"Don't lift things by bending forward, you fool! Knees and hips, bent! Straighten legs and lift!" Nox cheered for the elf clerks moving boxes of paperwork away from the Angel Wing of the Council offices. "Believe me, I understand that the Council is known to saddle clerks with back-breaking work but please, don't do it for them!" she laughed hysterically, bracing herself against a column. Nox smacked her lips together, feeling parched all of a sudden, "Ugh, Goddess, they should make some kind of apparatus that delivers refreshments to you, like some kind of stationary brewery but without the brewi-..." she sank into deep thought as she herself sank into a bench seat.[break][break]
"Please refrain from drawing on the floor tiles. They are rather costly." said the angel passing by. Nox looked up from the half-finished cooling system and blew a raspberry. With care, she picked up all the little pieces of red chalk and let them vanish in one of the many pouches attached to her overcoat. Back on the bench, she studied her handiwork.[break][break]
"Hmmhmmhmmhmm... Now that is ideal, baby." The elf wiped away the last of the chalk from the floor and returned to looking at the blueprint she'd copied over to paper.[break][break]
Nox crossed her legs and folded the paper away. Tapping her fingers on every surface within reach, she gave up sitting and reclined on the bench instead. Boredom yet defeated, she looked at her blueprint again. Containing a faerie in a small chamber to harness their magick for the purpose of keeping canned beverages cold was not efficient but she'd be damned if she were to receive a lukewarm fizzy drink. Ice-cold, baby, ice-cold![break][break]
"You'll be seen now." called an attendant from inside. Nox rolled off the bench and dusted herself off before trying to peer through the frosted glass of the door. "Please, come in. Turn the door handle to ope-" they suggested. "I know how to open your doors, trust me. Thank you. Took you all long enough." snapped Nox. She threw her overcoat on a coat rack, which proceeded to bend slightly under the weight. "Miss, please, wait, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to cover up. Or put your coat back on." they coughed. Nox lifted her hands in the air. "Ridiculous! Ridiculous, aren't you all supposed to be angels? Free from mortal and earthly desires!" The elf smiled vindictively and leaned on the reception counter. A cough came from inside a corner office.[break][break]
Nox sneered and threw her overcoat back on before approaching that office. Laying a half-knock on the door, the elf threw open the door and greeted the inhabitant.[break][break]
"Denji, babe, how are you? Not like you to leave a girl waiting! Especially after she's been in the box for like a century!" Her eyes and smile gleamed as she kicked her feet up on the desk.
[attr="class","textie"]After his final meeting for the day, or so he thought, Denji sighed, aggressively searching around his pockets for a flask. "Dammit, I am sick of these witch sighting reports..." he pulled on his eyelids lightly before taking a swig from his flask. He was used to this level of busywork, but since his boss had retired, his organization had become...lackluster. Papers flew around the room and it was becoming difficult to even walk in. Ah well, at least he had finally arranged a nice stack of papers on his desk --[break][break] Well, not anymore anyway. Nox's feet quickly erased his progress as he audibly sighed again before greeting his guest, "Well hey there, Nox. I see you dressed to impress today. As usual," he mused as he let loose a little smile at her entrance. "Sorry about the wait. The Faye girl has been keeping me busy lately. All sorts of reports and meetings and all that. The boring stuff," he tried not to bore her with the details. "Anywho, good to see my girl is doing well. Have we been staying out of trouble?" She quickly grabbed a large file from the ground without looking down. "Before we go over the boring stuff, how is life for you? Anything exciting? (Not that I don't have most of it here anyway, but maybe you stuck out and has some extra fun under our noses?)" He began to flip through her paperwork as he let her speak.
Nox bowed from her seat. "You know me, not a troubled bone in my body, merely some left in others instead!" She clasped her hands together and sat up straight. "I mean, coming here, seeing you," she widened her eyes after each clause for dramatic effect, "All the excitement a gal could bloody want." she grinned.[break][break]
"Things are good so far, though. Nice to be able to write, instead of scratch. Nice to be able to take proper care of my hair, clothes, what have you." she said inbetween humming verses to a song.[break][break]
"So, what's our deal here? I come in weekly and we get down to, talking? Seems like they've chosen to coast towards the end, 'cause if I'd known this was available, I probably would've opted for this versus the century of imprisonment bit, babe." snickered Nox. "Your staff, by the way, are reprehensible. I thought you angels were the incorruptibles." she pouted, placing her coat over the back of the chair.[break][break]
"I'll say this though, very kind of them to be concerned for yooour purity of mind. Very kind." Nox held in a laugh. "Must be vigilant against the evil elf, now mustn't we?"
[attr="class","textie"]At her comment, Denji blushed, but did not honor her a response. Nox had a tendency to be more than inappropriate. Worse so considering he was an officer of the law above her. [break][break]
"Well...yeah. You do come in and talk to me. We have eyes on you at all times, Nox, regardless of whether or not they are my own. Just...be a little more careful, okay? Like, see here? We have gotten a report what you did at the Regal Club a few nights ago. A high recommendation to increase security from the witness. I don't want to forbid you from leaving your damn house you know." another swig from his flask. "We are very vigilant, but they aren't my staff. We are all just employees under Hebi. It's as simple as that," he leaned in to whisper in her ear, breath smelling heavily of booze, "and just between you and me, there would have been no second chance for you if you were under the jurisdiction of the demons or the vampires, you hear? I will take care of you here, but there are some things even I can't overlook. Again, please, just be a bit more careful next time."
The excited chills running down her spine, she cherished. Sucking in a deep breath, she bit her lip and cocked her head at him, saying, "I'm well aware of the kindness of Angels. I, of course, must be on my best behaviour. I am very sorry to have troubled you and, as for the rest of the Council, I'm so sorry to have been caught." Nox clicked her teeth at him, "It's a joke, baby, that last bit, I mean.".[break][break]
The elf leaned in, a concerned look on her face. While genuine, some layer to it reeked of mischief more than worry. "Actually, between you and me, the Regal Club scene is totally dead, no pun intended. What the hell happened while I was out? I had the right address, didn't I?" Nox opened the white box she kept on her, removing a can of fizzy drink and indulging in it.[break][break]
"If it's a lot to get into, though, we don't have to do it now, or here. A hundred years of happenings can be a lot, I suppose. I dunno, seems like whatever happened was probably some amount overrated anyhow. Well, maybe not too overrated, seeing as it made headlines and I didn't." she said. "How's the family, babe?" asked Nox, switching gears as easily as she leaned back in her chair. Her boots finally slid off the desk, the result of her crossing her legs.[break][break]
Nox smiled to herself. "Weekly chats like this may not be so bad. Oh," she paused, recalling something important, "Well, I want to hear about how your family is doing first, but did they find the message I left at the Regal Club for you, or is anything not scrawled in blood to be ignored these days? I'm an inventor, yes, but I shouldn't have to invent ways for messages to get through, now should I? Again, the staff, not you, babe." sighed Nox.
[attr="class","textie"]The problem, Nox, is that this problem isn't between you and me, he tried to reemphasized, returning to his original position. "But I am the arbiter on your parole sentence. And before I make my decision, I want to know a bit more about you you." He breathed in heavily. "And please, leave my family out of this. We are none of your business."[break][break]
Although he tried to maintain a strong front, Denji could not remember from his files anything about a message for him. Distressed, his breathing became heavier. "Message? For me? I-i don't recall..." Who would redact information about Nox's case from him? Was it Hebi? Although he was just a parole officer, he thought all of his superiors knew who he was and what he was capable of. What use was hiding information? Was it that bad? What the hell, he was the one making the decision, so why would they keep information from him? Concerned, he flipped hastily through the rest of the files on his desk looking for areas where more information may have been removed from the record.
"I thought I'd simply make small talk, casual conversation, however you call it." she frowned, resting her head on her hands. "But okay, maybe you don't need it.".[break][break] Noticing his distress, she raised an eyebrow. "Hey, easy there, my message was just small talk too. Nothing important. Like a, uh, spur of the moment deal." Looking around the office, one would capture a sense of how dedicated to officework the man was. A very interesting matchup for herself, she felt. Her initial thoughts had consisted of 'Was she being used by some Council higher-up to play some poor practical joke on the man? Parole was sort of already a joke as is.'
"If you wanted to talk about it though, my message, that I'd left for you," Nox put her hands together and pointed at Denji, "Was styled the same way as I'd done it last century. Which I'm sure you're already aware of and would hate to be bored by as such, blah blah blah. Psssssshhhh. But the contents were different, obviously. See, back then, I had words for, well, I mean, you know," she waved a hand about in a dismissive fashion, "But now, I thought I'd greet you in a similar manner, is all, baby." She took a quick sip of her beverage.[break][break]
"Aaaaahh. That's good. Does the man in a cold sweat want a sip as well?" she half-smiled.[break][break]
She dipped a finger in fizzy drink and began, out of his view, dripping drops of the beverage on the carpet, letting each soak start to form letters. "Really though, are you quite alright? I'm not trying to be liable for anything more than they can pin me for, right now." Nox giggled.
[attr="class","textie"]Of course he was familiar with Nox's antics, so he could roughly infer what she might have said. However, her domination of the conversation reminded him why she was brought in in the first place. He stopped shuffling around and took a much longer swig of his drink than usual. "Nox," he hesitated, "I don't want any of your drink. Or any more of your fu-...screwing around. Now is not the time to be talking about what dumb message you left for me. The Council is on it's FINAL straw with you, you know. Your influence and ingenuity will only get you so far and -" Mid lecture, he noticed the words she had been forming on his carpet, letting out a small laugh. "But, you're absolutely right about that."
Nox raised her hands in the air, sitting up straight. "I'm with the program, trust me! I actually have plans to get my office spruced up a bit, you know, like with nice stuff in it. But yeah, I'm on the level now. The Regal Club was like a 'go-and-see-what's-changed' affair that happened to go very wrong for some little snappers. But that's done. It's over with. The Regal Club is clearly a very different establishment now. You know how weird it is to enter a bar and not need to use a forged identification?" the elf smirked and returned to the subject Denji clearly wanted to get at, "I get they're on the final straw with me now. Good thing there won't be much of anything to make them snap that final straw, then. I'm just gonna sit out and tinker on stuff here and there, like a real Inventor." Nox saluted facetiously. With great care, she had left just enough of a serious tone in her words such that she wouldn't give away her sarcasm immediately.[break][break] "I'm on the level, baby. Trust me." Scratching her head, she dropped the smile and smirk expression she'd had on for a moment, "I get it, okay? Thin ice and all that, I get it. You may find this hard to believe, but I have zero interest in getting you in trouble. But I'm glad we can agree on something." Nox eyed her message, spelled out in fizzy drink. Maybe the meeting would conclude before he would realise that someone would need to clean that all out.[break][break]
"So, what, you want to know more about me? Three sizes or something?" Nox snickered. "Jokingjokingjoking. Ask away, though. Really."[break][break]
The elf crossed her arms and legs with a hint of bored anticipation. She figured he knew most everything they'd tried to get out of her during the interrogation sessions previously and, as such, viewed whatever he could ask as exercises in futility.
[attr="class","textie"]Leaning forward, Denji rested his hands just beneath his nose as he looked intensely to Nox. He wondered if her words were true or mere platitudes to keep his worry at ease. He had already lost so, so many good men and women to the Council. Though he couldn't really classify Nox as such...he was just tired. Another one of his clients to go would be disheartening. Besides, in some ways, she reminded him of his own daughter, though it would shame him to admit as much. [break][break]
"Well, what I wanted to ask is..." his voice faded as his tense composure loosened slightly. "What is your end-goal, Nox? You have caused a lot of harm and destruction for what purpose, exactly? Are you not worried for your future at all? In other words...are you doing okay?" He really had a lot he wanted to ask her, but for now, that would have to suffice.
Her eyes widened at the line of questioning. No Enforcer had ever asked anything like this during her stay in the birdcage. Though, maybe she just hadn't heard them ask, be it through the boxed ears or the tear-and-blood-soaked hood she'd had put over her head back then. Nox uncrossed her arms and rested them on the sides of the chair. "W- What do you mean? Like, didn't you read the file they must have on me? Or, you don't believe it? Believe them?" The elf, with a different gravity about her, bobbed her head to the side, restarting, "I talk. But I don't just talk, I back it up. See what I can do, because when you see what I can do, and you shut up over it, I've already won. Look at me, hey, really, look at me,"[break][break] Nox drew her two pointer fingers from his eye level apart, and then back together, hoping he'd pay close attention. "Look at me. Maybe I can't ever beat someone physically, so then I've got to beat them mentally. Beat them in their head before scraping them off the ground. Really rile them, you know? Make myself a face they're not likely to forget, because I can own so much space in their head." She raised him a passionate look in her eyes, as well as a raise of the eyebrows, "But it's not exactly as I've been describing this whole time. I've been talking like it's an individual I'm up against when, hmhmhmm, it's damn near all of Pavane. At least it certainly was back then. So I took my shot. All two hundred and eighty five of them. At the Council Building that Thursday morning, some hundred years ago, after I'd told you lot where to shelter. You know I went there on my lunch break, from the CISD, right? Then I went straight back. It took you all eight hours to cut into my office and pinch me. I still spot the burn marks on the floor sometimes at work. Council cats tried their best, they shoved me in the box and thought maybe they won't hear me no more. But I'm 'The Gal', the Inventor they know they need. I proved all that and more that day. So now I'm here, with you. Still talkin', still anxious to see what the Council really wants me out and about here for. I heard about the Ghouls. I'd never have known if I hadn't asked. My cell was very soundproof. I wish I could write this all off as just a coincidence. But that's a little above our pay grades, isn't it?"[break][break]
Nox opened a new can of fizzy drink, taken straight from her white box. Whatever else she had in there clinked like glass as the can had been removed from inside. The elf took a big sip, looking at Denji the whole time, "Aaaaaahhh... That's good. So, in other words," she flashed a relaxed smile at Denji, "I am doing alright. I'm awfully lonely but maybe there's just something about me that has got that kind of effect on people." She really did appreciate his letting her see a softer expression from him, but he'd asked about why she did what she did. And Nox would never do him the disservice, not now, of betraying herself via a pleasant lie when she just as easily could talk to him the truth.
[attr="class","textie"]After listening intently to Nox, Denji closed his eyes and took a deep breath. If left unchecked, this type of person would surely destroy themselves, he thought. He wanted to be honest with her, but he knew if he got angry, she would likely be combative back to him. Was there really no winning with this woman? He felt a headache coming on...
"...I see," he said simply as he began to tap on the desk. "You know, those ghouls. They must have known that they were no match for the Council physically either, right? Have you heard about the attack on the Ankokku Ballroom that started their assault?....sudden. They left bodies of angels and demons alike strung up and mangled. The sight was so horrible, and all of the people of Pavane were there to see it. In part, I think that's why a literal genocide was able to blow over so easily in Pavane. They tried to play the mental game. Need I say more?" His head was starting to spin. He drank just a bit too much today. [break][break]
"Nox, people like you can never win against a government like the Council especially not alone. It's suicidal. People crave order, peace. Even if things aren't perfect, the alternative is a world where the strong eat the weak day in and day out. Evil thrives in such a world." [break][break]
"As for why you are still alive...well, if I were to speculate, it's because someone thinks you have the ability to create something of benefit to the Council. I am not so sure there's any other way you'd be alive right now." It sounded harsh, but Denji wanted nothing more than for him to be wrong in that moment. The pardoning of such a blatant terrorist was not such a typical occurrence.
"I mean, it sounds like they tried to get pretty physical, from what I heard plus what you've told me. I don't know what mental aspect there was to feasting on those who may well have supported their cause. I don't know, wasn't there. I get the larger parable you're telling, St. Sarasah." Nox placed her hands behind her head, leaning way back in her chair. "I'll think out loud for a moment. If there's a city where a genocide of one race, and let's be honest about the fourth or third of halflings who were caught up in all this, is permitted after one attack, then what kind of feelings would you expect someone to have towards it? If anything, you lot are lucky I was born too early for them to catch me up on their plans. And that concludes the Payton Think-Aloud. Back to topic, I'm on a new leaf, graciously chained to me by you lot. I keep my head down these days, over at the CISD, and do my job, don't I?" She twirled the can of fizzy drink in the air, confirming its emptiness. Clutching it in her right hand and stabilising with her left, she arced the can into the air, banking it off a shelf corner into Denji's rubbish bin with ease.[break][break]
She held her hands open and winked at him, "I'm on the level, what can I say? Council wants something, I'm tasked with creating, aren't I? No need to overcomplicate things. You're right on that, though, evil does thrive." With a bored look in her eyes, Nox asked, "Oh, and, uh, you can't really think so lowly of me to believe that I never considered that, right? About my release and stay of execution coinciding with the Council's technological stagnation? I hope you just misspoke, or maybe we will have a problem.".
[attr="class","textie"] "The mental aspect was the feasting, Nox. It sent a message. It wasn't about the violence, really. The goal was the same either way." Chaos was the goal. It was clearly an attack not on Upper Pavane as a whole, but directed specifically at the Council. Something like that... it could only have one purpose.
Denji too had his reservations about the purge. It was extreme to say the least. "...and yet, the lives that day were nothing in comparison to the lives lost at the hands of the ghouls." He recalled the days before the Council. Angel, demon, fairy, elf. All were subject to the terrorism of the ghouls, day in and day out. Hungrier than the most aberrant of wrath demons for bloodshed, they had to eat. Constantly. Yet it did seem strange... he muttered under his breath, "but why would they authorize such a traumatic solution so quickly? There's no way Takuto voted for such an act. In that case, it's almost as if..." he cut himself off and addressed Nox more directly, realizing he was letting his tongue slip. "Yes, please stay on the down low for now. For both of our sakes."
"I know very well you've considered it. I just want you to know that I know it. Many of my clients here end up -" he had to cut himself off again. His filter must have started coming undone. Probably a sign he should let Nox go. It was her fault anyways for making him drink so heavily in the first place.
Nox hesitated. A hundred years ago, she would have chewed him up and spit him out on the spot, imagine making a mistake like that in front of her not once but twice. This was now, however. "I'm woman enough to say sorry, so... Sorry. I got heated, took it out on you, you didn't really deserve it. When you do, I'll letcha know. But you're okay, right now. Right now, you're okay."[break][break]
"Do you like blue cheese? See, I don't mind it but you may want to look at it since, while it's another thing I don't personally mind, you reek of alcohol. Try munching on something with blue cheese as an ingredient, it works all kinds of olfactory nonsense plus it adds a nice sharp tone of flavour to things. I dunno, it sure doesn't seem like they would take kindly to the smell of alcohol you've got about you if they were so uptight about my shirt." she chuckled, gesturing at the threadbare buttons she had done up for the occasion. "Look, I'll get out your hair for now, and I'll be back for whenever you pencil me in next, okay? Don't lose sleep over me, I know I won't. Another thing I know, you've got my address but, ummm... Here. Nox took a second to jot down an address on the corner of his appointment book. "If you really want to come find me, heh, there wouldn't be a bad place to start. No rush, baby, I'm not goin' anywhere. Relax, I'm only teasing, but seriously, if it's urgent, check there or my office. You can visit the listed addy if you like, treat yourself to the fizzy drinks I've got there but you'll have to keep yourself occupied, cause I won't." she said with a wink. The elf clapped her hands together and gave a shallow bow before hopping out of the chair to get her things together. After putting on her coat, she gave a twirl, facing Denji with a parting comment, "I do want, though, to clarify one thing. Maybe I'm one of your clients, but I'm really not. We're friends now, sorry!"
Living in a dystopian society, seven mystic races are trapped due to their own selfishness. Tensions rise between the races and the different social classes, leading up to the constant struggle for power, with no end in sight.
News
4/11 - With the Ghoul Purge complete, Pavane's fear shifts from the goddesses towards the Council. Check out the aftermath here to get an understanding of the current situation in the plot.
MYSTICAL SOULS belongs to YUMEKUI, DYLZOE AND LUNARIS. This is an original plot created by staff members.. The skin "Midnight Madness" was created by Dorothia. This includes Board Mod, Mini-Profile Mod and such. Thread list was made by Kagney. User Profile mod was made by Pharaoh Leap. Graphics belong to their rightful owner. Plagiarism is not appreciated and will not be tolerated.
