The District of Columbia

[Hibiki]

Nika

The vampire gave an audible sigh, shaking her head at the beliefs and stereotypes the duo believed into. Also the succubus was taking the issue with that part (even if it was untrue)? Talk about double standards. Clearly happy about idea of getting the vampire addicted, but not content when it happened to people she was interested in. But since they broached the topic, maybe this was an occassion to correct such beliefs.

"Really, do you assume that everything works the same about every vampire you run into? We're more different from each other than people think once you know more about them. No, you won't be turned into anything. That takes much more than just feeding on people. And no, I'm not here out for your blood, capisce?"

She tried her best to end that topic and talk about something she actually was in mood for rambling about.

"I'm just here to gawk at the guns." She sighed again. "Do you have any favorite model? I like Colt M1911, if you heard about that one here."

[yinsukin]

Suerte

"Oh.... ok," Suerte said, to both girls really. Although she couldn't stop smiling at the caring remarks Lily gave.  It was nice to know she was still herself but... hotter?  "Well, I hate to be a basic bitch, but I like all the guns.  My hobby is enchanting guns, so its easy to appreciate each model.  Each weapon has something special about it, something that can be easily enhanced with magic to make it better than before and way more fun to use!"

Suerte glanced at Lily, silently urging her to let the girl lead them down this conversation thread.  The vampire girl was awfully defensive about the whole thing and she didn't really want to upset her for no reason.

[Umbra of Chaos]

Balius
Nexus Time 8:30PM

It had taken longer than necessary for him to arrive at the beating heart of the district. His slow pace was perhaps unwarranted given the situation, but little drove him to hasty action these days. He was always... careful. Perhaps too careful than necessary given his plans of torpor.

The mountain that the goddess of this place had claimed as her own stood as a monument, the foundation of this entire land. He could feel the building before he entered. The pulse of his own heart echoed throughout its reinforced chambers, capable of holding itself together even under a sustained barrage of artillery. In return, he received the rights and benefits of a citizen of high standing. Reciprocation was the nature of this place. Columbia required faith, was shaped by it, and so this monument was held up by countless hands who in turn affirmed its form. But people were fickle, in the end. And consequently so was this goddess.

He nodded his head at the attendant who stood by the door, looming over them simply from the difference in height. "Good evening. I seek an appointment with the goddess tonight."

[SINIB]

Mary

The young blond reached up to offer him a hand-he would recognize her as the personal maiden of the goddess herself. She'd risen slowly through the ranks and often served as Columbia's voice to outsiders, even merging completely with the goddess at times.

If she was here, it meant that Columbia was treating his arrival with the utmost seriousness and providing him the greatest of respect. "The goddess has received word of your awakening, Lord Balius. Please, allow me to lead you to her sanctum." Her eyes flashed with the trademark golden gleam of the goddess. "We have much to discuss, and even more prying ears searching for my goddess's thoughts."

[Umbra of Chaos]

Balius

Lord Balius? Hah. Such titles were so infrequent in this age that the words themselves sounded almost foreign to him. It was nostalgic, almost. But he did not miss it either. Instead he simply raised his own hand at the offered one, a polite but firm rejection before it descended back to his side. "Just Balius is fine, child. We are all citizens here, are we not? But you are correct. There are certainly those besides Columbia who have an ear to the conversations within this district today."

[SINIB]

Balius

Lord Balius? Hah. Such titles were so infrequent in this age that the words themselves sounded almost foreign to him. It was nostalgic, almost. But he did not miss it either. Instead he simply raised his own hand at the offered one, a polite but firm rejection before it descended back to his side. "Just Balius is fine, child. We are all citizens here, are we not? But you are correct. There are certainly those besides Columbia who have an ear to the conversations within this district today."

Mary

Mary didn't let her displeasure at having her handshake scorned show. The elder vampire had always had his quirks, and Columbia trusted his advice as unclouded by dogma. That was enough for her. She turned around and lead him up the stairs, through the winding hallways, and past the numerous checkpoints at a brisk pace. "Indeed." She simply replied. The two didn't speak any further until they'd found their way up deep within the mountain, inside the goddess's personal abode. The walls glistened with golden decorations, and Mary turned to face him.

Suddenly, her eyes flashed golden, and she performed a brief curtsey. "It is good to see that you are awake, my friend." She intoned with Columbia's own affect. "Much has happened since we last talked."

[Umbra of Chaos]

Balius

"Believe me, there was no so surprised as I. My plans had been for undisturbed sleep for a few years more, and instead I wake only a few into my rest to the murmurs of violence... and possibly war." If he was uncomfortable with how the goddess asserted herself over the girl, he did not show it. One might fear such a thing as an erasure of self, but he did not believe it to be so. If the goddess was water, then these particular followers were similar to vessels. But a cup filled with water did not cease to be a cup. It was the water which conformed to the container.

"It would be unfortunate if such a thing were to take place. War wounds the mind as much as it does the body, if not more so, and the atmosphere to sustain an undertaking takes it toll on the people as well. More warlike aspects of yourself being created or reborn is as concerning as the conflict itself."

[Bern]

Lily

Blink.

"Why don't you two gals go to a gun shop or something instead of standing here in the middle of the street like some weirdos..." Lily sighed and shrugged, there was something that really bothered her with Suerte's statement though and she wasn't about to let that rest.

"You say you adore all guns, but I've never seen you use anything but pistols. Why don't you get a shotgun or something? That'll be way more useful when someone gets close." There's a reason pistols were classified as sidearms, because they were usually not your main armament unless you were only ever planning on going for short range duels with things your own size. And that wasn't a luxury you had in this city, not in the line of work Suerte was in.

Maybe her world was filled with a bunch of weaklings, and that's why she limited herself?

[SINIB]

Balius

"Believe me, there was no so surprised as I. My plans had been for undisturbed sleep for a few years more, and instead I wake only a few into my rest to the murmurs of violence... and possibly war." If he was uncomfortable with how the goddess asserted herself over the girl, he did not show it. One might fear such a thing as an erasure of self, but he did not believe it to be so. If the goddess was water, then these particular followers were similar to vessels. But a cup filled with water did not cease to be a cup. It was the water which conformed to the container.

"It would be unfortunate if such a thing were to take place. War wounds the mind as much as it does the body, if not more so, and the atmosphere to sustain an undertaking takes it toll on the people as well. More warlike aspects of yourself being created or reborn is as concerning as the conflict itself."

Mary/Columbia

The goddess sat down in the air and crossed her legs over each other. "Yes, war is likely coming." Her brow was furrowed and her eyes gleamed with a determined glare. "Violence against my people, possibily instigated by a faction within the legislature... The attack was rather convenient, and yet, I have not been able to find any evidence within the thoughts of my people. I ask you, Balius, what are your thoughts?"

[Umbra of Chaos]

Balius

"Hm. You rely too much on your divinity in these matters." His voice was stern but not patronizing, an expression bluntness rather than outright blame. "There are those among your number who can hide their thoughts from you, even if they do worship earnestly. For others, belief is a multifaceted phenomenon. Even as they pay homage to you and act earnestly in your interest, their actions may betray you nevertheless. And for more clandestine figures the Nexus is vast. There are undoubtedly ways to avoid your awareness as it spreads out over the populace."

The vampire shut his eyes and let out a small huff. "Hastiness may suit you, but it is rarely wise. Your actions have greater consequences than any ordinary ruler. In any case, this was no decisive opening strike. There has been no effective follow up or weakness instigated by these actions. They have yet to even bloody your nose. An escalation of conflict in the military's mobilization is decidedly unwise."

[Hibiki]

Nika

"As long as those gawkers don't follow us into the shop. Damn it, we're not a circus or some street performance." Nika scratched her temple in annoyance, but was aware they wouldn't just go away without an incentive to do so. She didn't mean violence. Just giving them a look that she doesn't want company usually worked wonders, as weird as it sounded.

"You people are annoying as hell." She started staring at the crowd with an unimpressed look. "Just scram and don't get into our way."

And then, as she addressed the crowd with unbridled annoyance, some people at least started backing down and walking away, with a hint of fear on their faces as if they ran into some wild predator rather than a person. The aura that the vampire exuded that usually attracted positive attention from the masses pretty much changed and turned outward to intimidate the crowd into going away. They'd probably rationalize that encounter as people with weaker wills were prone to, so she didn't feel too bothered about this biting her back in the future.

[SINIB]

Columbia

'Cla-" Columbia clicked her tongue. "Of course, I'm aware of that. The people whom I cannot delve deeply into are under suspicion-especially those whom have been clamoring for war. This attack was simply too convenient for their cause to simply be a coincidence. However..." Columbia waved her hand, and a holographic map of the Nexus appeared between them. "It may be more beneficial to drive their ambitions towards tasks more conducive towards the health of our republic than to purge them from our ranks. I have no interest in prosecuting a war against the Halloweeners, however..."

She tapped on the breakaway states ruled by rouge versions of herself, highlighting Alaba and Jiral. "Their callous disregard for basic human liberties is bad enough-worse, I can feel their fell influence creeping into my mantel, slowly but surely." Her eyes gleamed with righteous fury.

[yinsukin]

Suerte

Suerte's body jumped up, sensing the palpable tension.  Her soft hands wrapped around the new girl's shoulders, and she gently motioned for her to move inside.  All the while, she turned to Lily and giggled.  "Its true," she said, her voice bubbly despite the tense situation.  "I had a whole armory back where I am from, but I came here with nothing but what I was equipped with at the time, my twin pistols and a sniper rifle.  Although, truth be told, haven't needed anything more powerful for a while.  There were people stronger than me in my old world, but I either already killed or they are already allied with me.  Now that I have settled down, I was thinking about what I should rebuild the armory with."

Suerte's thoughts wandered to Vanilla and the woman leading the stripclub.  She wished she saw more of what she could do.  Then she could prepare for people like that with some good old fashioned gunsmithing.

[Bern]

Lily

"That reminds me.... I got some business to take care off and my new boss is prooobably gonna be real mad if I procrastinate any longer.... Sooo.. See ya later Suerte..." More like she didn't wanna spend time in some dumb shop with two absolute gun nuts, guns were so cheap anyways, no sense of style, no real carnal satisfaction.... But yeah that other thing worked as an excuse.

Then she flipped around and dashed towards the gunslinger. The readhead was holding some sort of card and she nimbly stuffed it into Suerte's cleavage. " My number.. Heh so big ones are useful for something... See ya for realsies" Then the redhead turned and left, heading towards where that troublemaker was supposed to be.

[Hibiki]

Nika

And there she went. The vampire felt less on guard the moment the succubus left her vision, not on such edge anymore now that someone who could potentially burn her wasn't so close. She couldn't help but feel relieved, those survival insticts were so ingrained deeply in her that she almost breathed out a sigh of relief. But not wanting to give a rude impression, she didn't make a show of that.

Her attention was now preoccupied with the gunslinger girl and the shop they were in. She did talk vaguely about some people she killed in the past, so she wondered what she was doing back where she came from.

"A bounty hunter? Or a merc? What was your job back where you lived?" She starting 'drilling' her a bit about that. If they could question her about her vampirism, she had a right to poke about Suerte's past. "Just curious, I'm not one to judge you about. I was with an army for a chunk of this century or so. Even if I don't look the part at all."

Maybe if she was in her uniform. But she kept it in her apartment rather than walk around in it.