RE: a Fortuna fic - Not A Cult
06-26-2018, 04:16 AM
(This post was last modified: 06-26-2018, 04:30 AM by Ten11.)
Not A Cult
3
The Pagepoh, whose name was Celia as it turned out, was incredibly flustered, and it took a short while before she abated her hysterics. After consoling her that, yes, they were definitely going to help her, Wiph and the rest of the Bones' Rose managed to hear her story.
"Ok, so, you know that shop that exploded last week? Well me and my brother were there, and after the explosion, I saw some people come and drag him off! I mean there was a lot of dust in the air, but that's definitely what happened. Everyone keeps telling me he's dead but I know he's alive! He was taken!" Her voice raised again.
"Its ok, its ok." Hawk said calmly, "We can probably help you.
"Especially if there's some kind of reward involved! =u+" Underneath the table, Wiph tapped Hawk's leg. He really needed to get the hang of this thing.
"Oh uh, sure, uh, I'll give you 50,000 points, that's all the money I have on me right now."
Wiph did a mental double-take. That was a lot of money. Not knocking it out of the park on its own by any means, but it definitely got to second base, from just a single job! That was enough to buy a fairly decent ship, if they wanted a mobile HQ, or a bunch of patsies/henchmen. Or five hundred bags of chips. Chips were actually kind of expensive, now that he thought about it. If he bought a bag of chips every day, which he didn't, but if he did, and then decided to stop buying chips, he'd save dozens of thousands of points every year. Unless the planet had a really small orbit.
This line of thought continued for a bit, until Wiph noticed that Celia had stopped talking and was fiddling with a napkin. It appeared to be an I.O.U, denoting the terms of their deal.
"Alright, I guess that's sorted, we'll begin investigating your case immediately and promise to find your brother or a plausibly similar looking person in exchange for the aforementioned reward. =u+" He pocketed the napkin and stood up to go.
"Um, Wiph?" Lysandre looked back and forth between them. "Shouldn't we, uh, ask them questions about things? Like we don't really know where to start looking, or anything..." She trailed off. Wiph slapped her on the back.
"I don't tend to find details all that important, but if you think that's necessary, go for it! =u+ I'm sure your common physiology will enable you to get on fabulously."
"We're not that similar..." she mumbled, but he had already walked away. Hawk was ordering a drink at the bar. Oh well, it'd probably go fine. Celia wasn't a Jerce, but she was definitely flighty enough to be one.
After a short conversation, Lysandre returned to the group. Like Celia had said, there had been an explosion at one of the local storefronts several days ago. The shopkeeper had been a "purveyor of rare goods" and apparently many of their items seemed to have strange and mystical, even magical properties. Most people just assumed it was trickery, of course. Celia and her older brother, whose name was Derin, went there sometimes to while away an afternoon looking at all the wondrous trinkets.
The building was now rubble, of course. Celia didn't have a very clear memory of what exactly had happened, but she didn't recall anything odd before the explosion. It had simply happened out of nowhere. Afterwards, though, she could very definitely clearly remember some people dragging her brother away while he was still reeling. Their faces had been covered, and they'd worn some sort of dark clothing.
The police had been set on the case, of course. However they had dismissed her story as "ridiculous", citing absurd notions like "why didn't any of the other survivors see these kidnappers?" and the like. So (after getting out of the hospital) she had taken it upon herself to go around asking for help, every night. Multiple times.
In retrospect, they probably should have wondered why no one else in the diner had paid any attention when a Pagepoh had run in shouting.
The currently prevailing theory was that the shopkeeper (who hadn't been found yet) had gotten ahold of something a bit too exotic for them to handle, and it had blown up in their face. Some work was being done asking questions and searching archives, but nobody really thought the case was that important.
Wiph digested all this information. Honestly it seemed kind of boring now. He hoped things weren't going to turn out to be as simple as some random explosion. Still, it'd be a nice way to spend the time. Plus, 50,000 points, don't forget about that. Why did this girl even walk around with that much money?
"Well, this sure is interesting. Any thoughts, you two? We'd best go to the scene of the crime and check it out. =u+" Hawk started speaking.
"I had a quick chat with barmen. Apparently that girl is the daughter of a pretty important figure in this town. They do a lot of business, travel places, sponsor people, that sort of thing. That's why they don't really mind that she comes here so often. Usually they give her some food after she gets tired from all the yelling." He looked down and tapped the table a bit before continuing, "He also told me that we shouldn't bother with anything she says. Apparently she makes things up all the time. Her brother was pretty good at getting her to focus, but uh..." He trailed off. "...We're going to help her, right?"
"Hawk, I literally just said we should check out the scene of the crime. Please pay more attention next time. =u+"
As the group got up to go, a Spooper ran in. They seemed to be a rush, and after spotting Celia, went over to her. The group was too far away to hear the conversation that ensued, but there seemed to be a lot of tugging and refusing to be tugged going on. Celia pointed at them several times. Eventually, she seemed to give in, and after a few more words, the Spooper walked over to them.
"Hey there, I know you know what's going on, so I'll be brief. Celia is an imaginative girl. But from what she's told me, you do seem to have her best interests at heart. She could use some friends in these times."
"Are you her caretaker or something?" Hawk asked.
"You could say that. I'm an old pal of her father's, he usually asks me to care for her when he's away. She's quite the rapscallion though, I hardly have the heart to keep up with her."
Hawk laughed. No one else did.
"I actually a priest though. Oh, and my name's Reufeo by the way. Well, I guess I'll be seeing you around." He stood up and went back to Celia. Clutching his bony arm, they left.
3
The Pagepoh, whose name was Celia as it turned out, was incredibly flustered, and it took a short while before she abated her hysterics. After consoling her that, yes, they were definitely going to help her, Wiph and the rest of the Bones' Rose managed to hear her story.
"Ok, so, you know that shop that exploded last week? Well me and my brother were there, and after the explosion, I saw some people come and drag him off! I mean there was a lot of dust in the air, but that's definitely what happened. Everyone keeps telling me he's dead but I know he's alive! He was taken!" Her voice raised again.
"Its ok, its ok." Hawk said calmly, "We can probably help you.
"Especially if there's some kind of reward involved! =u+" Underneath the table, Wiph tapped Hawk's leg. He really needed to get the hang of this thing.
"Oh uh, sure, uh, I'll give you 50,000 points, that's all the money I have on me right now."
Wiph did a mental double-take. That was a lot of money. Not knocking it out of the park on its own by any means, but it definitely got to second base, from just a single job! That was enough to buy a fairly decent ship, if they wanted a mobile HQ, or a bunch of patsies/henchmen. Or five hundred bags of chips. Chips were actually kind of expensive, now that he thought about it. If he bought a bag of chips every day, which he didn't, but if he did, and then decided to stop buying chips, he'd save dozens of thousands of points every year. Unless the planet had a really small orbit.
This line of thought continued for a bit, until Wiph noticed that Celia had stopped talking and was fiddling with a napkin. It appeared to be an I.O.U, denoting the terms of their deal.
"Alright, I guess that's sorted, we'll begin investigating your case immediately and promise to find your brother or a plausibly similar looking person in exchange for the aforementioned reward. =u+" He pocketed the napkin and stood up to go.
"Um, Wiph?" Lysandre looked back and forth between them. "Shouldn't we, uh, ask them questions about things? Like we don't really know where to start looking, or anything..." She trailed off. Wiph slapped her on the back.
"I don't tend to find details all that important, but if you think that's necessary, go for it! =u+ I'm sure your common physiology will enable you to get on fabulously."
"We're not that similar..." she mumbled, but he had already walked away. Hawk was ordering a drink at the bar. Oh well, it'd probably go fine. Celia wasn't a Jerce, but she was definitely flighty enough to be one.
After a short conversation, Lysandre returned to the group. Like Celia had said, there had been an explosion at one of the local storefronts several days ago. The shopkeeper had been a "purveyor of rare goods" and apparently many of their items seemed to have strange and mystical, even magical properties. Most people just assumed it was trickery, of course. Celia and her older brother, whose name was Derin, went there sometimes to while away an afternoon looking at all the wondrous trinkets.
The building was now rubble, of course. Celia didn't have a very clear memory of what exactly had happened, but she didn't recall anything odd before the explosion. It had simply happened out of nowhere. Afterwards, though, she could very definitely clearly remember some people dragging her brother away while he was still reeling. Their faces had been covered, and they'd worn some sort of dark clothing.
The police had been set on the case, of course. However they had dismissed her story as "ridiculous", citing absurd notions like "why didn't any of the other survivors see these kidnappers?" and the like. So (after getting out of the hospital) she had taken it upon herself to go around asking for help, every night. Multiple times.
In retrospect, they probably should have wondered why no one else in the diner had paid any attention when a Pagepoh had run in shouting.
The currently prevailing theory was that the shopkeeper (who hadn't been found yet) had gotten ahold of something a bit too exotic for them to handle, and it had blown up in their face. Some work was being done asking questions and searching archives, but nobody really thought the case was that important.
Wiph digested all this information. Honestly it seemed kind of boring now. He hoped things weren't going to turn out to be as simple as some random explosion. Still, it'd be a nice way to spend the time. Plus, 50,000 points, don't forget about that. Why did this girl even walk around with that much money?
"Well, this sure is interesting. Any thoughts, you two? We'd best go to the scene of the crime and check it out. =u+" Hawk started speaking.
"I had a quick chat with barmen. Apparently that girl is the daughter of a pretty important figure in this town. They do a lot of business, travel places, sponsor people, that sort of thing. That's why they don't really mind that she comes here so often. Usually they give her some food after she gets tired from all the yelling." He looked down and tapped the table a bit before continuing, "He also told me that we shouldn't bother with anything she says. Apparently she makes things up all the time. Her brother was pretty good at getting her to focus, but uh..." He trailed off. "...We're going to help her, right?"
"Hawk, I literally just said we should check out the scene of the crime. Please pay more attention next time. =u+"
As the group got up to go, a Spooper ran in. They seemed to be a rush, and after spotting Celia, went over to her. The group was too far away to hear the conversation that ensued, but there seemed to be a lot of tugging and refusing to be tugged going on. Celia pointed at them several times. Eventually, she seemed to give in, and after a few more words, the Spooper walked over to them.
"Hey there, I know you know what's going on, so I'll be brief. Celia is an imaginative girl. But from what she's told me, you do seem to have her best interests at heart. She could use some friends in these times."
"Are you her caretaker or something?" Hawk asked.
"You could say that. I'm an old pal of her father's, he usually asks me to care for her when he's away. She's quite the rapscallion though, I hardly have the heart to keep up with her."
Hawk laughed. No one else did.
"I actually a priest though. Oh, and my name's Reufeo by the way. Well, I guess I'll be seeing you around." He stood up and went back to Celia. Clutching his bony arm, they left.