse." She'd been keeping track of what happened with Lucky upstairs through the shadows, and the invisible figure clearly had been aiming to kill. For them to resort to such extreme measures they were either desperate or planning something big enough that letting the corpse of an exceed be discovered was not great enough of a deterrent to their plans.

Taking a glass Akemi would sip from the wine even as she once again used precise control over her magic to shape the shadows around Lucky to communicate with him without revealing herself. It was a good thing that shadow magic was already one of the most subtle of elements, otherwise this type of communication wouldn't have been feasible without the assistance of some kind of device. Which did remind her that these days everyone was walking around with those things... Lachrima that could connect to any other lachrima of similar design? She'd have to look into that.

"Don't expose them if doing so endangers you. Observe their movements, and call for help if needed. Our job is to protect the guests and the host: we can let the target escape if that helps keep the people here safe."

It was tempting to dedicate all their resources to capturing this invisible figure and interrogating them to see what they were up to, but the job came first. As long as the gathering finished without any incidents they'd have done what was asked of them. Of course, Akemi's own curiosity meant that she wasn't about to let this invisible figure escape, but she didn't need Lucky going overboard because she was egging him on.

"What plan do you have to expose them?"

Appearance:

WC: 1,027
PWC: 13,053/7,000 (Completed)
TWC: 26,650/14,000 (Completed)

@Nymara

The firebrand did feel a small wave of relief when the taller lord finally left the two ladies alone, though she couldn’t entirely figure out why. He definitely seemed polite enough, though Nymara could tell Akemi was getting more and more suspicious of his antics  based on her words after he left them so abruptly. “Oh so Lucky finally managed to find some trouble, eh? That should be some good solo experience for the cat!” Nymara laughed somewhat when Akemi told her what had transpired on the floors above, though she quickly realized the volume of her voice may have extended what was considered ladylike and Nymara’s expression dropped once more into an apologetic look towards her mentor.  What Akemi had to say about Harringoth though did perk her interests, if ever so slightly. However the twilight dragon made it clear that they were to ignore him for as long as possible. “Yeah, he smelled somewhat strange, though I couldn’t quite tell why. Maybe he was wearing some weird noble perfume or somethin..” Nymara trailed off, her attention briefly pulled away by the food on her plate. “You don’t think the perfume is what he’s hiding, do you?” She asked between bites, the tone of her voice sounding genuine. Though Nymara only thought about what she said for a moment before the redhead shook her head as if internally scolding herself for letting something so stupid be said out loud. 


“Keep an eye on things, eh?” Nymara would mumble to herself as Akemi refocused her attention on the exceed. Gazing at the partygoers while munching on her food didn’t exactly feel like she was doing the most with her time, so Nymara awkwardly stared at her mentor for a moment while she was convening with Lucky before sighing and glancing around the room once more with her ruby eyes. Her stare settled on what appeared to be a set of magical instruments floating in the air above a small podium. Standing across from the enchanted orchestra looked like some sort of fancy dressed composer, wielding a magical wand? Nymara had no idea what he was using, though she didn’t really care. She had found the source of the party’s music and with it a thought popped into her mind! 

Akemi shook her head as Nymara suggested that maybe Lord Harringoth's secret was tied to his perfume. It wasn't a bad guess, but as the firebrand quickly realised it was probably more complex than just the perfume. "It's possible that the perfume is being used to hide something else. Amongst nobility it wouldn't be considered strange to wear perfume." The members of high society assigned a lot of importance to appearances, and that included one's scent. The raven-haired assassin took great care not to actually look at the man, instead keeping her gaze on her companion for the evening. "But try to memorise the scent so you can identify it later on. It might still be important." Perhaps it was nothing more than a dead end, but Akemi would rather give Nymara something to do so her apprentice wasn't left trying to remain inconspicuous while also being bored from the tame nature of these gatherings.

Of course, such worries were only heightened when Nymara seemingly had formed an idea for how to hide Lucky's activities better. Akemi would have asked for an explanation, but before she could take her glass away from her lips the red-haired beauty had already departed for where an older man was using magic to fill the room with music all by himself. Left with little choice if she wanted to remain unnoticed Akemi could only listen from a distance as her apprentice spun some tale of Akemi being depressed and requiring more lively music to be cheered up. It was, admittedly, more creative than Akemi would have given Nymara credit for, but she still frowned as she turned towards the table where Nymara had left her plate of food behind.

But her internal criticisms didn't change the fact that Nymara's idea worked, so the assassin could do nothing but accept the now much grander and passionate music that was replacing the steady tune that had been providing some background to the gathering. It would be difficult for the guests to ignore this, and already some of them were remarking on it. For now they seemed more intrigued than anything else, which was good.

Still, when Nymara returned and cheerfully claimed that she'd taken care of the issue Akemi raised an eyebrow. "It'll do for as long as Lucky doesn't end up fighting a full-blown battle. Still... "my poor shade?" Her ears were sharp enough that she'd been able to listen in on Nymara's conversation even from a distance, and she was rather amused by her apprentice's choice of words.

She silently stepped closer to Nymara, taking the opportunity while the fire slayer was distracted by her food to place her hand on the woman's shoulder and speak softly. "There's much better ways to cheer me up, you know. I'll show you one once we're done here." Removing her hand she turned her attention back to where Lucky was busy trying to deal with the invisible intruder. Whether Nymara knew what Akemi was alluding to or not... she'd find out later tonight anyway.

Using dust to reveal the attacker... it was certainly worth trying, although it might also be possible that whatever magic the intruder used would also allow them to quickly get rid of any dust. But they had to make do with what they had, not waste time wishing for what they didn't have. Akemi quickly formed more words in the shadows to respond to the exceed.

"I'll create a decoy. And we've also caught a strange smell in here, but it might be something different. Remain cautious for now."

It could be that the figure Lucky was currently dealing with was somehow connected to Lord Harringoth, but even if both the intruder and the noble had a strange scent that didn't mean it was the same scent, or that they were working together. When you had little information it was important to not assume too much. Right now the best they could do was try to capture the intruder and see if they held any useful information.

Without disrupting the gathering downstairs, of course.

With Lucky having disappeared into the vents the intruder was back to trying to remain unnoticed, skulking about invisibly both in search of the winged cat and in pursuit of their true objective. For Lucky, who had to remain hidden inside the vents, it would be difficult to pick up any signs of the intruder's presence. Akemi did her best to help him pin down the invisible figure's location by forming shadow arrows to guide him towards the figure's presence, but even she couldn't with full confidence say where exactly their target was at the moment.

That was, until she thought that Lucky was close enough that he should be able to seize an opportunity if she created one. Relying on Nymara to keep an eye on the situation inside of the ballroom she concentrated on the third floor, in one of the rooms right above the ballroom. Manifesting one small shadow tendril she used it to push a book from the shelf, the leather-bound volume hitting the ground with a muffled thud, too soft to be noticed by the people downstairs. Lucky, however, would see that same haze that had attacked him before entering the room, moving straight to the wall and towards the fallen book, the presence appearing to be scouting the room for signs of the winged knight.

Appearance:

WC: 902
PWC: 13,955/7,000 (Completed)
TWC: 29,180/14,000 (Completed)

@Nymara

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that, as it would mean that we've failed part of our task." Akemi commented. While Nymara most likely was looking forward to the opportunity to get into a fight Akemi would rather ensure that they completed the job without any difficulties or complications. Technically they could still claim to have done their job if they managed to keep their client and his guests out of harm's way, but interruptions of the ball would still result in penalties.

As boisterous and passionate as Nymara was, Akemi couldn't help but find it quite endearing to watch the firebrand be flustered and nervous for once. Well, her apprentice usually was rather bashful when reprimanded, but her current behaviour was something different still. The compliment Nymara threw out in an attempt to defend her choice of words made Akemi raise an eyebrow in mild surprise, but she couldn't hide the smirk on her face.

Although it was a different matter when the fire slayer became so worked up about what Akemi had just said that the assassin could feel the temperature in the room rising. Fortunately, nobody had worked out yet that Nymara was responsible for the unstable temperature, otherwise they'd have to answer some awkward questions. Still, Akemi snapped her fingers to get Nymara's attention, frowning lightly at her. "Focus. If you keep that up you might start a fire." She doubted that Nymara would actually start a fire, but it was a reminder that the firebrand couldn't carelessly let her temperature grow out of control. "Go get something to drink if it helps."

While giving Nymara the opportunity to recompose herself Akemi focused on what was happening upstairs. Lucky was following her instructions flawlessly, which definitely made this a lot easier. Being in two places at the same time was... taxing, in a way. Her abilities were suitable for it, but multitasking like this would drain her if she had to do it for too long, especially if she also had to prevent anyone from noticing that she was using magic while in a room full of people. One downside of having a lot of magic power was that you were like a beacon for those sensitive to magic.

But so far everything was going to plan. Lucky was in position, the fallen book caught the attention of the assailant while being unnoticeable in the ballroom (although Akemi's sharp hearing would still allow her to hear a dull thud), and once he made his move the exceed knight managed to both reveal the assailant with his dust trick and knock them out. The assassin winced to herself as she heard a small pile of books hit the ground on the third floor, glad that she and Nymara were the only ones whose draconic senses allowed them to realise what was going on now that the ballroom was filled with much more enthusiastic music. She'd have to compliment Nymara for thinking of that: it wasn't Akemi's style, but she had to acknowledge a job well done.

Unfortunately, that was the end of the good news, as Lucky reported that the assailant was a magical puppet, and one which revealed that the enemy had access to all the details of the arms trade that this gathering was supposed to facilitate. Akemi's eyes narrowed quickly, wiggling her fingers as she rapidly wrote some more shadow script for Lucky to read.

"Hold the documents to the shadows, then begin the search. Now that you've taken out one of their tools they're not going to wait any longer."

Only a fool would expect the enemy to retreat at such a crucial moment. Especially when that enemy was most likely someone like Lord Harringoth, who'd bluntly stated that he wasn't going to let anything stop him.

Closing her eyes Akemi placed her index and middle fingers against her eyelids while supporting her elbow with the other hand, giving the impression that she was being pensive while waiting for Nymara to return from getting her drink. In truth, she was reading the documents Lucky had found, gazing out from the shadows as if they were extensions of herself. Depending on how one looked at the nature of magic, that might not be far from the truth either.

Numbers, products, dates, costs, names... Akemi had known that their client was hoping to strike it big with tonight's plans, but this truly was a grand undertaking for an independent merchant. One that someone else clearly wanted to interfere with. This trade deal wasn't going to determine the fate of the conflict between Bellum and Pergrande, but wars were won through the accumulation of numerous small victories. No doubt that similar trades would be facing the risk of sabotage as well, even if Akemi and Nymara could only do something about this one.

She'd memorise the details more thoroughly later on, but right now the priority was everyone whose name was on the list. With that information in mind Akemi opened her eyes and turned back towards Nymara, her expression now tenser than before.

"Keep an eye on Lord Harringoth. Try to do it without being too obvious about it." She tried to explain as quickly as possible. "There's no proof as of yet, but it's possible that he's connected to the assailant Lucky was fighting. Do not cause a scene unless he starts trouble first."

She hated acting on limited information, but it was part of the job that you worked with what you got, not what you wished to have. And the reason why she had Nymara keeping an eye on the only noble to have approached them so far was that she had to cast her net wider. Remaining at the edge of the room where she could watch everything her golden eyes swept the room, keeping track of every movement. Most of the people were acting as you'd expect high society to behave when they had the opportunity to attend a gathering like this: enjoying the food, holding conversations which seemed polite and friendly on the surface but which were devious and treacherous once you listened closely. Some of them seemed to enjoy the change in music more than others as well, even going so far as to swing a little bit.

Amusing as all of that was, Akemi's eyes were on those who were acting differently. Those who remained on the sidelines like herself, those whose behaviour betrayed anxiety, those who looked like they were waiting for something. Not all of them would be guilty, but the guilty would be amongst them.

And beyond the ballroom there were the presences that Lucky was now trying to track down, and which Akemi could sense if she concentrated. Like the first presence she couldn't accurately pin them down, whatever magic they used or were crafted with being designed to hinder such detection methods as Akemi employed. But they were there, and now that the first puppet had been disabled they weren't being as subtle as before. Which made it easier to at least notice them, but was also a warning that at any moment things could start happening.

The truly annoying thing was that any move she made which would scare off the enemy would also disrupt the gathering. The best she could do was react quickly enough to any trouble to keep the discord to a minimum.

Appearance:

WC: 1,235
PWC: 15,190/7,000 (Completed)
TWC: 32,176/14,000 (Completed)

@Nymara

Akemi raised an eyebrow at Nymara's suggestion. "This isn't a bar where people just start brawling with each other over an argument." She replied dryly. "I appreciate the sentiment though." She nodded back at the nobles that passed by them, although her expression remained as impassive as always. It was truly fortunate that nobles considered apathy to be a sign of self-control.

Communicating with Lucky was a lot easier now that she didn't have to interact with Nymara at the same time. The exceed seemed to be making more progress than the two slayers at the moment, following a trail which forced the assassin to wait for the knight to report any updates.

The revelation that Lucky had smelled sulfur was both good and bad. From what she remembered Lord Harringoth didn't have the smell of sulfur on him, so he wasn't the target. However, that meant they still didn't know who was responsible for these puppets, making it harder to stop them. Overall, it might have been easier if it had been Lord Harringoth, but Akemi didn't deal in possibilities. The reality of the situation was that someone was trying to set up puppets to have them interfere with the ball in some way, and the three of them had to prevent that without causing a ruckus.

"No sulfur down here yet. May be outside."

One of the main benefits of using puppets and minions was that the caster could achieve their objectives without being physically present. The assassin let out a small sigh as she looked towards Nymara, who was still trying to negate her own high temperature with copious amounts of ice water. From the looks of it her efforts weren't yielding good results.

Nymara's description of Lord Harringoth was... not entirely surprising, but still disappointing. "His type always seems so nice up until their dagger is between your ribs." She said a bit sharply before continuing. "As I said, we don't have any proof as of yet. However, he clearly has magical aptitude, and he doesn't seem to be here for the same reasons as most of the guests." Her gaze went to Nymara's necklace for a moment before returning to her apprentice's eyes. "It's just a precaution. Don't jump before he does anything."

She was a bit hesitant to leave it up to Nymara to keep an eye on Lord Harringoth, but it wasn't like watching someone from a distance was that difficult... and Akemi couldn't take care of everything all at the same time. Nymara was also on a mission here, and she had to prove that she could be subtle when the need called for it.

Watching as Nymara moved through the room to figure out where Lord Harringoth had gone Akemi checked up on Lucky. The knight exceed had made some progress, and it wasn't much longer until he reported that one of the presences he'd been trying to stalk had escaped the manor... and was heading for the stables. Akemi grabbed her elbow with the other hand and rubbed her upper lip as she considered their next step. Lucky was probably correct that the presence wasn't trying to escape, especially if it was a puppet. Which meant...

"They might be planning to disable the transports so the guests can't escape. Protect the transports."

Lucky's role had been to look for trouble, but if there were now multiple presences moving around and inside the manor there wasn't much point to having the knight wandering about keeping track of all of them. He'd do more good preventing the transports from getting sabotaged.

Which meant that it was time for Akemi to get more involved as well. Glancing over to see what Nymara was doing she headed for the doors which would lead to the bathrooms. Maybe a couple of walls would help keep others from figuring out what she was up to while she tried to keep the ball from getting interrupted.

However, when she was about to exit the room her nostrils flared, catching the scent of sulfur, as Lucky had described. Unless one of the puppets was inside of the room... the puppeteer was also here, and had only just now joined the party. Turning around sharply her golden gaze travelled across everyone partaking in the festivities, doing her best to distinguish between dozens of different scents to figure out who was the owner of the sulfury scent...

The presences which Lucky had detected were now moving quickly, apparently trying to get the next phase of their plan started. The three of them would have their hands full if they wanted to prevent pandemonium when their adversary clearly was planning to cause as much trouble as possible for them.

Appearance:

WC: 788
PWC: 15,978/7,000 (Completed)
TWC: 34,272/14,000 (Completed)

@Nymara

Akemi's senses were extremely sharp, allowing her to notice many things which others didn't. However, an entire ballroom full of nobles, many with perfumes as if some kind of olfactory plumage, meant that picking out the single person who smelled of sulfur wasn't something she could do when she was in the middle of going to the bathrooms. What she could tell was that the smell came from the same direction as where Nymara had gone, which made her mind go to Lord Harringoth. She didn't have any evidence that it was him, especially since when she'd been face to face with him there hadn't been a hint of sulfur. She could only chalk it up to him being rather suspicious all around, but that wasn't enough to accuse him of everything.

If it did turn out to be Lord Harringoth she'd have to rely on Nymara to figure that out. Leaving the ballroom behind Akemi entered the bathrooms, finding an empty stall where she'd be left alone while she focused. Now that Nymara was moving about on her own the dark dragon didn't have to put herself on display any more. Now she just had to make sure that nobody noticed that she was messing around with the shadows.

Although she did also have to stay in touch with Lucky, now that the exceed was heading out to protect the stables from one of their targets she'd have to be ready to assist in case his next encounter doesn't go as well as the first.

Closing her eyes Akemi leaned against the wall, expanding her consciousness. A mansion was just a mass of shadows with spots of light, and outside the world was dark as night had conquered the skies. Calling forth her own shadow she let it rise from the surface it was usually stuck on, taking on an independent shape mimicking something much bigger than the dragoness herself. Dark lines and planes formed and connected, until before Akemi a shadowy miniature of the mansion and its surroundings hovered at chest height. Inside the ephemeral model, countless smaller shapes moved around, the ballroom filled with them. That said, those were the least interesting parts of the three-dimensional display.

Opening her eyes Akemi studied what lay before her. Unfortunately whatever technique the puppets used to hide themselves also made it difficult to catch their shadows, so rather than having a concrete view of them she could only infer their actions from oddities within the model. The ballroom was safe... although she could tell that Nymara had made contact with Harringoth again. Hopefully her apprentice could stand her ground without her mentor to take the lead.

At the stables nothing was out of the ordinary yet, but she could see that Lucky was at work. She could hear him through the shadows as well. She quickly wrote out her response.

"Be careful. If trouble does start alert the guards. They should've been told to handle disturbances without alarming the guests."

For someone like the host of this party reputation was everything. He was smart enough to hire some powerful assistance from a guild, but at the end of the day had still demanded they do everything to keep the guests from noticing something was amiss if they did spot trouble. The guards would be no different in that regard.

What else... minor oddities were occurring in several places as the hidden targets were disturbing their surroundings without otherwise getting spotted, but none of them showed her much of what they were actually doing. What she did notice was that Nymara had been moving towards the kitchens before Lord Harringoth waylaid her. Under different circumstances Akemi might just have thought that her apprentice was hungry, but she trusted Nymara to not get that distracted during an important mission such as this one.

Unfortunately this shadow model couldn't mimic scent or sound, so if Akemi wanted to investigate the kitchens thoroughly she'd have to go there herself. Under normal circumstances it'd be strange for one of the guests to head directly for the kitchens... especially with Akemi drawing quite a few stares with her appearance. Dismissing the shadow model she let her shadow return to its usual position before falling into it, matching her shadow to one of the larger shadows in the kitchen.

Staying hidden for the moment Akemi transferred herself to the shadow in the kitchen, looking around with concealed eyes and sniffing the air. Here there was an abundance of scents, yet it wasn't as confusing as the mess of perfumes in the ballroom. She could distinguish the various ingredients and condiments that were being used to feed the guests... as well as that same scent of sulfur. That must've been what attracted Nymara to the kitchens.

The assassin sharpened her senses. Her target was a puppet which was difficult to notice, so she had to make sure she caught them. She was confident that her own magic was sufficient to keep her from being found first, but that would mean little if she let her prey escape.

Appearance:

WC: 848
PWC: 17,026/7,000 (Completed)
TWC: 36,668/14,000 (Completed)

@Nymara

Akemi frowned as she tried to keep track both of what her companions were up to and the kitchen where the sulfurous smell was seeping through amidst the myriad of scents emitted by the various dishes the cooks were preparing to keep up with the guests. While it was customary in these gatherings to not eat too much, to avoid looking gluttonous or slovenly, their client had invited enough influential individuals that all of them together still consumed enough food for the kitchen staff to be occupied.

From what she could tell nothing strange was happening between Nymara and Lord Harringoth yet. As convenient as it might've been for the strange human male to be responsible for these disturbances, Akemi also was suspicious of things being too convenient. Though regardless, she preferred to stick with the truth whatever it might be, so she'd have to rely on Nymara to figure out whether Lord Harringoth needed to be dealt with or whether the problem lay somewhere else.

Especially since if he had nothing to do with the situation getting too obsessed with him would just blind her to the actual culprit.

As for Lucky... He seemed to be doing all right so far, even if that meant he wasn't finding any useful traces of their prey either. The exceed certainly was brave despite his stature, but Akemi would rather he be careful and return alive so he could remain useful in the future than that he were caught and eliminated.

But that did leave her with little choice but to remain in the kitchens for the moment, hidden inside the shadows as she tried to track down the source of the sulfurous smell even as the air was thick with the scent of cooking and the sound of clattering cookware, not to mention the babbling of the kitchen staff as they tried to keep everything organised. Akemi had heard more than once that professional kitchens were some of the messiest places you could think of when it was busy, and from the looks of it that hadn't been an exaggeration.

However, careful study did allow her to perceive the hidden figure amidst it all, unnoticed by the humans that staffed the kitchen but unable to evade her notice entirely. While the puppet Lucky had encountered before had been able to move through solid objects when needed it seemed this ability wasn't limitless: smoke and steam was pushed aside by the invisible figure, its form tangible now that it didn't need to move through obstacles to reach its objective.

Said objective being the food that had already been finished and was ready to be moved to the ballroom for the guests to enjoy. It appeared that the ones who were attending the guests in the ballroom were also supposed to retrieve these dishes from the kitchen, which left them in an unenviable position with too much work to do and too little opportunity to do it all.

Which gave the invisible intruder an opportunity to perform its enigmatic task. Akemi observed with more than a little curiosity as it sprinkled a strange powder across the displayed dishes, said power quickly becoming indistinguishable from all the other spices and condiments said dishes were already adorned with. Her first thought had been to interrupt the invisible puppet, but quickly thought better of it as she realised that the contaminated food could become a valuable clue.

She suspected that the powder was some kind of poison, but despite what some people might believe not all poisons were the same. There were a myriad of poisons, harmful in different ways even if the method of application was the same. And while some poisons were very common others were rare indeed: rare enough that they could help provide information about the person using them.

But that still meant that she had to snatch the dishes before they were brought back to the ballroom and eaten by the guests. Whatever it was that the puppet had used, she highly doubted that it would be good for the guests, or something that could be ignored. Even as one of the servants managed to find the time to retrieve the dishes from the kitchens Akemi carefully wove her magic, hidden inside the dark shadows before reaching out towards the shadows cast by the plates upon which the food was displayed.

Even as the servant looked back towards something in the ballroom the shadows underneath the plates darkened, and within a split second all the dishes had disappeared, fallen inside of their own shadows which quickly slithered down towards the floor to merge with the shadow of the table. Just as the cooks had been too busy to notice somebody tampering with the prepared dishes they didn't notice Akemi's trick until the servant arrived at the table and asked where the dishes were. Some of the cooks shouted back that they were right there, only for a minor shouting match to erupt as the cooks started yelling that someone must've taken off with the food while the servant accused them of pulling his leg.

The assassin dismissed their clamouring. The contaminated food had been stored in a safe location, and while the cooks and the servants might be a bit put out now the guests would think little of the staff arguing amongst one another. Part of being nobility was to pay little attention to the peasants, assuming that whatever concerns they had were beneath your notice.

Disdain for the nobility aside, Akemi still had to deal with the puppet who'd tried to mess with the food. She'd let it go the first time around, but assuming it was still around it'd probably try to repeat its work now that its plan had been obstructed. Puppets, effective as they could be with their precision and lack of emotions, also lacked creativity and problem-solving capabilities. If they'd been given instructions and said instructions didn't work the first time they would usually just repeat the instructions until the desired effect had been achieved.

Which she could take advantage of. Whether they were happy about it or not, the cooks would rapidly try to compensate for the missing dishes, producing more food to be delivered to the ballroom. They were clearly working even faster than before, cursing and complaining about whichever trickster had decided to steal so much food at such a busy time. The first couple of dishes were immediately brought to the ballroom, but once the immediate crisis had been averted the table set aside for prepared dishes slowly began to fill up with more food once more.

While the cooks worked Akemi also prepared her trap, subtly and stealthily to avoid anyone sensitive to the flow of magic noticing her work. The shadow underneath the table suited her purposes perfectly, her own magic slowly saturating it until she could move it like an extension of her own body. The cooks, even busier than before, were in no position to check the shadows on the floor for suspicious activity, although even if they had Akemi doubted they'd have the expertise to notice.

Within mere minutes the trap had been prepared, and Akemi waited patiently for the puppet to once again approach the food to sprinkle it with more powder. Once it did she'd spring her trap, carefully prepared: the table's shadow would quickly grab the invisible puppet and pull it into the floor, transporting it to the third floor where Akemi would soon join it so she could take care of it without any witnesses.

Appearance:

WC: 1,263
PWC: 18,289/7,000 (Completed)
TWC: 39,508/14,000 (Completed)

@Nymara

With her sharp senses, Akemi could tell that the situation was slowly approaching its climax, whatever the intended plan was for their opponents. Enough puppets were moving about that the ones directing their movements had to be hurrying: no doubt Lucky's work had been disrupting their schedule. Now Akemi was also directly interfering by preventing the puppet in the kitchen from adding that suspicious powder to the new dishes.

There was the possibility that some of the earlier dishes had already been poisoned, but there was little she could do about that. Given that the stench of sulfur had only grown noticeable minutes ago odds were that the powder had been carefully timed, to avoid guests showing symptoms before the puppeteers were in place to take advantage of it.

She doubted that the plan was as straightforward as just killing everyone present at the ball. Unless their opponents were fond of overly complicated strategies, which... wasn't an uncommon trait, she had to admit, especially amongst these highborn who were practically raised to see themselves above others, showing off their supposed intelligence with unnecessary complexity and risks.

Regardless, she and the others had managed to keep their prey off-balance. Even inside the manor, she could hear commotion from the stables, only for it to die down again while Lucky signalled that he'd taken care of a puppet trying to mess with the horses. She could hear Nymara talking with Lord Harringoth in the ballroom, although the music and all the other guests were too noisy for her to make out all the details.

Although it was obvious that the enigmatic lordling was paying too much attention to Nymara for Akemi to be comfortable with it: rational as she was, she could be rather possessive at times, on top of the much more pragmatic concerns she had concerning her firebrand of an apprentice trying to navigate her way through political intrigue.

Not that she didn't have her own problems to deal with: the puppet she'd relocated wasn't going to stay in place forever, and the other puppets were also on the move. She didn't have time to give her apprentice more detailed instructions, instead just forming words in the shadows in front of the firebrand.

"Remain cautious."

She doubted this Lord Harringoth could actually take Nymara in a fight, but he was definitely the type to rely on tricks and traps, and if Nymara got overconfident she might not realise the danger until it was too late.

As for herself... if she could use her full strength without alerting the guests she could have dealt with the puppets within seconds. Unfortunately, while she was quite good at remaining hidden there were limits, and using enough magic to eliminate all the puppets in a flash would draw attention, at least from the more attentive of nobles.

Stepping out of the shadows she reached back and grabbed hold of the dark, pulling it with her and draping it around herself like a cloak. Her form shimmered out of existence even as on both ends of the hallway lights began to spring to life, closing in on her while unseen puppets approached with hostile intent. The disguised dragoness narrowed her eyes as she flexed her fingers: now that she was standing here in the flesh she could see them whether they tried to hide or not, and if they were so kind as to come to her she could take care of them even without magic.

Even as the puppet she'd relocated managed to regain its bearings she dashed forward, a dagger appearing in her veiled hand. The puppet's attempt to block the strike with its own blade ended up fruitless as Akemi suddenly halted, spun, and changed her charging stab into an upwards slice which slipped underneath the puppet's arms and split its mask in twain.

Before the puppet had time to dissipate into the same purple mist Lucky had observed Akemi was already moving, soundlessly jumping over the puppet to land with her bare feet on the wall, the shoes she'd worn for the ball left behind for the moment. Fortunately, her dress wasn't an issue on that front: she might have to straighten it out afterwards, but it wouldn't get in the way.

Launching herself from the wall she shot towards one end of the hallway, where the lights were announcing the presence of the other puppets. Akemi's golden eyes, hidden inside the dark veil she'd crafted for herself, peered through their invisibility as they were now face to face, or face to mask as it were.

They might be able to hide from her when she tried to perceive them through her shadows, but her eyes weren't so easily deceived.

The puppets were fast enough to notice her approach. Coming to a halt they raised their blades, ready to intercept. Akemi's jump from the wall had her flying right underneath the ceiling, coming in from above... until she spun again, planted her feet against the ceiling, and abruptly shot towards the ground right in front of the puppets.

Catching herself with both feet and one hand she was low enough to the ground that she was almost touching it with her body, which meant she was far below where the puppets had expected her.

If her blade had been visible it would have left a trail in the air as she swept it forward in a wide arc, the sharp edge severing the puppets' feet from their legs. Letting go of her weapon (which embedded itself into the wall) she grabbed the floor with both hands. Continuing the momentum of her wide slash she kicked her feet off the ground and spun, driving the heel of her foot into the side of one puppet with enough force to smash it into the other puppet and have both unliving soldiers smack into the same wall the dagger was currently embedded in.

Finishing her spin Akemi pushed herself upright. Lashing forward she pulled her dagger free from its impromptu sheath. An upward slash split the mask of one puppet, after which she spun the dagger around in her hand and drove the tip into the forehead of the other puppet's mask.

As an assassin, Akemi didn't care for prolonged fights. Her swift movements and her inclination towards lethal strikes meant that the puppets on one end of the hallway had already been disabled before the two lifeless minions coming at her from the other end of the hallway had time to join in.

Pulling her dagger free from the mask of the now quickly disappearing puppet Akemi turned towards her last two opponents, ignoring the clatter of blades and masks hitting the floor as she shot forward again. The puppets had clear orders to get rid of anybody interfering with the plan, and their lack of independent thought meant they couldn't decide to retreat until it was already too late.

Many years of training allowed Akemi to leave the floor behind and jump from wall to wall even as she closed the distance towards the remaining puppets, and yet more years of training allowed her to do so without making a sound. The puppets had refined senses, as they were meant to be able to deal with nuisances, but in the current situation, they were simply outclassed. Taking a defensive position they were still trying to figure out where Akemi was when she jumped from the wall to the ceiling and towards the floor right behind the puppet in the back, along the way spinning around her horizontal axis so her dagger could bisect the marionette vertically like a sawblade cutting up a log.

To its credit, the other puppet reacted quickly enough to spin around to strike at its target. Unfortunately, its blade only found its fellow puppet, beheading the unliving sod even as its body evaporated. Before the last puppet could regain its balance Akemi's dagger shot through the purple mist of its fallen compatriot, striking its mask dead centre and putting an end to its non-existent life.

As the last of the puppets fell apart, leaving only a pierced mask and a weapon of such poor quality that it had to be either crudely formed with magic or mass-produced, Akemi retrieved her dagger and released her breath. The entire encounter had been short enough for her to hold her breath throughout, although she remained cautious as she glanced around. There were no other puppets in her direct vicinity, but the stench of sulfur was still spreading throughout the manor. If this kept up the guests would start noticing it even if nothing else happened.

Keeping her gaze on her surroundings Akemi began to shape the shadows around Lucky, contacting the exceed while she let her dagger disappear into nothing.

"Enemy has noticed me, five puppets eliminated. Nymara following suspicious guest into basement of manor. If no other threats are present in stable assist her."

There was some risk that if Lucky left the stables undefended another puppet could show up there and wreak havoc again... but she suspected that Nymara could use the help. If not for combat, then to keep an eye out.

Appearance:

WC: 1,534
PWC: 19,823/7,000 (Completed)
TWC: 43,954/14,000 (Completed)

@Nymara

Even after waiting several seconds Akemi didn't notice any further suspicious movement either on this floor of the manor or the others, leading her to suspect that whoever was behind the current situation was running out of puppets. Given how sophisticated these constructs were that was hardly surprising: even amongst nobility it would be difficulty to acquire both the magical talent and the materials to create entire squads of killer puppets, especially ones that could hide from most forms of detection.

On one hand, that was a good thing. Collecting the broken masks left behind by her unfortunate opponents Akemi dropped them into her shadow where they disappeared before slowly making her way to the nearest stairs. The puppeteer clearly wanted to remain hidden, so if they ran out of marionettes they might give up.

On the other hand... It might also force them to resort to more drastic measures if that was necessary to achieve their objectives. It depended on how determined they were to succeed, which was difficult to determine with how little information Akemi had on hand.

For the moment her plan was to remain on the lookout for further trouble and rely on Nymara and Lucky to take care of whatever the firebrand had found in the meantime. The exceed had already informed her that he'd be backing up his partner, and together the fire slayer and the feline knight should be capable enough to handle whatever plot they were facing.

That, and Akemi couldn't rush to Nymara's side every time her apprentice was facing even the smallest amount of difficulty. The redhead would also get upset if her master never allowed her to show off or prove herself.

As she walked Akemi fixed her clothes: her dress had been designed to be... well, very revealing, and her fighting style was acrobatic enough that the combination left her looking rather provocative. Of course, she was currently still invisible, the a veil of dark preventing any unwanted stares, but once she returned downstairs she'd have to mingle with the self-important mortals again-

She shook her head. While accurate, letting her disdainful thoughts rise would affect her behaviour. Even if Nymara and Lucky were taking care of whatever was happening underneath the manor, there could still be other actors moving about and trying to find weaknesses to exploit.

Silently her legs moved her down the stairs as she went over what they knew so far. The scent of sulphur, invisible puppets that were trying to prevent the escape of the guests while at the same time feeding them suspicious substances... And, of course, Lord Harringoth's movements. Overall, it looked like somebody both wanted to disrupt this event and make sure nobody escaped.

“Boiler room. Basement. Three perpetrators have Lord Carleson hostage. They have some kind of dangerous artifact.”

Nymara's voice came to Akemi through the shadows, interrupting her thoughts and making the assassin's eyes widen slightly before her glare hardened. With the right artifact the entire manor could be reduced to rubble... but in that case the drugs in the food wouldn't be necessary.

Were the puppets a distraction?

In different circumstances Akemi would immediately have joined Nymara, but they still had to avoid drawing attention, and moving herself from the top of the manor all the way to the deep-down basement could alert the more magic-sensitive guests. Which meant she just had to rely on her feet.

Abandoning her plan of waiting and seeing Akemi shifted from walking down the stairs to jumping all the way to the bottom, folding herself to mitigate the impact and prevent any sound from betraying her presence. Without breaking a step she spun around and swung over the railings of the next stairs, repeating the process until she was back on the ground floor, barely touching the ground in the process and moving even faster than if she'd fallen the same distance straight down.

Nymara's presence was easy to catch for Akemi, so the assassin needed little time to find the same entrance Nymara and her quarry had used to leave the surface world behind and descend into the dark. The path down was long enough that she couldn't simply jump. Flitting invisibly through the air like a ghost Akemi repeated the same trick she'd used against the puppets: bouncing between the walls to move forward at incredible speed without ever touching the floor, her years of training as a silent killer allowing her to perform such a feat without even the slightest tapping of her bare feet brushing against the stone walls of the tunnel.

As she travelled this way she noticed that the temperature was steadily rising... but a more sinister magical presence was also growing far below. Something both enigmatic and ominous, far more prominent than anything either Lord Harringoth or any other guest should have been able to hide with Akemi in such close proximity. Most likely it was the artifact, and if the power contained within was becoming more noticeable the perpetrators were planning to use it for something.

Akemi didn't need to study the artifact up close to know that its powers wouldn't cause flowers and rainbows to appear.

However, even down here, she had to be careful. At full power her magic could be sensed far and wide: one of the biggest downsides of accumulating so much raw power over the years. As such, by the time she entered the boiler room Lord Harringoth had already disappeared, and Nymara was facing off against the noble's two companions, a muscular human male wielding a strange bladed weapon and a blonde female human coated in a familiar shimmer of magic. Clearly they had a strategy where the swordsman would go in front and the spellcaster would bring devastating effects into reality while the enemy was too occupied to stop her.

Which meant that their plan was vulnerable to disruption.

The flames which stocked the boilers from the space below the room bathed the boiler room in dancing reddish-orange light, fierce yet volatile. Whatever lights had been placed to allow for proper illumination could not prevent the dancing of shadows on the ceiling. And as the blade-wielding hunk approached Nymara Akemi jumped out of the shadows above him.

"One."

From the same dancing shadows black needles rained down. Each was focused on the running swordsman, who was suddenly forced to halt his advance to instead defend against the new threat. Letting out a startled and angry cry he threw himself to the side... and then let out another shout as the dark needles changed direction mid-air to chase him.

Putting his blade in the way of the assault most of the black needles harmlessly deflected from the metal barrier, but others found their mark and dug into the male's muscular limbs. Successful hits were met with grunts of pain, the affected limbs growing numb as muscles and nerves were severed.

With one leg completely disabled and one arm only half-functional the swordsman's plan of taking Nymara down while she was still processing Lord Harringoth's parting words had been foiled. Rather than sticking around to land the finishing blow Akemi disappeared as quickly as she'd shown up: her form dispersed into shadows that spread around the room until they were indistinguishable from those cast by the lights and the flames.

Both swordsman and sorceress now were wary, no longer just eyeing Nymara but also looking around to try and catch a glimpse of the unseen enemy, the dark-haired female who'd suddenly shown up without warning, and was now certainly still in the room.

Appearance:

WC: 1,265
PWC: 21,088/7,000 (Completed)
TWC: 47,332/14,000 (Completed)

@Nymara