Alice woke up in the Bed& Breakfast where she had stayed all her time in Magnolia, before she left for Sieghart and after her return from Crocus. She stretched herself and closed her eyes again after opening them, the light was too bright in her face. She turned to lay on her stomach and her ears were flat on her head, it wasn’t even that early but she was more of a night person, especially now that she was a neko. She yawned again and set upright on the bed and stretched her arms above her head for another time, her back was towards the window that blocked the light for her mostly. She rubbed her eyes and wondered what today would bring, hopefully good breakfast. She looked to her left to either see Konstantin still asleep or awake or entirely somewhere else, she was too groggy to realize and stepped out of bed. She needed to splash her face, which gave her the shivers because she hated water since she was half cat but still it would feel nice. She avoided Ophelia who lay on a pillow on the ground and stepped in the bathroom that was in connection with the bedroom. She yawned another time and walked to the sink, she was mentally not completely prepared but she had tried. The splash of water in her face did wake her up immediately and shook her head. She stared at her reflection now that she was awake and took out the braid with her fingers before she grabbed the hairbrush. She brushed her hair into a high ponytail and headed back into the bedroom to get dressed in casual clothing. She would find a black pair of skinny jeans and a lilac t-shirt. She checked herself a few times in the mirror to see if the colour matched with her hair before she hunched down to poke Ophelia awake. It was cute to watch her sleep but after slacking off for days, it was time to go and do something again. When Ophelia was awake, she took the pillow and threw it on the nearby chair and lifted up her best friend and headed downstairs. She noticed peaches on the table and grabbed one that she would share with Ophelia before looking in the fridge for other food to consume.

She heard footsteps and turned around to see Clara, one of the owners of this establishment. She greeted her and talked a little to notice Clara was holding a paper that looked like a quest, ”Maybe this is something for you and Konstantin?” she mentioned casually in the conversation and handed Alice the paper, she read it quickly it was an investigation for the Guard Captain, she had never met him but she was sure it was fine, she frowned a little, she could do this today, she would first have to find Konstantin to make sure he would come along. She would finish the peach and placed Ophelia on the chair to see if she could find Konstantin.

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Eva sat on her bed with the newspaper wide open in front of her. She bit into a red, juicy looking plum as her amber eyes scanned the flimsy off-white paper for anything interesting. She wasn’t in the habit of reading them every morning or anything but on some days when she woke up early with nothing much to do, she did it. She sat like that for a while, her head lowering with each passing minute. It was boring. The newspaper had nothing she would be even remotely interested in reading. She folded it close carelessly and with the bed making loud creaking noises, crawled down the bed.

Eva caught her reflection in the white framed, full sized mirror as she crossed the room. The messy haired girl dressed in nothing but her pajamas staring back at Eva made her groan. Was she really a model? Now if the newspapers caught Eva like this, they would have something to actually write about the usual graceful and meek lady. She quickly went into the bathroom, slashed some water over face, and went out to rummage her closet, throwing shirts and pants one after the other. She stopped when her hands found the rough material of a black pair of jeans shorts. She also stopped at a dark blue top with no sleeves and threw them on with trained ease.

Downstairs, the inn owner and her manager sat around a table, exchanging pleasantries with warm cups of coffee. They looked up with a smile when Eva dropped herself down on a chair beside them. They talked a little and drank some coffee until Eva thought it was time that she went out for a little. However, she didn’t expect to meet the Guard Captain Devon down the street talking to bunch of people. With her first instinct being to turn around and walk away before he saw her, Eva failed terribly when she heard a gruff voice calling out her name loudly enough to make everyone turn their head to him.

This was going to be a long day.

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Fatigued from the lack of sleep, Kon slid away from where he had tried to get some sleep without interfering Alice’s towards the kitchen. From there he brewed himself a cup of coffee as he overheard Clara talking with Alice about something they could do together. “A date perhaps?, We went on one just recently, more than likely a request.” Trouble was brewing not from some unknown external threat, but from his very being hence his hesitance to inform Alice of his issue. Whilst no longer plagued by the nightmares that haunted his sleep, Kon felt unease and had found little comfort in trying to sleep. The reason behind this stemmed from his newfound power is causing his mere human body to crack under its pressure.

So far it was limited to the palm of his hand that he had bandaged but it would not be long until he would need to conceal his entire hand. The large crack of his hand whilst not providing no pain to him was still something he would have to look over from time to time. Further studies into the cause and cure for this very issue would be needed unfortunately but he hoped that as the Holy Knights had been the one to grant him this magic and more, he would be able to get the knowledge he would need from them.

Pulling the bandage up slightly, Kon looked at the injury before swiftly covering it up in case someone saw, if anyone had he would merely shake it off and say. “It’s but a scratch and will heal on its own.” As Alice would likely offer the aid of her companion to heal such an injury. Wanting to get some clarification as to what Alice and Clara had been talking about, he lunged over and nabbed the piece of paper that she was formerly holding it. With grandeur, he read out aloud the request briefing jokingly towards Alice before continuing on. “Well looks like we’ve got some work to do once again?” A job now in store for what appeared to be at least today he opened the door for Alice in a chivalrous fashion suiting his formal attire consisting of a plain black suit before leaving the bed and breakfast alongside her most likely along with her companion.

Recalling the return of her twin sister as they made their way down the town he told her the tale of how he met up with her. “Alice, I have some interesting news you’ll want to hear about, I met up with your sister, Lacie, in town the other day it was confusing, to say the least, I recommend that you go after her once we’re done here.” He said little else with them having arrived at the Guard Captain who was in the middle of arguing with some recruits before sending them on their way as he spotted the duo. Shaking Kon’s hand vigorously and then Alice’s gently he discussed with them the job that he would need them to do. Coughing and otherwise complaining about his cold in the process. “Alrighty, I need you two to help out this other tiny dove to find out whether there is any cult activity in the area.” Pointing vaguely to a crowd of people before shouting out into the group. “Hey Evangeline, meet your companions for this mission.”

His own head tilting towards the direction of where the guard had shouted he could almost swear he could see one of the community stopping, if they were the person in question he would introduce himself, however prior to swiftly taking Alice aside by holding up a single finger to the guard to pause him. “Alice, to the public either Kon the rune knight or unaffiliated my organisation can not be known to anyone else.” Returning to the man and who would still be approaching he apologised to him and spoke to the newcomer. “It’s nice to meet another friendly face, allow me to introduce myself I’m Konstantin, but my friends call me Kon.”

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Finding Konstantin was very easy when he arrived in the kitchen right before she was going to look and right before she could even tell him, he had already taken the request from her and read it, well easy. She liked easy mornings. She looked at Clara whom shook her head with a smile on her face as she walked out of the kitchen. Alice couldn't help but smile either as she listened to Konstantin reading the request, "You know it's not polite to steal things from others." she had noticed the bandaged on his hand but hadn't said anything yet, she walked passed him to grab a coffee in a to go cup before turning around and leaning on the kitchen counter, "But since it's you, I will forgive you." She took a sip of her black coffee, "Would you mind?" she asked after he mentioned that they were doing a job again, her eyes trailing to his injured hand again, "Are you feeling up for it?" She would push herself off the cupboards from the kitchen counter and walked towards the table to see the quest once more before finishing her coffee with big gulps and putting the mug on the counter. "Let's go." she muttered not planning to wait too long in case they needed, who knew how long this job would take.

As they were on there way, with the three of them, so including Ophelia her Clefairy, towards the city centre of Magnolia, Konstantin told her about her twin sister. She wished it wouldn't have such an impact on her but she stopped walking before she shook her head and continued, Lacie would always be a sore subject. She quickly took a few quick steps to catch up with Konstantin and Ophelia. Sheg ave him a weak smile, "Thanks Kon, I will. She definitely has some things to explain." She nodded more to herself than to anyone else and continued to walk until the meeting spot with Guard Captain Devon.

When they arrived there, the Captain immediately walked to them to shake hands. She held her ears flat on her head as she listened to what he said, she didn't like the idea of cults but she only nodded to give off the idea that she understood the mission. The Captain turned his head to shout out to someone to come and meet them, she wasn't really happy that someone else was joining them, her team work with Konstantin was always going right a third person might mess that up. However she had met this person before. However before she could say anything she listened to Konstantin, shortly letting her eyes wander his eyes and face before she gave a short nod and turned to smile at the other Rune Knight, "Nice seeing you again Evangeline." She would let Konstantin introduce himself and found it all a litlte bit awkward, mostly because she didn't like people to simply shove in a third person for a mission but she didn't plan to say anything. "Try by asking some people. Casually of course." Devon continued as Evangeline was now ordered into their team.

As soon as Devon had said everything she turned to the others, she shrugged, their only way of finding out was to ask, she believed that was the most ridiculous way to do so, as if people would admit on being part of a cult most of the time but it was their job for now so she was planning to do it and headed back onto the streets, mainly the busy shopping streets to find people to talk to and ask questions about the possible cult.

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Eva sighed. Being called out by a scary looking guy with a ‘bucket’ on his head so early in the morning for something Eva was sure to be some dangerous mission was not part of her plans for the day. But then again, she didn’t have any particular plans that day. She slowly turned around with a gentle smile, only hoping that none of her irritation shone through the hastily put together mask. The crowd was already moving along, like a stream, winding and forking at certain points. She crossed the road with ease, skillfully avoiding any people that she would have bumped into otherwise. With a hand sweeping her hair back, she tried to make out the two figures beside the Guard Captain. One of them, she recognized, but couldn’t remember the name of. The other was just a tall, blonde haired man.

She nodded politely at the neko that greeted her. What was her name again? She remembered where they met. In fact, it was quite difficult to not remember with the Kardia Cathedral being burnt down and all the reports she had to write. On the other hand, Eva had a bad habit of forgetting people she only met once. However, it was at the tip of her mouth. “Eva, meet your companions for the mission, Alice and Konstantin,” Devon introduced them as Eva silently thanked the heavens. “Been a while, Alice san. Have you been well?” she smiled. “And, nice to meet you as well. I’m Evangeline. It’s easier to call me Eva though,” she said to the other one, a disarming smile still playing on her lips.

But more importantly, what was the mission that the captain was talking about? She wasn’t notified of this and he still had the bad habit of talking away as if the other party understood everything. “It’s great that we are working together today,” it wasn’t, “but what mission are we talking about, Captain?” she asked the tall man. Seriously, she wasn’t some prophet to figure out what these guys were talking about just from bits and pieces of conversation. Her eyes almost twitched irately at the confused looking Guard Captain. “Oh! I didn’t tell you?” he placed a hand on his chin, tipping his head back in thought. “Oh! I forgot! I thought I sent you that letter but looks like I didn’t haha,” he laughed it off much to Eva’s chagrin. Of course, she didn’t let it show.

“I want you to help them investigate a possible cult forming in Magnolia,” he finally told her, handing over a small piece of paper with some details. “We have only got simple news of it no one had been able to track them down completely just yet. We have evidence suggesting that they group together every now and then. What they do is unknown but it could become a threat to the peace of the city. I need the three of you to investigate it,” he explained.

Alice seemed to have taken the explanation well since she was already heading down the streets to find people they could possibly get some answers from. Eva wasn’t particularly interested in the ordeal but followed with a shrug. “I suppose we really don’t have any choice but to get information from the people. It’s not like they will admit to being in one so easily. Maybe we should act like we are interested?” she was just throwing ideas up a wall at this point. It wasn’t like they were going to get invited into this cult right out of nowhere.

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With the unexpected party formed for the mission, their client as he revealed their mission for the day with them having yet to be informed directly about what it was. He rolled his eyes as their client announced what they would be doing investigating the presence of a cult within Magnolia. His mood on the matter was neutral at best with him already doing so as per his regular duties within the Holy Knights. Shrugging off the situation he thought to himself. “Oh well, at least I’m getting paid for the work…” Before thinking it over further as he listened onward. “Although what did he mean by just investigating, if I find anything that’s significant I might have to remove the threat, hopefully for the sake of the rumored cult it was just something minor….”

Placing his bandaged right hand over his face, he shook his head before asking their client, before revealing a slight grimace. Patiently he waited for him to finish before interjecting on Eva’s remark. “Why have us do it?, Why not get an official squad of Rune Knights to come investigate?” Facial expressions otherwise hidden through his bucket helmet, he responded weakly. “Because I tried asking the Rune Knights but they have had more pressing matters to attend with recently…and I can’t get my own men to do it because they might be in the cult, to begin with.” Waving his hand away from his face before returning it to his side, Kon smiled lightly to Devon. “Well, you’ll have some of the finest help you can buy, just know that if there is the presence of a cult, things might get hairy.” Leaving the how and why out of the picture when he made his comment.

Seeking to allow Eva to continue, he spoke to her directly. “Sorry, my dear you were saying?” Upon listening to her previously interrupted comment, he agreed completely with her. “I think that’s a fantastic idea, just give me a moment to think how we can do this.” Mulling over the way to get the information out of people, he came up with a number of options to do it some legal others not so much, wanting to see how willing they would be for him to do those actions he would have to test out Eva as Alice would likely be more lenient in regards to his actions. Clapping his hands to together he thought of the appropriate questions to propose to Eva as well as Alice. “Alright, So I’m thinking it would work best if we spread out work alone and then meet up every now and again, if you don’t agree just let me know as for the method for obtaining the information, well…Do whatever you feel is needed…” Before trailing off at the end.

If the others agreed with his proposal, he would comment once again. “Fantastic, let’s meet up at the Hob’s Shoe Inn two hours from now?, It’s around the corner from here, Huge Shoe slammed into the roof of it” before promptly climbing up one of the rooftops of the buildings and beginning his silent and quick dash across them towards the more dangerous side of town. Otherwise, he would merely stay on the ground with the others and pester the locals around them.

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She didn't really understand what the difficulty was about this task. Ask people, pretend you are interested was the only option she thought about as well, so she lifted up her right eyebrow and instead of going off to do the task that was now profided, she waited. She stared and waited, to hear the answers and to understand their track of thought. She didn't sigh or anything else, her face was neutral as if she had no idea what she should do. She watched Konstantin ask why not asking for Rune Knights and so on, which he practically had, Eva was a Knight and so was Kon since no one could know about the Holy Knigts part. But she would just wait for the plan to form, they had to pretend to be interested, that wouldn't be easy. She would have to think of ways to convince people she was interested in a cult. She looked at Ophelia, maybe bringing her along wasn't one of the smartest plans, too cute.

She listened with half her attention to Konstantin and turned her hazel eyes back on him the moment he trailed off, right two hours here in a cafe. She eyed him as he climbed on the roof and was off, "I'll take the shopping streets. See you in two hours." she said to Eva as she headed off to another part of the town. She would first scan the street with Ophelia, she was almost sure that the teenagers with many shopping bags weren't worth her time. She was patiently waiting for some guys from bars or some girls from other businesses that didn't look as if they would buy everything out of a shop.

Ophelia would remain on the bench but she would walk the street up and down casually. She held her cat ears back on her head to not let them immediately be spotted and her tail was hidden in one of the legs of her jeans. For a moment she wished that her hair wasn't as bright orange at it was, thank god the street was busy and there were other bright colours so it wasn't only her but it felt like everyone could follow her in this crowd. Finally she spotted a man alone and she tried to act as casual, asking if she hadn't met him before and she was trying to learn of a cult. He answered a bit surprised, he must be part of it, but dismissed her immediately saying with a gruff voice that he had no idea what she was talking about and he quickly walked off. A next person was needed.

She found a second person, this was a female that looked everything but right in the shopping street, she didn't pretend to know this woman but she asked if she knew anything about a cult, trying to say it in a tone that showed she was interested, again she was dismissed. The lady however remained standing which gave Alice the idea that sme might have nothing to do with it. The third person was exactly the same as the first, surprised maybe scared about the question, negative answer and hurried off. She sighed because this wasn't going to work and she turned to walk back to Ophelia when she bumped into someone. She decided simply to ask this man the question, not even pretending to look sad about not getting the right answers. Sad was a bit exaggerated but she hoped the quest would go a lot faster, even though she had known from the beginning this was impossible.

To her surprise the man answered with a positive answer but asked her a few questions about her interest in a cult. She tried to answer as best as possible, something about loyalty and honesty and interest. Because the answers had to come as smooth as possible and she couldn't think about them a long time, the conversation felt dreadful and going on for hours, even if it was only a few minutes. The man pulled her towards the walls of the shop, this wasn't well and she held her right hand a little to the back to summon her spear. However he smiled at her and whispered about a store a few feet away from them now, The Golden Flame, they would meet at night there and she would have to use the password: 'Illucifan Nagar'. And meet him there.

She nodded, thanked him and had a last look on Ophelia before she headed back to the meeting point to give the information, hopefully the others had an encounter like this, she didn't feel like going alone. At the corner of the main road of the shopping district into another district, Ophelia tagged along with her and she gave a small smile. The first part was over, now the rest needed to be dealt with.

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Eva shrugged, watched the two wander off, and turned to go her way as well, but not before bidding Captain Devon a goodbye. She rushed back to the inn she was staying at first. The owner, a middle aged lady with golden hair, stood by the counter talking animatedly with another woman who carried a basket full of eggs. She caught something about grocery and price hikes when Eva bypassed them. With a customary nod, she sprinted up the stairs. “Please don’t run up the stairs or in the hallway!” she heard the owner warn behind her but didn’t even bother to reply as she found the door to her room. She went over to her closet without even bothering to close the door.

Scrambling through a bunch of clothes, she finally pulled out a long, black hooded cloak. There was also a pair of glasses on the shelf that she had previously used on a photoshoot, and took it before moving back to the room. The cloak was wrapped around her soon after. She pulled up the hood, carefully adjusting her hair, holding them up with hairpins, as to not let it show. As soon as she was done, Eva grabbed the glasses and was out the door, once again rushing out the inn, this time leaving a sighing inn owner behind.

Investigating a cult was a fancy idea, and something novel as she couldn’t remember doing something like this before. But Eva did have a reputation that she had to keep, desperately. To be found out as someone interested in a cult was the last thing she wanted as a model as well as a Rune Knight. Besides, if she was actually going to act like some religious fanatic, she might as well look the part, too. Admittedly enough, wearing something like that and walking around the town would most likely alarm a lot of people but she guessed that she would get away with it as long as she would be careful. Besides, the costume and atmosphere that day was...getting her excited?

“Who’s that?” she heard a group of women whispering among themselves and flinched. Time to move along, she decided and hurried away. She walked around the area surrounding the Kardia cathedral. She might have been thinking like a real stereotype but she still guessed that she might find something nearby. It was a simple hunch that she decided to entertain. She ignored everyone that gave her suspicious looks, only talking to those people that seemed to look at her as if they were somehow interested.

The first one turned out to be a teenage girl with thick rimmed black glasses. Humorously enough, it turned out that she was a lot more interested in her glasses rather than a cult. She had to spend a while talking about glasses with that girl until she was finally let go. The next two people she met also turned out to be either interested in horror and gothic novels or were simply emo, interested in the darker side of life. But they were not part of any cult which simply made her resume her search.

It took her about an hour to finally meet a guy that actually talked to her about a cult. He was strange but his face was hidden with long bangs as well. He talked extensively about the cult for a long time, switching from excited to suspicious, and to excited all over again. By the time they were done, he had slipped a piece of paper to her with her dark cloak as a veil, looked around the streets, and ran off. Eva headed over to the place they were supposed to gather, arriving at the inn a few minutes later.

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Up at top the slate rooftops of Magnolia town, Kon dashed from one to another leaving behind no trace nor a sound, eventually the Neko made his way to the blacker side of the town. Few travelled through that portion unless their intentions were villainous or had a blade to protect themselves against the dangerous pocket of the community. Fortunately, the blonde haired mage had many things in his arsenal consisting not just of his magic itself, but also his quick tongue along with his hidden blades. Crouching down upon the edge of the building he looked from above, there he sat watching a section of the street before climbing down without a noise as he landed into a nearby dark alley that conceals his presence. The occasional thug came and went whom he thoroughly questioned to little avail however after maybe an hour, each time returning to the same alley to hide his presence.

Eventually, though a gathering of six finely dressed individuals who seemed out of place within the filthy section of the town came into view and upon further investigation, all appeared to have some marking. Curious to see what they were there for, Kon started to stalk them as if they were his prey, it was incredibly easy for him to weave in and out of various areas where he could still and yet remain hidden. After some time they bent towards another darkened alley he could see all of them clear as day, This allowed him the chance to nab one of them for questioning before they knew what to do.

Removing the bandage over his hand, Kon promptly wrapped it over his face concealing the lower portion of it and hastily took off his headband to cover the remainder of his face. Without wasting a single moment he scanned all of the group and promptly nabbed one of the smaller members before dashing off again. Fortunately for him, the man he had taken was probably three-quarters of his size in both weight and height allowing for a swift climb through the screams that he bellowed out didn’t help. “Help me, Help me, someone’s taking me!” he cried out. Ignoring his pleas for help, He threw him up on top of the rooftop once he was about halfway up the wall just before he made it there himself. Without a word him tried to flee, however, Kon neither had the time nor patience to allow for such a thing. As he did so he promptly ran towards her and then dashed at the top the town away from the alerted group.

Once space had been created he threw him down, before slamming himself down against him. Wasting no time, he drew his right hand out and formed a fist before putting it towards his throat and swiftly drawing his first and third claw out causing fresh wounds to open up and blood to drip on the sides of his neck, to block her from moving lest he is harmed. “Now I’m going to ask you some questions, you answer them I’ll let you go unharmed, lie to me and I will hurt you.” He spoke bluntly and with malice, wanting an answer he let his second claw move slightly outward breaking the skin between index and ring finger, the small man remained silent but chose to nod instead. “Are you with a cult aren’t you?” His lips remained sealed and shook his head instead wanting to remind him of the seriousness of his threat, he drew out his middle claw further. “Alright alright, yes, Why? do you plan to destroy it?”

As the mission entailed the investigation of the cult not the destruction of the cult itself, he would instead choose to stroke the ego of the man and his perception of the cult. Returning his claws back into his hand, he spoke to the man as he got up and removed the bandage from his face and wrapped it around his hand once more before giving the man a hand upon before shaking it. “Oh I don’t wish to destroy it, no I want to join it, I’ve heard a great many things about cults especially your own.” Interested in what he had to say the man nodded his head. “An odd way to introduce yourself but I’ll forgive you, here’s the information on the location and remember the password: Illucifan Nagar, you’ll need it to get inside.” Looking around having once again noticed that they were on the top of a building, he prompted Kon. “Could you help me down?” With a slight smirk, the Neko grabbed the man and popped down before leaving him to return to his group as he hopped back onto the rooftops and made his way to the inn.

Admittedly he had never been to the Inn before but had heard good things about it, so upon his arrival, he was a bit surprised about the impressive nature of it, apparently, the owners had changed it to a more finer dining style but still kept the name. Despite the confusion, he was still allowed inside. There he ordered himself a whisky on the rocks and waited for Alice and the newcomer to meet up with him.

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Alice wasn't the first one to arrive in the Hob Shoe inn, it had taken her quite some time to find someone that was willing to talk. Maybe the shopping street wasn't the best idea. She lifted up Ophelia to put her on the chair and looked at Evangeline and not much later Konstantin. "Well there are better jobs." she said a bit sourly as she sat down herself and took Ophelia on her lap. Considering they would come back here as they found answers and it was within the two hours, they must have found answers as well. Because she didn't want to say it too loud, she made sure that they would hear her whisper and only the three of them, "Did they give you a password as well?" she would wait for the reply of the others and after that they would have to wait for the time to be ready to go to the specific location.

It had been a store at the end of the shopping roads and it looked as if it had run out of business some months ago. She was wearing a cloak to not show off her bright orange coloured hair and looked at the others, she was glad with her night vision like this. She knocked on the door and muttered the password before she entered. She followed the man that she recognized from her trip on the streets and she hoped he only thought of the mere coincidence of meeting two others at the same time. She decided not to pay too much attention to them, she also wished that Ophelia would stay hidden outside, she didn't want her pet to get into trouble here. She stared at the tunnel that she had to go through and it gave her an unpleasant feeling, it was so small, on the one hand if they had to fight, it would only be one on one.. if they could get out of this tunnel first.

To her surprise they ended up in something that looked like a huge tavern, within an underground cave. She raised her eyebrow and looked at the surroundigns that showed the cult's interest as well as the many people here. Someone walked towards her and she simply pulled the part of her cloak closer to her with her left hand, her right hand holding out the claws that were given to her thanks to turning into a Neko. She eased a little when the questions were the same as the man on the street had asked her and she answered them the same. That's how she got here, so the answers should be fine. He smiled at her, turned around and seemed to be satisfied, "She is a spy. As are her little friends.".. Oops. She took a few steps back, okay it was good to not bring Ophelia. She quickly scanned the room, "Let's go back now. It's not our job to fight them." she whispered to Eva and Kon. As she made way for the tunnel. It felt mad to run away, it was like an itching feeling to use her claws or a spear or anything else but they had to get out of here and inform the captain. They really had to run.

She dashed back through the tunnel, where she still had thought about fighting, she ran passed the man that opened the door and gave him a kick to the back of his knee so he couldn't immediately follow them as she opened the door, "Let's spread out. See you at the last meeting point." Following Kon's example of this afternoon, she grabbed Ophelia from the corner and climbed up on the roof with the Clefairy holding on to her cloak and possible backpack. She ran over the roofs, jumped down in some alleys to change way through Magnolia and hid somewhere close to the Cathedral. When she was sure she lost the people following her, she got Ophelia in her arms and headed carefully back to the Inn.

She got rid of her cloak and her orange hair swept from left to right in the ponytail. She hoped that the cult people that might spot her didn't connect her to the cloaked woman from earlier because she now showed off her bright hair colour as well was holding on to a companion. Her cloak was nowhere to be seen as it was stored into her dimensional pocket. She would make her way walking through the streets to Hob's Shoe inn. It wasn't that long a walk and she wasn't that tired because of the run, but she was frustrated as hell.

She would first meet up with Konstantin and Eva again, might even talk to them about her frustration, but she had made that decision, not them. She could understand if they blamed her, all she wanted was to be sure that they had done their job right. She knew that Kon had warned Devon, but that didn't mean they could. In her case and maybe in Eva's too, they were but Seated Knights. He was a Captain and all he wanted was information, no fight or anything. She bet the next job now was to arrest those people, if that was the case she would tell him very unfriendly that if that had been the job all along, he should have said so.

They would report back to the Guard Captain, the information of the location, the password, the amount of people and the faces they might recognize now on the streets. Or well that's what Alice told him. She didn't know much what the others would tell him. It didn't matter, the Guard Captain didn't say anything about arresting these people now, he simply thanked her and paid her for her job. Which made it a bit frustrating as well as that she didn't understand a thing about this job, why figure out the cult but not do something about it. She looked at Konstantin, almost sure he wouldn't understand much of it either. She just wanted to go back to the Bed & Breakfast and forget about it. She dropped Ophelia back onto the ground and stretched her back. This job had been everything she hated, she had repeated that many times in her mind but it was over now. She watched her companion walk and quickly followed, she could use a nap.

Wordcount: 3060/3000
Exit.

Eva wasn’t the first one to arrive at their meeting place. She found Kon in a corner and slipped into a chair beside him. With a sigh, she pulled the hood of her cloak off, revealing her tired face. She placed an elbow on the counter and dropped her head on the palm so that she was leaning to the bar counter with her side while she actually faced Kon. “This is all I have got,” she pushed her free hand into the back pocket of her jeans to pull out the same piece of paper that she received from the mysterious man with long bangs. “Seems to be some sort of password,” she sighed, turning and letting her body fall back on the chair.

Alice arrived just as she was ordering a glass of water. Yes, it was strange to order just water in a place like that but Eva didn’t drink and never entertained the idea in her head either. She drank beer on very rare occasions and that was as close as she was going to go. So it was just her and a glass of iced water when Alice arrived and gave them the same information they had got in their own investigation. There was a password and a hint of where they should go. She was rushed into gulping down the glass of water after that as they quickly moved out. It was starting to darken a little, the sky slowly turning greyish blue to welcome the night. A crescent moon hung like a jewel above them, casting a dim glow over the town.

Their destination was a rundown store. With cracked windows that was hard to see through, chipped woods, a crooked signboard of a Panda missing its right leg, and paint peeling off the walls, the building suggested that it had not been visited or used in a very long time. Yet, the door still looked to be in a far better condition than the rest of the place. It was still fixed to the hinges with care and when Eva placed a hand on it and pushed, it didn’t budge. She moved away to let Alice give it a try, watching as she knocked and a gruff voice from inside muttered for a password. “Illucifan Nagar” She said at the same time that Alice did, shrugging when voice came out barely above a whisper. The man seemed to have heard Alice, however, as he quickly let them in.

Somehow, the inside of that shady store was exactly how Eva imagined it to be. It seemed to have worked as a boutique with numerous dust covered racks all over the place. There was also a couple of mannequins standing around the wide room with one of them dressed in a dirty, torn up white wedding dress. To a side was another mannequin thrown over a table, missing a hand and a leg. On the walls were a few pictures, some crooked, some broken, and some hanging on thin strings that looked like they will break any time. As they were led further into the building, they arrived in a smaller room where in place of a fireplace there was a tunnel.

“Follow me,” the man said, giving Alice a particular nod. She guessed that he was someone that Alice met on the streets but said nothing as they slowly walked down a dark tunnel that was truly hard to see through. Eva had to hold back a slight groan as she felt herself tripping over nothing, only managing to hold herself from falling by placing a hand on the wall. She immediately regretted it when her hands felt something wet. Moss? She wondered, wiping her hands on the black cloak that she couldn’t care any less for.

She finally found a chance to inspect her hand when they reached the end of the tunnel from which a pale silvery light was emitting. Her lips drew a thin line as she dropped her hand to the side and looked up to inspect the cavern. It was a small circular room where at the center stood an altar. In a way, it gave off the atmosphere of a church, an eerie church, but still one. Behind the altar was a dark mosaic of some woman and a beast that she didn’t really understand. What she recognized was the inverted cross and a golden goblet on the altar. Around it was a bunch of skulls, bones, black roses and some other stuff that she couldn’t name. She instinctively bit her bottom lips to not gape at the whole structure of the room. It seemed to be something straight out of a gothic novel, complete with a bunch of people in black cloaks standing in a circle around the alter.

Alice seemed to be talking to someone as Eva made sure to take note of every little thing she saw in the room. While her ears barely picked up what Alice and the man was talking about, her eyes slid over every nook and cranny of the dark place, noticing the way they dressed, the way they held some book and the way they were eagerly staring at the goblet in the middle. She wanted to stay and observe the situation a little more but jumped at the small commotion that was raised as the person Alice was talking to dubbed them as spies.

Eva wasn’t even sure what Alice had talked to the guy about but followed Alice as they attempted to run back up the tunnel. Eva quickly activated her spell, Silencium, blending into the air around them with a click of her fingers. She watched all of the men in the black cloaks run after Alice and Kon but stood behind, out of the way of all the people that ran past without really noticing her. She quickly made her way over to the goblet in the middle, peering into it but reeling back the next second at the sight of blood. With a hand over her mouth, a clear expression of disgust crossing her face, she turned back and ran up the tunnel, quickly making it out the store and towards the streets. Since her magic was still working, Eva found it much easier than the others to get away without getting noticed.

Finding a flash of orange to her right, Eva followed, ending up in the same place they had departed from. She sighed as her magic came undone with another click of her fingers. She walked over to Alice placed a hand over her shoulder in a way of comfort. It would have been a huge understatement to say that Eva wasn’t disappointed but she was to blame for not listening to the conversation, too. The situation couldn’t be helped and she knew it. Inwardly, she did put the blame on Alice a little but the part that she understood still outweighed the portion that was irritated. “It can’t be helped. We can only narrate what we saw to the captain now,” she said, succeeding in hiding the tone of disappointment in her voice.

Together, they made their way towards Captain Devon. He seemed to be waiting for them with the same hardened expression as always. She let Kon and Alice explain first, standing behind and listening to their explanation first before letting the captain know about the goblet of blood that she had seen. Eva concluded that it was a dark cult practicing forbidden magic or curses. She made sure to give the captain her doubts and suggestions, nodding back every time the captain would nod at her. He seemed thankful when they finally finished explaining everything. “Well, we will just have to investigate a bit more. At least now we know where they gather,” he suggested but Eva shook her head. “I don’t think they will keep using that place,” she answered. “However, I think there are sufficient clues to begin a thorough investigation now,” she said while receiving her rewards.

Eva was done for the day. All of their adventurous events had drained Eva off most of her strength. She wanted nothing more than a warm bath back at the inn and probably a day of pretty dresses and make ups to wash the bad aftertaste this mission had left on her. They had come so close to figuring out the cult as a whole. Maybe they will be tasked with arresting them some other day but for now, she was left curious about the purpose of that goblet. “Well, good bye! I hope we will meet somewhere again,” she smiled, parting with the two.


3020/3000 (Exit)

Kon sat for some time all by his lonesome tending to his drink awaiting the rest of his party, the drink itself was mild in taste almost bland evidently the owners were watering down their drinks much to his disappointment. Resigning himself to the subpar whisky rather than start a fight with them, he continued to swirl, sip and otherwise drink his beverage. Eventually though his comrades came in one at a time, Eva entering first refraining from greeting Kon directly. “Odd.” He thought to himself, while he looked at her perplexed. It was only until Alice arrived that they all spoke with one another. It quickly became apparent that Alice too was displeased by the nature of the request commenting on however there were better jobs, smiling sarcastically he allowed her to continue without a word. Each of them in their own way managed to obtain the password and location of the cult itself and with the daylight diminishing this would be a perfect time for both Alice and Kon thanks to their cat like senses.

Drinking down the remainder of his glass, he left the inn alongside his partner and the newcomer to the group where they made their way to the store that the cult was using it was in a poor state practically ready to collapse from a light gust of wind. Whilst the others chose to hide their appearance, Kon cared little for anonymity as worse came to worst he would merely execute each and every last one of them whether it be tooth and nail or just sheer overwhelming force of will, at least that he would normally if he weren’t on a blasted mission to just spy on the aforementioned cult instead of cleansing the town of it. “Bah, Why can’t I just do both of my jobs at the sametime.” The walk to the store itself was both quick and without a single comment, which he didn’t mind one bit as this was a mission and the addition of another made talking about some matter just outright awkward.

Eventually the trio reached the store itself and stood in front of the door which was contrastingly better quality that the rest of Alice announced her presence with a rap on the door causing several loud booming noises resembling the footsteps of a giant or obese man to move closer towards them before a piece of the door slid across revealing a chubby adult male face who chew on his words before spitting them out at the three of them. “What de hell do you want?” Befitting the behaviour of both a lady and rune knight, he watched as Alice ignored the man’s rude behaviour and instead merely stated the password. Without question the man slid back the cover then took several moments unlocking the various locks with a clink and clank as each were opened. Door opening without a noise, the trio was granted access into the building itself.

Coughing otherwise breathing heavily the man spoke to the trio telling them to follow him as waved them towards him. With his enhanced eyesight he could tell something was definitely wrong, the glisten of fresh blood was splattered all around them it’s distinct smell reached to his nose causing him to become further on the alert, ready to draw his claws at a moment's notice. No wrongdoing committed just yet, he followed the man directly after Alice who he took the liberty of exploring running down his eyes against her body as he moved forward in line with her and the man. Eventually they exited the tunnel itself each of their reactions were vastly different, though he made no refrained from making a comment directly instead choosing to hang back closest to the entrance itself. This turned out to be the best choice of action with the rouse of their presence becoming known to the cultists, he itched for a fight and was even taking stock out how many there were in comparison to themselves and his potential summons and even drawing his now blood drenched claws to attack the would be foes.

The Fight was not to be at least not yet with Alice prompting him to that the task was not to fight them merely investigate them. Annoyed by the miss opportunity he would have to resign to the fact that he wouldn’t be able to destroy them instead would have to simply fight them on another day without Alice holding him back. Fleeing the hideout itself was surprisingly easy with it solely defended by the large man that brought them there though Alice swiftly disabled. Kon agreed to Alice’s suggestion of splitting up once more and fled by climbing up a nearby house and dashing above the rooftop where he would be practically untouchable to the cultists at least with his current knowledge though he could easily be wrong.

Meeting up with Eva and Alice once more at the inn they assembled what they would say to the captain. Providing as much information as he could to the soldier he finished by reminding him that he wouldn’t waste time in removing the cult himself, if it wasn’t resolved in some other fashion. Waving away his comment he merely laughed. “And what are you going to do about it?, my feline friend.” Annoyed by his joke he raised a fist still red from his self-inflicted wounds earlier when he withdrew his blades. “Make no mistake sir, I have the power to destroy this entire town with the raise of my hand if you think a tiny cult would be capable of stopping me you are surely mistaken.” Not seeking further argument he simple put up his hand and nodded. “Okay, okay you’re a mage I understand now, just don’t destroy my town god damn man.” Paying him, Kon shook his head and before giving his farewells to Alice and Eva.

[Exit]

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