"Well, your mother is a very classy lass. Fun to tease and takes herself a bit too seriously, but that's part of her charm. Your da on the other hand is the sort of person I can't stand," Lancer said as he opened up a drawer and pulled out a take-out pizza menu.
Then grinned and said, "Thanks. So, I'm a fan of the Carnivore and the Brick-A-Toilet pizzas."
Ryoko tilted her head. "Even after hearing dad talking about it, I'm not sure why you guys go at each other so much. Though that's probably personal bias clouding my perception. I'm fond of my old man, and I'm getting a good first impression of you, so I guess when it's two people you like, it's harder to see why they hate each other."
She then grinned right back at him. "Hey, no problem. Just being honest. And I'm liking the sound of the Carnivore already. Must be a deluxe Meat Lover's pizza or som-"
"Fine, if you guys don't want my help then I'll go where I am wanted!"
Ryoko turned towards the sound of the voice and saw Kiyoshi begin to storm off.
Well, crap. ...How the hell did I not hear him though? The Celt raised his eyebrows and shook his head, saying, "What in the name of Brigid's splendid tits is wrong with him?"
Ryoko sighed. "I think everyone forgot about him once the sentient mudball tried to get the last word in. I don't remember hearing him, no one else must have heard him either. So now he's upset about being ignored." She sighed again. "I'll be right back, I'm going to go talk to him. It shouldn't take long."
She ran over to the boy's side and gently put her hand on his shoulder. "Hey kiddo, what's wrong?" While she already knew part of the cause, asking him never hurt.
***
"Yeah, I'm bloody fantastic," Forest said shaking her head, "All that I've done and those that I've helped, I have nothing to show for it, and don't go on about the gratitude of others. That's not why I do this. Besides, if I needed help, I found out a long time ago that it's not coming."
"I can see why you'd be depressed and frustrated by that. Though there's always the knowledge that you
did save those people, even if they don't show their gratitude a lot of the time. It ain't much, but..." Finn shook his head. "Eh, you probably don't want to hear me goin' on about what's important. In the scheme of things, I've had a pretty good life, all things considered. You, and sis... you guys've had it rough. So it probably ain't right to tell ya what to be happy for. I can tell ya this with no regrets, though."
The look in his eyes was earnest, sincere. "I know that compared to a lotta of the people here I can't really do much, but... I'm here. I'm here as a friend if you need one. That much I
can offer ya. I wanna try and help people feel as happy as I've felt for most of my life. That includes you." He blushed, a sheepish grin on his face. "I know this all probably sounds kinda corny and all, and it probably ain't much, but... the offer's always there, if you ever need it."
***
"Good," Archer said, nibbling on her throat as he applied more pressure. "Now that I've finally found you, I'm not letting you go again."
Something akin to a small alarm bell went off in Rin's consciousness. She almost began to ponder it, but his love bites on her neck and the increased pressure on her womanhood made those doubts and wonderings slip away into the ether. There was a soft moan as she once again lost herself to the pleasure.
***
The presence that had left enough of a void that Tom could almost track it seemed to vanish. All was left of it was now in the direction of the castle. Still, his curiosity remained, and he continued to head in that direction. Once he thought himself close enough, Tom began to concentrate deeply. He opened up his thoughts like a net and cast it in the direction of a certain brick apartment complex. It was honestly a bit of a strain on him to do this, and sorting through the many thoughts was often troublesome, but he needed to know. The presence could be a danger to him.
From what he was reading, the presence hadn't caused any harm. From what he could tell, it seemed somewhat weak. But that information he had already dismissed. No, now his interests had shifted to two separate things. One was the entity's identity, Angra Manyu. The other was the thoughts of a girl, one that seemed bound and determined to hide the fact that she was still somewhat weakened.
So, we meet again... Though how you managed to nearly get yourself corrupted again
so soon after the last time is somewhat baffling to me. His thoughts wandered back to only a few days prior...
~~~~
Tom noticed several things about the situation unfolding in front of him. First, this was even further evidence that werewolf attacks had increased in such a short time, not even that terribly long after he had somehow wound up in the City. Second, the girl fighting off the lupine monster didn't seem to be in the best condition- she was pale and sweaty, and from what he could tell, it wasn't the result of battling the massive beast in front of her. And finally, that as it currently was, the girl was in way over her head.
Normally, he wouldn't concern himself too much- things like this occurred every day in this City, and despite his impressive level of power, even he couldn't stop all of it. Plus they were human. While he didn't despise them, he didn't exactly look upon them with a particular fondness either. But the girl had caught his interest. From skimming her mind, her apparent magical abilities were very suited to combat, but little else. This frustrated her, as it made her feel like little more than a living weapon at times. That was a feeling he could understand all too well.
Plus he was interested in finding out how this "jewel magic" worked. He wasn't aware that shiny pieces of pressurized rock could have a power all their own. And there was something about being corrupted by some sort of dark force? In any case, he had too many questions that he wished her to answer, and he could not glean those answers, whether via just ripping them from her head or just simply hearing them from her own lips, if the girl was
dead.
He jumped down from the roof he had been standing on, focusing his telekinesis on a dumpster mid-jump. He tossed it at the huge canine like a child would toss a toy block, and the beast was sent reeling back by the force of the giant metal container being slammed against it.
The girl acknowledged his rescue with a glare, still in some form of martial arts stance. "I was doing fine."
"The pale pallor your skin seems to have acquired informs me otherwise." He smirked. "Besides, you were just concerned about wasting those gems of yours, were you not? I'm saving you resources."
The girl blinked. "How did you... Hey, stay out of my head, you creep!" Her indignant outburst was cut short by a chilling roar. The wolf was glaring at the pair, its massive jaws slavering in anticipation. The girl turned back to Tom. "Yelling at you for invading my mental privacy can wait." She somehow managed to launch herself at the monster at inhuman speed. She jumped up mid-rush and attacked with a flip kick, the beast's jaw cracking with an audible crack. She landed gracefully on one knee.
Tom frowned. Her feat was impressive, yes, but she was visibly tiring. For all the werewolf's size, it was still fast. Even though the girl somehow had supernatural strength and speed, even if her supposedly powerful jewel magic would be able to defeat the monster with a single blow, if she became tired enough, her reflexes would be insufficient to attack the creature in time before it clawed her to shreds.
So Tom took matters into his own hands. He focused on the creature's neck. There was a loud snap, followed by the werewolf collapsing on the ground akin to a puppeteer releasing their puppet's strings.
The girl stared at the felled beast. "Well... that was... efficient." She turned back towards him. "However, it's not nice to kill steal. Like I said, I had it."
He kneeled down beside her. "Then why are you still kneeling? Perhaps you have the strength to slay the creature on your own in peak condition, but as you are now, you were in no condition to win. You would have been killed, and quite brutally at that."
"I guess you're right." Something in her eyes told him she didn't actually believe that. "But..." She looked up at him. "Thanks anyway. Looks like I owe you one."
"I hardly did it for your benefit alone. Some of your thoughts intrigued me, and I could not get the answers if you were nothing more than a shredded corpse."
"Figures... you could at least ask me my name, you know."
Tom rolled his eyes. "Very well then.... what is your name?"
"It's Ryoko. Feel special, you're one of the few people that's going to know me by my real name for a good while."
"I hardly feel special for knowing information I could simply glean from investigating your thoughts. I suppose I should appreciate the gesture none the less." He offered Ryoko his hand. He could have helped her by more psychic means, but doing such a thing would possibly blow his cover, and at this juncture he did not want to risk that. Plus the girl didn't seem particularly fond of him thus far. He hoped this gesture would renew some of her trust. "So then, before we leave this forsaken alleyway, I would like to ask a question. From what I gathered from your mind, it was not normal means by which you were weakened so. What was the cause? I gleaned it was some sort of "evil" entity, but I didn't have the time to find out much more before I had to intervene."
She looked at the hand with suspicion before taking it. She then looked up at him, a dry smile gracing her lips. "Hmph. I guess I owe you that much. You did save my life, after all." Tom pulled her up, but Ryoko was uneasy on her feet. To his own surprise, he instinctively wrapped an arm around her shoulders to keep her from falling over.
Ryoko swore under her breath. "Damnit, I shouldn't be this weakened..." She smirked. "Huh, from that unpleasant attitude of yours, I never thought you could be so romantic."
"I hardly see how this is romantic. Do you mind answering my question? As much as your current bout of weakness is bothering you, I would like an answer."
"Aren't we considerate?" Ryoko's expression then became grim. "And well... no, I'm not normally this weak. I can't afford to be this weak. I'm responsible for protecting an entire city from the supernatural, I have to be strong enough to carry out my duty." She squeezed her eyes shut. "My dad... well, once upon a time, there was a girl who became consumed by evil itself, and took my father as one of her victims. He became corrupted, tainted. A small part of that taint he passed on to me." Anger and bitterness began to resonate in her voice, becoming lower and quieter. "That thing... that thing that made me so powerless and helpless and has caused my family so much pain is Angra Manyu."
