Intentionally Aggravating

"You could at least stop moving it around so much," Layla grumbled as they walked through the streets. "You're going to expose the collar and defeat the whole point of wearing it."

"Sorry, it's just so very soft. I haven't gotten to wear something this comfortable since the Order took me prisoner," Arista said, smiling widely, something she hadn't done since John retrieved her from that cell. "It smells nice too. Did you spray it with anything?"

"I don't have anything on me to spray it with," John replied, quirking an eyebrow at Arista's strange sudden change in attitude. John had simply loaned her the jacket he'd been wearing in order to give her something with a higher neckline to cover up the **** collar she was wearing. However, since they set off from the storage unit and Arista had first donned the jacket, she had become oddly... chipper. "Can you go back to being antagonizing and hostile? This is almost worse."

"Well, that was all before I knew how much you cared, John," Arista said, pulling the collar of the oversized jacket up even higher and tucking her face into it. "It was a bit chilly, but I didn't think you'd notice how uncomfortable I was... it's nice to know I'm appreciated."

"This is an order – shut up until I ask you to talk again, unless we're actively in danger," John grumbled, a bit curious about her behavior but more disturbed than anything. He suspected it was just her trying a new tactic to annoy him – and if that was what she was doing, it had been very successful. Her behavior almost reminded him of their first meeting on the roof of her headquarters, when she'd been wearing nothing but a bikini and a smile, and had damn near tried to seduce him into her ranks.

"I don't know why you're still keeping her around, John," Layla said quietly. "Didn't you only bring her along to guide you safely to Himiko's domain?"

"Well, more or less... but at this point the plan has been derailed. Might as well keep her around until things are more stable; no telling who or what we're going to end up dealing with."

John actually did have some idea of who or what they were dealing with – Adantia and Paix, limited as those hints were to his knowledge. He was rather curious as to the significance behind those names, but he'd ordered Arista to divulge any knowledge she had on what could cause the strangely tunneling underground auras, and Arista had professed no knowledge of anything related to the ruined city that could be useful to them back when they had first encountered it. He wasn't sure if specific names could divulge more information... but he had no desire to immediately command Arista to speak, after only just now telling her to shut up. As silly as it was, he felt embarrassed to do so.

So they proceeded in silence, and though John only glanced over his shoulders occasionally, every time he did he noted that Arista was looking unusually smug while Layla seemed almost uncharacteristically agitated. Had he the slightest clue of how to address the issue, John might have said something, but it seemed it must have originated while they were separated. John filed it away as one more thing to take care of once they were somewhere safer...

Their path across the city finally led them to the front of the supposed restaurant. Glancing in through the multiple windows covering most of the building's seating sections, John didn't see anything resembling a den of the Abyss – only families staring blankly back at the man observing them far too closely. Fortunately, John's companions saw what he did not.

"There's a Barrier around this entire building. A powerful one too, I can't sense anything about what's inside of it," Layla noted, striding toward the back of the building. "It's closed, but I sense an alteration in the structure of it near the back. What instructions did Himiko give you, exactly?"

"The only things on here are three steps – and they're all just addresses. She said that she hired a well-known mercenary... presumably they're waiting inside the Barrier, then?" John suggested, leaving it open as a question since he didn't know anything else about it. "Arista, any of this sounding familiar? Tell me if this kind of set-up is familiar to you."

"Not to my organization, but I've heard of it," Arista said, the collar glowing slightly as she tried to resist sharing what she knew. "Mercenaries refer to these by a variety of names, some more pleasant, some more vulgar. My mercenaries always referred to them as 'Sinner's Sanctuaries'. They provide shelter and anonymity for known mercenaries, though only at a fairly high cost. Around Springfield there were enough independent factions and little enough influence that most mercenaries could find work close by... but in larger territories like Himiko's where things are relatively lawful and peaceful, mercenaries often have to travel a long way to find work. In addition, it gives them a place to operate out of without giving away their home base to be contacted."

"Maybe if you'd bothered to use those, the Albidians wouldn't have tracked you, and you wouldn't be in this situation right now – and don't respond to that statement," John added the last bit on the end as he saw the anger flashing in Arista's eyes; the collar glowed for a moment and the bitter reply died on her lips.

"John, can I see that paper for a moment?" Layla asked, stopping her walk around the building. John nodded as she turned to face him and held the paper out for her, but instead of taking it, Layla reached out and gripped John's hands in her own and studied the paper closely.

"Um... I've already seen it all," John mused, quirking an eyebrow. "You can take the paper if you-"

"I'm trying to concentrate," Layla said quietly, her voice quivering slightly as she closed her eyes and took in a deep breath.

"Uh, I-" John mumbled, unsure what to say. Layla was gripping the paper, but most of her hands were laced over his fingers. Furthermore, the look on Layla's face wasn't one of concentration, but it was one he was somewhat familiar with all the same. A look of rapture, almost ecstasy, as if Layla were almost-

"There!" Layla said, gasping slightly as she opened her eyes and her body shivered. "Oh! It... that was more powerful than I thought..."

"What? Powerful?" John blurted, confused to the point of repeating Layla's words.

"Ah... yes, there was... a powerful enchantment here. It's attuned to your exact aura, um... very hard to sense, that's why it took so long," Layla said quickly, stepping back and pulling her hands away from John's and the paper within. "Pour your mana into that paper; there's something hidden there."

John struggled for a moment mentally, wondering whether to question Layla or not, but she'd made a statement so easy to test that he felt awkward doubting it... despite his embarrassing uncertainty of his own abilities. Truthfully, John had relied on his Gaia-gifted skills for so long that physically controlling his mana was still somewhat new to him. The last time he could recall actively doing it was training alongside Etriyya in the Order's courtyards, and he wasn't sure if he had improved his control since then, or if he'd only improved his raw potential.

Thankfully there were only a few awkward seconds of John trying to funnel his mana before the results started to show themselves. Slowly, in the blank spaces between the sparse steps and directions given to him by Himiko, John's mana caused more writing to emerge. It was in a different color than the simpler instructions, but it was the same handwriting. Under the listing of the first address was an assurance that he would find his friends there, unharmed but contained. The second address had something a bit more useful – a code word... and a sigil.

"I'm not in my own world anymore... I don't know every in and out of every object here, I don't even recognize when someone hands me enchanted paper. I need to get back in the habit of using Observe on everything," John noted mentally, disappointed in his lack of forethought and intuition once more. It was a good habit, one he'd lost after a year on his own in a world of his own creation, where he encountered nothing new aside from the enemies he fought and items he acquired. John turned his mind back to the task at hand.

"It says to draw this symbol on the employee door on the back... then what to say when someone comes out to see us. Think that'll work?"

"It will if they have a powerful enough Fateweaver to manage a Barrier to detect it," Layla responded. "Try it out."

John nodded and kept creeping around through the alleyway until they reached the back of the building. It was exposed to an employee parking lot, but there was only a single employee out back, smoking a cigarette and looking completely disinterested in what was going on around her. She'd probably seen dozens of people do this, depending on how popular this "Sinner's Sanctuary" was. John wondered briefly if she thought one of the other employees was a **** dealer, or if she'd come up with some other rationalization for the traffic.

"Well, here goes nothing." John strode to the door and lifted the paper up so that he could stare at the symbol. It wasn't an overly complex one; it resembled a reverse, lowercase "h" but with straight lines and a few extra bits jutting out, plus some dots and dashes within the square arch.

Enough time passed as he stepped back to observe the door that John started to wonder if he'd done it wrong, or if it had been a trick, but after a few moments of silent waiting, a purple glow surrounded the metal in the crack where door met frame. The door finally opened and rather than the sound of a restaurant kitchen, John's ears were greeted by the rather quiet tones of conversation and what sounded like a late-80s rock band playing over the speakers.

A rather muscular looking woman with dark skin and bright pink hair stepped out of the door; she was wearing what looked like padded leather armor designed for sparring, but judging by the green, glowing runes engraved in the black leather of her chest piece, it was probably heavily enchanted against a lot more than just fists.

"Who the fuck are you?" the woman asked, quirking an eyebrow as she scanned over all three of them, casually sizing them up. John returned the favor just as quickly.

Edea Summers
Level 87 Bruiser
<Randal's Safehouse>
7,590 / 7,590 HP
Alignment: -5
Relationship: 3

"So even the door guard is strong enough to pose a threat," John thought as he turned his eyes back to the instructions on the paper. "I wonder how tough the mercenary will be..."

"I'm a client, one who's strapped for time," John said, doing his best to sound more confident than he felt as he read the last of the words on the paper and turned his eyes up, hoping to look less like he was reading out a script as he said the next part. "Payment has already been delivered, and the job is ready to go. Killjoy."

John had thought the last part was some kind of code word or verification of who he was, but he was surprised when the pink-haired woman threw a wry smile his way, turned her head, and shouted back into the building.

"Hey, 'Killjoy', your donor's here."

"I know, I've been watching them for a while now. Not the most observant crew."

John whirled at the sound of the voice, one that was so lighthearted it was almost chuckling – and one that had come from almost directly behind them. Layla and Arista spun only a moment after John did, all three of them turning their gaze on the woman slowly sidling up to them.

She had shoulder-length hair with curls as perfectly done as if she'd only just stepped away from the mirror. Her face was elegant, attractive, and whether her makeup was magical or mundane, it gave off the effect of making her look almost more like a model than a mercenary. That was the only part of her that gave off that appearance to be sure, though.

Her body was smaller and more compact than the door guard's but the sheer tone to her body combined with the way she moved told John she was more than confident in her ability to kick everyone's ass there. Her ability to evade Layla's sensory abilities and move so silently that John couldn't hear her footsteps on the ground even when she walked right up to them was further proof that she was not to be messed with. She was wearing a full bodysuit, black with gray designs across it that John couldn't begin to guess which were part of the enchantments or leylines, and which were meant simply as design choices. Her forearms, knees, calves, and elbows were all heavily padded in ways that didn't restrict movement. Most of the padding had small metallic gleams present in several places, hinting at concealed weapons or additional protection, and she wore a belt that was conspicuously thick with several golden latches that must have released compartments within the belt itself.

John tried to use an Observe on her as well, but he quickly discovered why Layla had been just as surprised as John was at the woman's sudden appearance.

Brad's Burger Shop
Just a totally mundane restaurant. No secrets here, sorry, John.

"Wait, what?"

John shifted on his foot, staring directly at the woman's forehead, and cast Observe again.

The Sky
It's literally just the sky. No, John, Heaven isn't actually in the clouds – nice try though.

"My magic isn't just not reading her... it's acting like she's not even there. She must have some crazy powerful stealth magic."

"Well, if you get shell-shocked this easily, I can see why you need my help," the woman said. "But your money spends the same as anyone else's, and for some reason you actually paid up the offer I usually give to get people to fuck off, so... let's go. You said this job is time-critical, and frankly, I don't wanna be out there longer than I have to."

"Worried about what's going to happen out there?" John asked. "Or are you already tired of being around me?"

"Neither... yet. Just not a place I'm eager to go back to, but I'm sure that's why you were willing to pay so much. If you wanna go root around an abandoned city, let's do this."

"Fine. I'll be in your hands," John said, offering his palm to the woman. "I'm John, this is-"

"I know your name, don't need theirs, and you can call me Killjoy since everyone else does," the woman said, scoffing and looking at John with something resembling disgust. "Do you seriously have no sense of self-preservation? If it wasn't for the moratorium on bounty collection inside of Himiko's territory, there are mercs inside here that would take a piece out of you – and all of them already know who you are. If half the shit we've heard about you is true, the only thing saving you from them marching all the way to Springfield in the first place is the fact that no one can prove it yet."

"I-"

John cut himself off, his immediate reaction being to defend himself, but finding no value in providing any more information or details to a woman who had done all but threaten him in her last sentence. Even ignoring the obvious danger of a woman who could slip past Layla unnoticed, her lack of care for John's own strength indicated that – despite his year of absence – she wasn't afraid of what he could do. That might have seemed more foolish to John, were it not for the fact she was cloaked in so many wards and/or illusion spells that she could be completely unnoticed by his Observe spell...

"Fair enough," John noted. "But on those grounds, how can I trust your loyalty?"

"You might have quite the price on your head... but I don't plan to die any time soon, and I don't plan to retire any sooner than I have both feet in the grave," the redhead noted, rolling her eyes. "Your bounty isn't worth permanently killing my reputation over. If that's enough for you to trust, let's get moving. If not, I'll refund half your payment right now."

John debated for only an instant – some small part of him wanting to know exactly what Himiko had paid for this woman's services – before he responded confidently.