Vestigial Self [Closed - Miharu]

Seeing how Liseran moved away to gear up after her spat, Kassandra merely relaxed on the chair, closing her eye as if she was falling asleep. To be quite honest, she didn't expect to spend her day like this, helping some random girl which happened to have a similar problem. No, her problem was worse. While Trebax was still a danger, he was still bound to her by the contract, this Mephisto-whoever was free to roam the world, putting Liseran's mysterious friend in constant danger. She did wonder how they were able to keep themselves safe, but the quicker they can deal with this Incantus, the better.

Her quiet respite was interrupted however, when even under the darkness of her closed eyelid, she noticed a faint glow to her side, making her open it to see what was happening. Some sort of magic recharge? Whichever it was, Liseran mentioned that it would take a moment, and even offered Kassandra something to eat. Staring at the food in front of her, she gave it a suspicious and tentative look, before deciding that maybe a bit of food won't stop her.

Cutting slices of bread, cheese and sausage to make impromptu mini-sandwiches, she turned to Liseran as she asked about her skills. "I am proficient with my sword, trained ever since my childhood." She said, before the shade of Trebax appeared right behind her, observing at Liseran with am insufferable look. "And I am a master of fire. Everything I fight turns to ashes." He said, before she turned to him, looking rather irritated. "This does not concern you beast. Retreat."

"I'm afraid this does concern him a little," Liseran said. "He seemed to manage pretty well against Mephis earlier. He'll be good arsenal later on, too. As for Mephis, he's a Light-based Incantus, so fire should work better than if he were water-based."

As she finished charging her bells and placing them in a satchel, she smiled at Kassandra.

"A swordsman, I see," she said. "I'm afraid I was never that proficient at swords myself. In terms of magic, my expertise would probably be force at best, though I can cast standard elemental magic, too."

Liseran moved over the table and helped herself to a piece of grape, plopping it delicately into her mouth.

"I guess we should go," she said. "Do you have any more questions before we head out? Or maybe you want to bring other arsenal just in case?"

"The light of my flames will consume his form." Trebax proudly declared, as he moved his head upwards to let out a flame pop out of his snout, earning Kassandra another eye roll. "He was a shapeshifter you beast, you will have a hard time too." Was bickering between Incantus and Contractee normal? Kassandra wasn't sure, but she didn't care, as the sooner she can get rid of him, the better.

"Magic is nothing I ever tried, outside of whenever this fiend decides to show off." She said grumpily, as Trebax merely retreated back into her cloak, a small chuckle coming from him as he disappeared from the conversation. "Nevertheless, we will have a bigger chance to confront your Incantus with more firepower." Pun not intended, of course. And then, Liseran asked if she had any other curiosities before leaving, of which Kassandra had one. "My equipment is good, but I do have one question. Do you have a way to capture him? I would assume you have Expiation magic in your repertoire to do so, no?"

"I see," Liseran said as Kassandra discussed her skills. "You're right. Having an Incantus by our side would benefit us. As for me..."

Kassandra had asked her if she knew Expiate magic, to which Liseran hesitantly said yes.

"Err, yes, a bit," she said. "I never formally learned, but I tried to do the reading myself and trained with my brother. As for a plan to catch him..."

Liseran pulled out something from her satchel. It was a blue collar with a silver bell attached to it. Kassandra would see the faint glow of Cartic marks.

"I plan to bind him with this," she said. "If you can help distract and weaken him enough, I should be able to perform a binding ritual and get him to a weaker form that will stay subservient in this. I'm not much of an attacker, so I failed last time. The first time we did this, we also had no trouble because I wasn't alone. Is this a good enough plan for you?"

Kassandra blinked in unamusement at Liseran vouching for Trebax, even if she knew his pride would probably get in the way during the battle. Better him than her, at least. And then, she confirmed that she indeed possessed Expiation magic in her arsenal. "Well, that's better than nothing, you just make sure it doesn't fail at the last moment." At least that meant that, should Liseran turn traitor, her magic is only 50% likely to fail. Possibly.

And as a plan to bind him, Liseran showed her a collar with a bell, followed by a plan that could perhaps get them to apprehend the creature. "Distract him, weaken him, and then bind him. Sounds reasonable enough." She said, scratching her chin. "For this to be more effective, we might need to find a way to surprise him, or at least drag him out without him realizing its us. Do you have any idea on how to do it? Or will it be just a simple cat-and-mouse venture in searching for him?"

Liseran's face flushed and her cheeks puffed when Kassandra scolded her about making sure not to fail.

"I-I won't!" she said pouting. "B-but it's not as easy as you'd think it is!"

Kassandra asked how they were going to find the Incantus, at which Liseran opened her hands and parted them in the air.

"We'll try and track him," she said as she led Kassandra out.

Kassandra would notice that several Cartic marks whir in the air between Liseran's hands before becoming a blue diamond of light that pulsed brightly.

"This detects Cantic activity," she said. "It's what Expiate officers use to track possible Cantus or Strays in the area. That said..."

Liseran would face Kassandra. The diamond would start whirring and sparking along with its blinking lights.

"I'll have to make sure that I don't let your energy interfere."

She would cast several new marks, each of which looked quite different from regular marks. They would go around Kassandra and orbit around her in a very transparent light blue.

"There. This should keep officers from reading you for a while too," she said as they walked out the Haven. "I'm picking up another signal up north. He might be there."

She'd put her hood back up and the two would move back into the night. They would walk a bit before the silence got to Liseran and she flushed.

"So...are you from Aldmerrow? Or are you here on business?" she asked trying to make light conversation.

Unmoved by Liseran's flustered expression, Kassandra heard the option she had to find Mephisto: Tracking him. The Cartic woman would give her another demonstration of her expertise by summoning what appeared to be a blue diamond on her hard, something which Kassandra couldn't help but feel was... familiar, for some strange reason.

Shrugging it off, Kassandra opened her mouth to mention the fact she, as a Walpurgis, would affect the function of the diamond, but the sudden sparking would confirm her suspicious. "Quite true, I was just about to mention that. Do you need something from me to..." She said, already starting to unequip one of her gauntlets, when suddenly Liseran began casting a spell that made artifacts fly around her, stopping Kassandra in her tracks. "... Huh, useful." She muttered, putting her gauntlet back on, and tightening it.

Already detecting a signal, Kassandra went ahead and followed Liseran to the door, keeping an eye to everything outside, before arranging her cloak to cover her as well. This would be the moment where Liseran would realize that Kassandra was practically a ghost; her presence was felt, but her silence was palpitate to the point one would feel easily spooked by it. In an attempt to break the silence, Liseran asked about her origins, which made Kassandra turn to her, giving the girl a hard stare inadvertently, before replying. "I'm from Eisleyn. And business is one way of putting it."

"I see," Liseran remarked. "I'm sure you must have heard this a thousand times, but I'm sorry to hear about how rough things are in Eisleyn at the moment."

Liseran's main concerns had much to do with Saoirse, if she were honest, as Saoirse was responsible for all pressure on Walpurgis, but she still hoped one day La Magie would be able to help Eisleyn. Perhaps if they could topple Saoirse, they could topple Eisleyn too? But that was distant thinking. She had to focus on the present.

"Anyways, the signal is up ahead."

The two would start moving, Liseran leading them as they stuck to the shadows and dodged any other Expiate members that crossed their path. They'd eventually make their way away from the houses and into the more desolate forest area. Almost instantly, the air got colder and Liseran clutched her cloak closer to her.

"The sudden change in temperature is suspicious," she remarked. "Be on your guard."

The signal began to grew stronger, but was still quite a distance away.

As the two walked, Kassandra would sense something watching her. If she turned around, she would notice something dash into the bushes and into the left of the forest.

"I am not in tune with the worldly affairs of Eisleyn. I used to live in a remote town when I was younger, and I have not set foot on the region in recent times. Your plea of sympathy is lost on me." She stated, doing a shrug at Liseran's words. Sure, she may or may not have heard some stray comments here and there, but not enough to formulate a clear idea of what was happening, but she didn't also appear to be in a rush to know. All she knew was that she would one day remove her Incantus, and then move to Lamiden and spend the rest of her days in peace. It felt like a distant dream, but she was taught to never give up, and she had enough incentive to not do so.

Of course, they had a task at the moment, and Kassandra was aiming to fulfill it. Their walk wasn't free of peril, as they had to avoid stray officers that got in the way, but their walking eventually lead them to the outskirts the refuge, the air getting a bit colder than normal, although not one she couldn't handle. She nodded at Liseran mentioning this wasn't normal, as her hand went towards the handle of her sword under her cloak. And despite her missing one eye, her sight still remained sharp, as something began moving behind them, something she could only catch from the corner of her eye.

Turning to a side, whatever she saw moved towards the bushes, making her furrow her brow in frustration. "... Careful, we don't appear to be alone." She told Liseran, her sight looking around to see if she could catch something else.

When Kassandra gave Liseran her warning, the latter looked around warily. The pulse was getting stronger, but it wasn't indicating they were close to Mephistopheles just yet.

The two would hear yet another rustle, this time coming from the trees in front of them. Liseran's free hand reached for her bell, ready for a fight.

Out of nowhere, fog started to form around them. They'd hear a small chuckle.

"Oh, my, my, what do we have here late at night?" an amused, raspy voice said.

It came from up ahead. There was a rather tall set of rocks, and on top of one of the rocks, a slender silhouette. The two would see a pair of glowing red eyes, the light from them just cutting through the fog and aiming right at them.

"Care to tell me what you two are doing in my part of the woods, hm~?" the voice asked.