[PP-PT-F10] Nine Lives on the Tenth Floor | <<Feeding Your Enemy>>

[Morningstar 0]

A man told him not to trust the traveling gypsy. "She'll steal your soul," he said, before guzzling down whatever vile poison the bartender had on tap. Morningstar didn't believe in souls, and he didn't listen to drunkards. But Warden told him something similar, and he trusted Warden. 

"She'll hold you to your debts. Don't deal with her and expect to leave scot-free."

Morningstar never asked what sort of favor she had called in, but only because Warden never offered to tell. He was the quiet type; it was difficult to get anything out of him. He wasn't one for small talk and he didn't overshare. He was mysterious, and Morningstar found that exciting.

Enough about Warden.

The gypsy leaned over the cloth-draped table and placed a small sack in Morningstar's palm. She folded his hands over it with cold fingers. It was heavier than it looked, and filled with seeds he did not recognize. He pulled one from the sack and brough it close to his eyes. "What are these?"

"Familiar food," she said vaguely. Morningstar didn't pry.

"How much col for the bag?"

She snickered. "Col? No, no. Bring back whatever food is left over. No cost for you--not today."

Star tightened the ropes on the sack and pocketed it. He squinted at her, observing her expression. Her lips curled into a sly smirk. Her eyebrows were raised just a little. Her cat-like eyes watched him with amusement.

He left the tent unnerved and peered out into Yomi. The change in setting didn't exactly comfort him. From where he was, he could see the twin dragons looming over the city's gates. One spewed scalding acid from its throat. Something was trying to get in. Something was always trying to get in.

The cherry blossoms were the prettiest part of Yomi. They bloomed year round, unlike their real life counterparts. Aside from them, it was a dead town. There were players and NPCS around--there must have been. But silent streets made him wonder if maybe they had all gone someplace else. Someplace warmer.

He passed quiet shops and quiet inns as he made his way through Yomi, glancing around suspiciously.

stats here tmrw

[Arabelle 0]

happy young men have perished at her shores.

(not her fault! she swears, her pets are normally friendly!)

and too many deaths draws unwanted eyes, see. foolhardy adventurers eager to triumph over disaster or evil.

(and on the days where the guilt doesn’t eat her back, she doesn’t really see herself as a disaster or an evil. believe her, she’s trying to save everyone the effort.)

so when trouble comes stumbling into town the play is peaceful misdirection. morningstar, as nostalgic as his face is, is capital ‘s’ on the trouble scale all by himself and capital ‘s++’ accounting for the attention he can draw unto himself. she spots him emerge from some other part of town as she has just taken a seat, invisible, at a broken picnic table with a half-braided rope of straw on her lap. she puts it away and she thinks of how perverse it feels to watch him where he cannot look back at her when she has done the same for years since she saw her first stephen star movie at the theaters.

she’s never seen any of his horror films though. preachers say those were gateways to possession. 

how would he look scared? 

she kind of wants to know.

she makes no sound as she follows. she keeps herself seven steps away from him, cautious unnecessary distance, where something feels wrong, eyes are at your back and you are being followed, but with every point of her build reinvested into stealth, cardinal would pull out all the stops to keep her concealed even if he looks directly back at her. she circles him, kicks up the dust at her foot as an open taunt, and moves in as close as she dares.

up on her tiptoes, her lips beside his ear.

“boo.”

---

-> ENTERING STEALTH: 245615: LD 7 + 74 = 81.

it's your favorite magical girl! ♡

Spoiler LEVEL 51 (BASE 34; PARAGON 17): HP: 740/740 | EN: 92/92 | DMG: 1 | STEALTH: 74 Investing a total of 185 SP into 37 slots of Shadow-Walking.

Edited 4 hours ago by Arabelle