Unsettling Revelation

Aeolia’s breath came in harsh bursts as she blankly stared at the two displays, her body starting to shake. The implications of their blood being used by the people that killed them conjured horrible imagery, of her guildmates, brother and fellow AvenFae strung up, their blood drained to power some brute or for some dark ritual.

“Aeolia.” John’s voice cut through her morbid thoughts, drawing her attention from the displays to John’s worried face.

“I’m-” she started, but couldn’t bring herself to say fine. “I just… Give me a minute.”

She walked away, stopping several meters down the corridor and braced herself against the wall, eyes closed as she tried to calm her anguished mind.

Vivian eyed the displays then looked between Aeolia and John. “Some of these are from her guild, aren’t they?”

John nodded, pointing to the two names he knew. “Her guild leader and her brother.”

Vivian grimaced. “I can’t even imagine what that feels like.”

John let out a breath. “Every time we come here, something worse happens. First time, we found it ransacked, now this...”

He shook his head and regarded the redhead. “Any idea what any of this means?”

“No,” Vivian replied. “The homunculus idea doesn’t work, especially with this many distinct sources. And I don’t think a freshly made one would be functional enough given the time frame.”

“Maybe what we’ve been thinking of as the source of the blood is wrong,” John said thoughtfully.

“What do you mean?” Vivian asked.

“Well,” John mused, “either the blood came after Clay’s last minute or it was the attack that caused the crack.”

“The blood was the attack,” Vivian muttered, considering the possibility. “Like they used the blood as a weapon.”

Before John could answer, the rap of Aeolia’s talons signaled her return. She stopped a little ways away from them, and took a deep breath.

“So these guys are farming people,” she said, her voice flat and emotionless.

“Are you okay?” John and Vivian asked in sync, the pair exchanging a sidelong glance before returning their attention to their still distraught looking companion.

Aeolia opened her mouth to respond, but closed it and shook her head.

“No, I’m not fine,” she admitted, hollow eyes lingering on Clay before she trained them on John and Vivian. “But I can’t sit around until I am. So, ideas?”

“Right,” John said firmly, eyes shifting to the crack. “The first attack Clay took. I didn’t get a good look, since his perception of things was weird, but it looked like the woman drew and resheathed her sword. Like this.”

He mimed the action, doing his best to replicate the pink haired woman’s stance and movements. “And then Clay couldn’t move because of the damage. I think she launched a blade of blood.”

Vivian frowned, looking a little pale. “Hemomancy, using stolen blood. That’s concerning. Using your own blood is one thing, but killing others to fuel your power…”

“They’ve been at this for a while,” Aeolia interjected, pointing to the displays. “And I don’t think they’re going to stop, not after the way they went after you, John.”

“So what do we do about it?” John asked.

“I think I can rework this array to separate the outside’s imprint of things,” Vivian said. “That way we can try to track their movements, see if they gave away any clues.”

“How quick can you get it working?” Aeolia questioned the redhead, her tone impatient.

Vivian’s brow tightened in thought. “I should be able to whip it up in a few minutes. I’ve gotten a pretty good handle on John’s observation ability.”

“And it shouldn’t cause any feedback issues, right?”

“Nope,” Vivian replied confidently. “Will be perfectly safe.”

“Let’s move to where I tried to Observe the wall,” John said. “No point in setting up your thing out here and have to move it.”

An hour later, John blinked, finding himself staring at a wall behind Vivian’s array, not far from the entryway.

“Anything useful this time?” Aeolia asked.

“No, sorry,” John replied, stowing Senka as Vivian allowed the array to fall apart. “Just the mooks hauling stuff while the pink lady and the muscle supervised. No words.”

It had been much the same at the wall outside of the main room, and in some of the private rooms: conversations that were mostly orders and the removal or destruction of goods.

“Damnit,” Aeolia cursed. “This was the last place we could look and we got nothing.”

“Yeah, I know,” John said, a nagging thought causing him to frown. “It’s weird that the most recent thing is still those guys.”

“Maybe not,” Vivian said, fastoning the top of the bottle once all the dust was inside. “It’s possible that our actions haven’t caused as much of an impact. They were invaders, we’re not.”

John mulled that thought over, “Makes sense. My skill did specify it would replay significant events.”

“What do we do now?” Vivian asked as she stowed the dust.

“We weren’t the first they hit,” Aeolia responded, barely veiled anger in her voice, “and I doubt we’ll be the last. Maybe we can try to track down some groups they might target and team up.”

“What about that Order group?” John asked. “Couldn’t hurt to give them a heads up, right?”

The look both women gave him told John that neither of them thought that idea was a good one, though Vivian’s was far less harsh.

“Getting them involved isn’t as simple as knocking on their door and going, ‘Hi. We’ve got some info on a group going around, killing people and taking their blood to use as a weapon.’,” Aeolia tersely replied. “They’ll want to know how you know that, then they’ll find out about your abilities and they’ll want to tie you to them. And that’ll be it for being able to do what you want to do.”

“It’s not like I’ve got that last part locked down or anything,” John muttered.

“Being linked to a group as notable as the Order might seem like a good thing,” Vivian added. “But it means you have to carry their reputation with you. With some, that might make them more open to you, but others will be closed off. The Order’s close to one and a half thousand years old and that history can be as dangerous as any enemy.”

John considered that point and his allies' perspective for a moment before speaking, “Alright, no going to them. But I still think we should let them know. On the down low, you know.”

Aeolia looked to be about to object when Vivian spoke up, “That’s not a bad idea. If they manage to deal with them, that’s great. Even if they don’t get them, the pressure they can exert might make it easy for us to take them out without them seeing it coming.”

Vivian’s point seemed to cool Aeolia’s objection, though she still looked hesitant.

“How are you thinking of contacting them anyway?” Aeolia asked. “Can’t just go up to their mansion and slip a letter under their door.”

Vivian adopted a thoughtful look. “John, you said you went to Ashcroft Academy, yes?”

“Um, yeah. Why’s that important?” John responded, confused at the direction the conversation had taken.

“Because the current Warden of the branch here is a student there,” Vivian explained. “Or at least, that’s the information I was able to purchase. Info on high profile types can be expensive.”

“Wait, what!?” John exclaimed. “There’s someone like that at my school? The way you talked about the leaders of the Order, I thought they were older, not our age.”

“The Order technically is led by someone else in the Warden’s stead until they reach their full power,” Vivian recounted. “I don’t know her full name, but the info I could get did provide the family name. Does the name Brighton ring any bells?”

Immediately the image of a particular redhead upperclassman, stern with an undercurrent of caring, flashed into mind.

“Moira Brighton’s a part of all of this?” John breathed out in disbelief.

“Oh, you know her,” Vivian said.

“I mean ‘know’ might be a bit much,” John admitted, feeling awkward talking about one of his masturabtory fantasies in front of two women who gave him the time of day, one of which he had slept with, an event he wanted to experience again. “We don’t, um, move in the same circles.”

Before anyone could further comment, a popup manifested in front of John.

New Quest: Stealth Informant
Find a way to clue in the Order of the Golden Rose to the goings on without getting identified.
Reward: 1500 EXP, 1 rare item
Accept: Yes/No

“Well, guess that’s Gaia’s input on the situation,” John said, turning around so the girls could read the quest screen.

“Wait, Gaia?” Vivian asked, inspecting the display. “Your powers are directly linked to Gaia?”

“Oh, yeah,” John responded sheepishly, scratching his neck. “Guess I left that part out.”

“That,” Vivian muttered, “makes sense, actually. Fills in how you’re able to glean info so easily at least.”

“How exactly…” John began to ask before Aeolia cut him off.

“You two can geek out later,” she interjected, then let out a breath. “As much as I don’t want to get the Order involved, what you said makes sense. Plus, getting more stuff and levels can’t hurt. Take the quest.”

“Right,” John said, tapping yes and dismissing the screen. “Now we just have to figure out how to do this.”

“You said your school was closed for a few days, right?” Vivian asked.

“Yeah, we set off one of the sprinklers and glitched a camera with Hex,” John recounted, “They’re keeping the place closed until Thursday. Guess to make sure things are in working order.”

Vivian hummed, “Then we’ve got time to make a plan.”

“We can do that after we get some training done,” Aeolia said. “If we’re going to go ahead and take care of these bad guys ourselves, we need to get stronger. You two more than me, no offence.”

“Ah, yes,” Vivian muttered, her shoulders drooping a bit. “Can’t say I’m all that confident about that.”

“Just got to find a spot you’re good with,” Aeolia asserted, slightly smiling. “Like John said back at your place, you’ve got good agility. If you don’t want to get up close like I do, you can fight at distance and move to avoid getting attacked.”

Vivian frowned. “I suppose.”

“Hey,” John spoke, an idea coming to mind, “can you make traps with your arrays? Like landmines that’ll go off when an enemy gets too close?”

“That...” Vivian began to say before she pursed her lips in thought. “That might work. Simple bursts of magic shouldn’t be too hard to work, and maybe…”

She trailed off before nodding. “Right, I think I’ve some ideas. How are we going to proceed?”

“Well, we can do the woad Barrier again,” John answered. “I guess we’d just have to go somewhere with trees for that. Or we can try a different setting, see what enemies and loot we can get.”

“There was that dungeon option you had,” Aeolia pointed out. “We’ve got time for that now.”

“Maybe,” John said. “But I think going with the Illusion Barrier option is better for leveling. Dungeon strikes me more as loot based. And as much as getting a lot of gear would be great, levels are more important at the moment.”

“That still leaves us with the question of stick to the old Barrier or go with something new,” Aeolia remarked.

“Unless there was something you wanted to get from that Barrier, I think trying a new one would be worth our while,” Vivian chimed in. “See what we can get and if that setting works better for our goals.”

Aeolia smirked. “I thought you’d be more keen on us fighting the woads since me and John have experience there.”

Vivian returned her grin before adopting a more serious expression. “That might be the safe move, but things aren’t safe. Figuring out what sort of environment will present us with the best way forward is a better use of our time and energy.”

“As good a reason as any,” Aeolia said.

“So any ideas where we should go?” John asked.

“I want to swing back to my place,” Vivian replied. “Just for a minute to pick up some fresh Dust. And maybe a change of clothing. Then, maybe we can try setting a Barrier somewhere close by. See what an urban setting can give us?”

John nodded, “Let’s go moving then.”

Vivian’s foray to collect more Shine Dust and change into more combat sensible jeans and tank top didn’t take long and soon she parked her car in the parking lot of a grocery store around a ten minute drive from her office.

“I’m going to guess you’ve got an idea where we’re going to set things up, yeah?” John asked as he slipped his bag on his shoulder, Aeolia once again tucked inside.

“Yes,” Vivian said. “There is a place up the road. A nice and quiet side street. Should be perfect for us.”

John nodded and followed her lead. Before long, she turned off the main road and down what he assumed was their destination, a worn street with rundown buildings and no one in sight.

“Okay, this is it,” Vivian announced, prompting Aeolia to pop her head out of the bag.

“Kind of a dump,” she let her impression fly without preamble.

“Kind of the point,” Vivian retorted. “Nobody’s around. Safe to pop in and out.”

“Fair point,” Aeolia admitted, pulling herself completely free and flying up to John’s shoulder. “Time to go in, right?”

“Yep,” John replied, first pulling Aeolia’s glaive out and handing it to her. “One Instant Barrier coming up.”