It had been a few days since his last mission, the young Savannan could once again be seen almost wandering aimlessly, having been kicked out of the residential quarters for once again setting something vaguely important on fire in his quest to rid himself of his ever encroaching boredom. The streets of Oak City seemed to be a bit more desolate than usual, the fighting going around seemingly keeping people indoors rather than outside in the cool summer air.

His destination wasn’t the castle or the guild hall, both prominent and rather obvious locations for someone of his occupation to attempt to approach at this time of the night, rather it was the church which had apparently been going through some rough patches recently with spirits and the like. Taking the request in stride, he had once again taken the initiative, or rather been forced to take the initiative lest he sit outside in the cold all by himself again. The church loomed overhead, the gaudy gothic architecture arcing and wrapping itself in a shape of a looming terror. It was no wonder dark guilds thought that locations like these were good hiding places when the cities and citizens themselves went out of their way to look like this.

He would stand before the church gates casually as if waiting for the signal to enter. His orange jumpsuit wrapping his body loosely with the front zipped down to reveal his black undershirt. His patient yet disinterested visage would only regard the church with any sort of interest, but eventually his boredom would get the better of him yet again.

[270]

With Genevieve being no more and the fall of her guild master at the hands of some rune knight, the young demi woman was lost for the most part. So many things had been thrown at her that at her, that life was starting to become a whirlwind. She wouldn't be staying in Oak long, not after finding one very extensive half of her family, or rather them finding her, but she wanted to do a few more things for the place before she went. These deeds were purely so she could have a few last moments here. It wouldn't matter to the people of Oak because she was no longer the Genevieve they knew, they wouldn't even be able to tell who she was with the face she was always meant to have donned on her. She was Hitomi Minamoto now, the daughter of Kikiyo Minamoto lost child of the Minamoto clan now found and reunited with at least one-half of her family. All of a sudden her life had a new meaning and she had duties and things to do that she never thought she would have to do.

This is it...The last few round around the old church.

The history between her and Oakland Church was toxic, to say the least. They came to her for jobs needing to be done out of fear and because her guild had a hold over Oak. She had never physically harmed anyone in the church but they knew messing with her meant messing with Odin and no one wanted those problems. Now she was coming to them as a simple mage to take care of some spirit problems, a task she had done many times before, mostly alone. It was of course fortunate that today she was going to do this job with someone else, someone she had never met before but soon saw as she walked up to the church gates. The details of her task had already been given to her so she wasn't surprised to see someone there. Waving him down she flashed a polite smile before speaking up.

Hello, I'm Gene- Hitomi. I'll be with you tonight on this quest. It's a fairly easy job I assure you. So we should be in and out in no time. Of course, that's if everything goes as smoothly as I think it should.

Yea, she had done this job too many times and more times than none it was an easy and simple job. Of course, there were snags in the road but nothing she couldn't handle on her own. She hoped things went smoothly, she didn't want to be down there longer than she had to. Even though she was walking around with a new name and face certain spirits weren't too happy with her presence when she was there, and she knew it, and they would know no matter what she changed.

505/1000

The winds seemed to pick up as he stood there waiting, the gate rattling against itself in a furious choir that seemed to hint at the rather ominous mood that the cathedral itself held. His impassive face withstood all of this however, an neverwaving level of focus seemed to etch itself as he regarded the church with some level of inquisition into its make up and past. The gothic etchings and rather spooky ornaments really sold the ‘horror church’ vibe but considering it was essentially an altar to that false god Illumin he couldn’t be surprised at the aesthetic. His thoughts were interrupted with the approaching sounds of footsteps. Light as they were, they undersold the level of power they likely held up or the magnitude of the person they carried. They did however alert Seika to this person’s presence prompting him to at least turn his head and acknowledge their presence.

He was greeted with... a sight of sorts, a relatively attractive young woman with fair skin and what looked to be bluish black hair. Her soft face was cropped by bangs that straddled the sides of her face and seemed to accentuate the subtle beauty of it all. Her figure was wrapped in soft clothing, things that a woman, let alone a mage, would find comfortable, yet stylish and practical enough to wear on a mission. The accentuation of her breasts however, did catch him slightly off guard, if only because the practicality of the ensemble seemed to go down just a peg that shirt or... was it a blouse? Dress? Whatever it was, would have enough extra cloth to stretch over her assets in such a manner that the rest of the dress would still fit snugly to her taut frame.

His observations were cut short as the young woman actually spoke to him, giving him what was obviously a fake name but he didn’t care. People were allowed to keep their own secret identities and what not, what was he the police? Oh wait, he was, even if he didn’t care about the ramifications of that sometimes. He would fully turn to regard her though since she had gone out of her way to announce her presence and state who she was, the least he could do was the same. “Seika”, he stated without any hint of enthusiasm. In regards to the other things, he would just nod and turn back towards the church. If the mission truly wouldn’t take long, he wouldn’t extend the time necessary with idle chatter.

Opening the gate, he would proceed inside. Upon being enveloped by the suffocating darkness of the church’s grounds, he would push down a small shiver before lifting his hands and providing a small pilot flame that would act like a small torch. The light provided actually illuminated a good portion of the dilapidated grounds, showing just how much the church had fallen into disrepair after the dark guilds had taken over. Even if it was the main site of patronage for those of the false gods followers, the grounds were clearly torn up and tossed asunder as if little care was provided for them. This left Seika with a small bit of happiness at the sight of the grounds, the fake’s holy temple left in such a state by those who gave them praise, ironic.

Approaching the catacombs, the pilot flame would be used to ignite the braziers that led down the dark dank steps underneath the church. With more light filling the space, a load of tension would be released from the boy’s shoulders, his posture easing itself as his feet touched down on the cold stone of the catacombs. Stopping just a few paces away from the steps just so ‘Hitomi’ wouldn’t run directly into him as she also came down the steps, he would regard either direction of the catacombs with an inquisitive glare. Spirits weren’t really his forte, exorcisms weren’t something that those of Sol’s light would ever be seen doing. All life was sacred under the guiding light and warmth of Holy Sol, whether they be mortal or spiritual. But considering it was a ‘job’ he guessed he could leave the dispatching of the spirits to his partner. He would not lift a finger against these spirits, instead moving his pilot flame to the tips of his fingers and placing his hands in a praying motion.

He would utter a small prayer as they walked through the catacombs, granting those spirits he had passed safe passage into Sol’s holy light. Upon finishing this task and returning to the staircase, he would regard ‘Hitomi’ with a small nod before returning to the surface. He no longer had any business in this dreary location and thus wouldn’t spend any longer in it.

[Exit]

[818]

The cocoa man in the orange jumpsuit spoke his own name as a greeting and nothing more. His choice to say nothing more was entirely his choice and she didn't push it, she would only follow him. As the duo walked through the fast a wave of nostalgia hit her, she was really about to leave Oak and perhaps not see this place again for a very long time and she feared the next time she would return wouldn't be for a reason she liked. A thick fog settled around the church's yard but the two were already in the church before anything spooky started to happen. Walking in the building She watched as Seika led the way, only waving to the priest inside the church once the two passed them by and descended into the catacombs. Since she knew this place well she decided to go the opposite direction of her partner, that way the two could cover more ground. Her trip down in the catacombs would be much more different due to the new weapon she was gifted from her grandfather. It was a beauty of a blade because not only did it slice clean through flesh but also spirits. She wouldn't have to use any salt with this in her hand. The way she went about doing this job was a mixed bag but she always preferred to killing the spirits so they would either take long to come back or not come back at all. Tonight she would see just how this sword would stack up against them.

Walking down a long corridor and making a few turns caused her to end up in front of a small gathering of ghosts. the small group looked like little girls. At first, they didn't notice Hitomi but when they did they began to back away from her until they seemed to be huddled in a corner. Hitomi wasn't heartless so she just guided them away with her sword, the crackling of the lightning dancing through their small ghostly frames as they disappeared one by one until the last simply vanished on her own. Hitomi continued on her way admiring her sword, Kusanagi as she did so. Her admiration wouldn't be too much longer before she ran into another small group of ghosts, this time these ghosts were all mothers, and putting two and two together she could see she probably made a big mistake killing those ghost girls. The group of ghosts was wailing and asking each other have they seen their daughter. This was a big red flag and Hitomi released Kusanagi from its sheath at the very moment she was noticed by the ghost. Without giving them a chance she danced her blade across their ghostly frames until they were all gone. Without going too much farther she made her way back to the entrance where she met up with Saika, the two collected their pay and went their separate ways.

503/1000

-exit-