She didn't really understand how she got there or how she ended up here again with Odin but it did happen. The rebuilding of the Castle was apparently still not done and the first time she had helped with the job or acted as she had helped was three months ago maybe? She had thought the job to be done, but she must admit that she wasn't really interested in how it worked and if they worked in some sort of special structure way. It wasn't finished simple as that. She was standing at top of the hill in front of the big wooden doors. Victoire was behind her but she actually thought it wasn't a smart idea to bring her little companion to work day but she also wouldn't leave the fox alone.

She crossed her arms and took the last steps towards the two men that were guarding the door. She didn't want to push her luck and ask if they still recognized her, "May we pass? We need to finish the job sooner than later right." Thank god she had been well aware of the course of the job before she came here. So she wasn't wearing heels today, she was wearing black dr. Martens together with a blue pair of jeans and a normal black t-shirt with a leather jacket. She had done her hair up in a ponytail and made sure that some foundation was covering the back of her neck so the dark purple insignia of Grimoire Heart wasn't visible. She had learned from her mistakes.

When one of the guards decided to guide her and Odin to the place where the masons were working, she whispered to her colleague, "Funny how we bump into each other again."

It seemed that Oak town was a place of constants: things that stayed the same and never seemed to change. For example, the occupation of the town by Phantom Lord was a constant, as they would likely never leave unless forced, and no one wished to force the hand of a dark guild, lest the feel the true power of evil. Another constant was the landmarks of the town, such as the Oakland Church, or perhaps privately owned places like the Majura Gallery or Odin's own Swineherd Pub, things that were very likely to stay in the same location and not change, if not forever then for a very long time indeed.

A third of these constants seemed to be the work being done to the Phantasm Castle, which seemed to have stayed the same since the last time Odin had come to the castle, which felt like years ago now, despite only being a few months in truth. Once again, Odin was having to walk through the gates to locate a mole who was leaking precious information from the Phantasm family to people who didn't need to hear it. And once again, just like his last quest with Jerr, he was joined by Nastasya Crowe, his guild mate and probably the closest thing Odin had to a friend. Having met outside the castle, they were both here to do the same job, as the Phantasm family had more than enough money to accommodate an extra pair of hands and this was a job they wanted complete as soon as possible.

As was the norm during missions where they worked together, Nastasya did the majority of the talking, getting past the guards with an almost threatening request to pass. As the guards led the two towards the site of the masons and where the stone work proper was happening, Nastasya whispered into Odin's ear, remarking at how amusing it was that they constantly bumped into each other. With nothing but a blank expression on his face, Odin whispered back to his partner.

"It certainly has its perks. We know each other, we work well together, the client is never going to complain about our work ethic, it's a win-win situation for all involved. And if we get this quest completed with us both than alone, we make more money between us, so there's that."

403/1000

She had changed, did he notice? She had wanted to tell him, but there were never opportunities and besides: how.. and maybe why. But her eyes lingered on him for a few seconds when he whispered back before she turned to look back in front of her as they were following a guard to the place where the masons were working. She could hear Victoire her paws on the stone floor behind her.

The guard still eyed them suspiciously and she simply raised an eyebrow when their eyes met. She shook her head and walked the last few steps without his guide. She could see where they needed to. It was early, she hated that for obvious reasons, or well obvious to herself, there were only a few others already but the rest would probably come soon enough. At first she would remain on the side line, watching everyone that came and went and who talked the most. She remembered very well who it was last time, but that guy wasn't around. Which was something to consider because Nastasya her memory was definitely not focused on names and faces. She couldn't remain on the side line forever and decided that if they wanted to finish this job soon, she shouldn't remain close to Odin. The more they heard, the sooner they were done.

The guys stared at her and well there wasn't another woman around this place that seemed to work on the construction, so she slightly got the idea why. She didn't like it, but there was nothing to change. She kept her face neutral, to not scare away the people. At first she heard more whispers about herself than any other person and she would ignore it all, just go on building. Since she had to do a little work to make the people feel comfortable about her, for as far as possible. Sometimes but not too many times, she looked for Odin to see if he would hear something because these guys only thought about one thing.. which made her really angry.

Nastasya said nothing more as the two, three if one was to include the small creature that always followed Nastasya around, the same one that she had brought to Odin after the manticore incident underneath the Oakland church, a rare, small snow fox. Well, at least Odin assumed it was rare, he wasn't entirely sure. It was certainly the only one around these parts, in this area of Fiore, but it was likely to have originated in a much more suitable climate, such as Nanuq, the village almost surrounded by ice and winter. If the creature, who Nastasya called Victoire, had come from anywhere, it was probably up that way, in the northern most parts of Fiore, and not down here in the western areas of the country. It mattered little where the creature was from though, as it was clearly important to and useful to Nastasya. If it was useful to his partner, then Odin had no issues with it tagging along for all their missions together, so long as it didn't get in the way.

Now that they had arrived at the masons area, it was obvious that they looked very out of place, with Nastasya being the only female present, and Odin being the guy with her. It was then that Nastasya decided to split from her partner, to cover more ground. After all, it was still early, and it was likely that the mole had yet to arrive. Odin was use this time to integrate himself into the crowds, just as he had done last time. Some of the masons recognised Odin from the last time he had been here, as the 'volunteer aid to the masonry project', which made it much easier. None of them had made the connection that Odin had also been there the day the mole had disappeared, one of their colleagues, which the dark mage was somewhat thankful for. Everything was going his way, and this was becoming much easier with every move. Joining the workers, Odin heard a great deal, the majority of which focused on what the workers wanted to do with Nastasya, the only female to have walked into the site for quite a while, despite the fact that most of them were probably married men with wives waiting for them back home. However, it was necessary for Odin to play the role he currently had, which meant joining in and laughing along with the masons as Nastasya walked through the site. This way, it wouldn't be long before the other masons would arrive, and Odin would start to hear other things, things that weren't so focused on his partner, and more focused on the Phantasm family. Finally, he had a lead.

861/1000

It was sometimes difficult for this hot head to ignore the comments. People tried to whisper but they weren't as good at it as they hoped they were. She would work or try and show as if she was working. Victoire was somewhere at the edge of the work side, mainly because she would be a bit in the way if she would stick to Nast her heels, like she normally did.

Finally someone whispered or tried to whisper about something else. Which was a big improvement for the job as well to her ears. She didn't have to know what they all wanted to do with a young lady. She looked if Odin had found the mole too and in case he would look at her too, she would nod and take the person apart. He admitted rather quickly and she thought that it was a very stupid person to immediately give the information she wanted, so she couldn't help but roll her eyes at the idea.

She had to pretend to go on, she just wanted to know. Apparently they had to finish the work according to the job. When the other masons left, Victoire returned to her and she walked to odin, "Let's go." Which was the indication to go and meet this Sirius person, and tell him once again who was behind the gossip and stuff. The castle was rather silent but she remembered the way to Sirius his office and simply knocked on the door. As was the usual norm, she did the talking. And she could consider to say that Sirius was just making up for the problem but because of the stupidity of the snitch, she couldn't help but admit it. She would have been so stupid to talk too much but even if she did, she was always very aware of what to say and what not. However she got better at it now that she sort of grew out of it. Changed out of it was a better word.

Sirius was glad with the news and paid them both. Which was something welcome, even though the job was stupid. She tried to remember if she had felt tired after the job, the last time. She could vaguely recall some sore arms but this time. She felt fine. She said goodbye to Odin not much later and left the castle and the hill where it stood upon to go and find someone to dine with.. as dinner.

Almost as soon as Odin worked out who the snitch was, Nastasya was on the case, taking the man to the side and forcing him to confess, something that apparently came rather easily to him. While she was interrogating the suspect and finding out the truth, Odin continued to work with the other masons, keeping them out of the way of Nastasya's location so that she could work in peace. After a few minutes, she was finished and Odin went over to join her. With the snitch's name now known, the two dark mages started to walk over to Sirius' office, somewhere Odin had only visited once before, when he was delivering a package for the doctor Stephan Mabuz. After telling the name of the snitch, the Phantasm paid the two mages, and Nastasya left soon after, no doubt heading away to get some rest, or food. Odin did the same, heading back to the Swineherd Pub to get both.

1023/1000

-Exit-