The Knights Next Prequel

[WrathofaShardKitten]

"That's alright." The girl seemed to be calmer now. It occurred to Kira that she didn't actually know her name yet. "I'm Kira. What's your name?"

[I think I am here.]

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I imagine her around 15-16 years old.

As the girl and another woman talked Marcel kneeled down beside the body, thinking about what they had said.

The woman finding where they were, finding the exact alley that just so happened to have the dead body? This must have been the Radiant that had been watching them earlier. Kira, she said her name was.

And the girl... she clearly had her own issues. Something she needed to forget about, so she stored all the time. Marcel wanted to help, but she had denied. That was fine. To each their own.

“I just can’t believe the loveliness of loving you,” he hummed quietly, the lyrics to Sugar, Sugar, as he took out a bone stamp.

“I just can’t believe it’s true, I just can’t believe the one to love this feeling to. I just can’t believe it’s true.” He began to carve out a pattern in the bone stamp, a quadrilateral shape, sharp triangles sticking out. A centre pattern that looked remarkably similar to a a map of France, Marcel had always thought.

“Sugar, ah honey honey,” he sang quietly as he stamped the blood and the stamp held onto it with no problem. The blood was old, but not stale. He had been killed 24~10 hours ago. “You are my candy girl.”

He placed down the stamp on the cobblestone beside the man’s head and it pulsed and began to glow, lighter in one direction and dimmer in the other. “And you’ve got me wanting you.”

It was a similar sort of seal that allowed skeletal to track people just by their blood, but Marcel was using it in isolation.

“More of his blood is in that direction,” he standing up and pointing. “I assume that means the murderer got some of his blood on him, he would have cleaned it off later but at least we can see where they went before that.”

He looked to Kira. “Radiant,” He said. “What surges can you do?”

[WrathofaShardKitten]

He knows. No, he can't. He's just guessing. Don't let him know he got it right.

Kira looked up, wrinkling her nose in an expression of confusion. "Radiant? What's that?" she said, watching carefully for his reaction.

[+Sorana]

Wita looked up when Marcel started to hum the lyrics, did something and then whatever he had in his hands pulsed, glowed softly. He continued with the lyrics and she sat on the cobbles, looked at the glowing thing.

"That's different."

She whispered. No metal, something else. She was quiet while he stood up, asked Kira something, but her thoughts stayed with what he had done.

"Can you help?"

She first looked at him, then at Kira.

"Make me forget?"

@I think I am here.

@Hope Spren

[I think I am here.]

On 15/08/2019 at 0:38 PM, Sorana said:

“Make me forget?"

Marcel frowned and stood up straighter, turning towards her. His bloodseals could do many things, but they were limited. The closest thing he could do to make her forget was turn her into a mindless skeletal. 

“No,” Marcel said.

He turned to Kira. Playing dumb. “A Radiant is a magical soldier. Anyone who ‘accidentally’ stumbles into an alleyway with two Invested people, and a dead body that was probably Invested, and doesn’t call the police or scream or cry, but instead asks what happened is probably one of them, Kira.”

Marcel looked back to Wita and hesitated. “My sister could do it,” he said. But she was in France and not to mention pure evil. “But there are a lot of better, easier and painless options to explore.”

@Hope Spren

@Dr. Dapper

Edited August 16, 2019 by I think I am here.

[+Sorana]

1 hour ago, I think I am here. said:

Marcel looked back to Wita and hesitated. “My sister could do it,” he said. But she was in France and not to mention pure evil. “But there are a lot of better, easier and painless options to explore.”

Wita nodded slowly. She touched the bracelet.

"Alright."

He sounded like there were many options. Other options. Wita smiled happily and continued to hum the song.

"Where are the beautiful crystals?"

She asked Kira, still smiling.

[WrathofaShardKitten]

Kira looked at Marcel, then back to Wita, and gave a resigned sigh. "Lyssa, you can come back." Lyssa was there in a flash, writing an enthusiastic "Hi!" to Wita. She even dotted the "i" with a heart.

"This," Kira said, addressing Wita, "is Alyssandria. She goes by Lyssa, and she's my spren. Either that, or I'm her radiant. I'm fairly certain it's one of the two.

"And Lyssa, this is . . ." She let the sentence trail off, as she still didn't know the other girl's name.

Edited August 16, 2019 by Hope Spren

[+Sorana]

13 minutes ago, Hope Spren said:

"And Lyssa, this is . . ." She let the sentence trail off, as she still didn't know the other girl's name.

"Wita."

Brightly she grinned at the spren.

"You're so beautiful."

She told the spren and grinned brightly.

"All the crystals and you can write!"

She forgot about the corpse completely. Lyssa was for the moment more important, interesting and sparkling. Happy. Wita liked happy people. They always made her forget. Happily she grinned at Marcel and Kira, then focused on Lyssa again.

[WrathofaShardKitten]

"Thanks!" Lyssa wrote. "You're pretty, too! Like, really pretty! Do you want to be my friend?"

Wita seemed to have forgotten her question for now, and Lyssa seemed totally enamored with her. Kira decided that she would answer Wita's question later, and turned her attention back to Marcel.

"Yeah, I'm a radiant. Though to be fair, I came over because I noticed you both going into the alley. I thought Wita was the one who had screamed earlier, so I wanted to make sure she was alright. I had no idea that there was going to be all of this." She gestured to the body and pooled blood, intentionally including Marcel's blood seal, which was still glowing. "As for my surges . . . I don't suppose you'd care to hazard a guess?" Hopefully he would. If he answered, then Kira might learn a little bit more about what this man knew of radiants.

[I think I am here.]

Marcel smiled at his hunch of the woman being a Radiant being correct. He wasn’t a forensics expert yet, but the studies had certainly paid off. She asked him to guess her surges and he tilted his head, turning away from the dead body and the bloodseal and looking at her. She had a gem-like spren, so...

“Soulcasting?” He asked. He idly thought whether it was possible to construct a bloodseal that could tell someone’s Investiture. Maybe, with a line there, a pairing sigil there, connect them with carved loops... no. He came to the conclusion it wouldn’t work. Bloodsealing worked mostly on the physical, controlling level. That was why Marcel didn’t think he could heal whatever trauma Wita had or why he didn’t think he could use it to detect Investiture.

[+Sorana]

14 hours ago, Hope Spren said:

"Thanks!" Lyssa wrote. "You're pretty, too! Like, really pretty! Do you want to be my friend?"

Wita nodded, held out her little finger for Lyssa to take.

"Are you a fairy?"

She asked and pointed at the crystal.

"You look like a beautiful little fairy. Can you dance?"

Excitedly she ignored Marcel and Kira for the moment, only look over now and then. A fairy wanted to be her friend. As long as Marcel didn't leave her alone sitting next to a corpse, it would be fine.

[WrathofaShardKitten]

9 hours ago, I think I am here. said:

“Soulcasting?” He asked.

Kira shook her head. "Abrasion and progression." She was actually a little surprised that the man had guessed a real surge. He was clearly a bloodsealer, but still. Kira only knew about other investiture types because Lyssa had told her about them. The man must have researched Radiants, and probably other magic types too, though Kira shuddered inwardly to think what kind of research it might have been.

The thought drew her attention back to the body. She shivered as her gaze fell upon it once more. It's pale skin and rumpled clothes, surrounded by a pool of blood. Like . . . No. She couldn't think about that right now.

"What happened?" she asked Marcel again, her voice quiet. "Who was he?"

 . . .

Lyssa giggled as Wita offered her finger, and touched it gently. "Are you a fairy?" Wita asked. Lyssa cocked her head in puzzlement at the question. Was she a fairy? Better ask Kira.

"Hey, Kira, am I a fairy?" Kira didn't respond immediately, and Lyssa shrugged.

"You look like a beautiful little fairy. Can you dance?" Lyssa nodded, bright crystal spots appearing or her cheeks as she imitated a blush.

"Kira likes to dance," she wrote, "and she showed me how."

Edited August 17, 2019 by Hope Spren

[+Sorana]

13 hours ago, Hope Spren said:

"Kira likes to dance," she wrote, "and she showed me how."

"We need to go back to the disco."

Wita exclaimed and was about to run off, when she remembered the corpse.

"Maybe tomorrow? I feel like Kira and Marcel want to brood over that corpse some more."

She smiled at the little fairy.

"Are there more fairies like you?"

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So is everybody alright with the dead man being someone who tried to stop the splitting up of perpendicularities? Because in that case, maybe some strangers could show up, try to dispose of the corpse before the police finds the man. Their conversation could offer our characters some clues.

Or nothing happens yet, but they oberserved us, and try to recruit some of us later?

 

[I think I am here.]

13 hours ago, Hope Spren said:

“What happened?" she asked Marcel again, her voice quiet. "Who was he?"

Abrasion and Progression. That’s right, Marcel remembered. Radiants had two surges, not just one. And he knew that that specific combination of powers had a name, but he wasn’t caring to recall that right now.

He looked to the body and kneeled down beside him. Looking at the wallet that peeked out from one of the pockets he grabbed it, flipped it open. There was a substantial amount of cash, untouched.

“Christopher Hartley. He was murdered. Obviously.” Marcel looked over the body once more. Motives, motives, motives. What was the motive?

“Definitely not a gang hit, the mob doesn’t use knives. No money was stolen, only his rings, earrings and bracelets.” Looking at the wallet again he saw the picture of the victim. All of the earrings and rings were the same metal. Marcel frowned.

“But according to the image all of his jewellery was made of copper.” Not a particularly valuable metal.

“So, the murderer was taller, stabbed him, didn’t steal any money, wasn’t gang or money motivated, and all that was stolen was the man’s copper jewellery, which you can buy cheap at any local hardware store. It is... an interesting murder, with an unclear motivation.”

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I am fine with that idea, Sorana.

 

[WrathofaShardKitten]

On 8/18/2019 at 0:21 AM, Sorana said:

"Are there more fairies like you?"

"More fairies . . ." Lyssa assumed a thinking position, her chin resting on her hand. "Hm . . . Yep!" she wrote. "There's lots! But they don't look exactly like me. Some of them look really different. But most of them are harder to find."

Lyssa remembered the other question. "Yes! I would love to come dance! But Kira would need to come, too."

...

"Christopher Hartly," Kira repeated, focusing on what Marcel said, committing it to memory. She would remember. And she'd try to find the people who knew him, his family and friends, and tell them what happened. For now, however . . .

"Should we call the police?" A thought occurred to her. "In fact, why aren't they here already? He -- Christopher, I mean -- has been here for a long time, right? So why hasn't anyone else found him and called the police?"

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Me too.

 

[+Sorana]

2 hours ago, Hope Spren said:

Lyssa remembered the other question. "Yes! I would love to come dance! But Kira would need to come, too."

Wita nodded eagerly.

"Marcel too. He can jive."

She told Lyssa brightly.

"And he's a great dancer. There are so few that can do a jive well. And you are so beautiful. You and Kira dancing together, it must be a sight."

========

"How are they?"

Anthony asked quietly and Sam shook his head.

"I don't know. Never saw them before."

Anthony spit to the ground.

"At least on is a Radiant. Probably the old one. The other two, his children? Or his escorts, maybe."

Sam grunted in what could have been acceptance or not.

"I don't care. As long as they are there, we can't get rid of the body. Let's rob them. Then we have some money, and maybe some entertainment is in it as well."

Anthony stuffed some more tobacco into his mouth and started to chew on it. Sam vanished, circled around to block of the other end of the alley. Then after a while he got up, started to walk down the streets towards the strangers.

"He Grandpa. Give us your money. And the girls as well."

@I think I am here.

@Dr. Dapper

@Hope Spren

He shouted

 

[WrathofaShardKitten]

On 8/19/2019 at 9:19 AM, Sorana said:

"He Grandpa. Give us your money. And the girls as well."

Kira spun at the sound, falling into a low crouch, her knife suddenly appearing in her hand. She paused when she saw the man walking down the alley towards them. He looked kind of scruffy, and she didn't immediately see a weapon. Why would he be attacking them? There were three of them -- four if you counted Lyssa -- and only one robber. Not only that, but she didn't see any weapons on him. Maybe he had a gun, but if he did and he fired it, then all of the people nearby would come running. Then a thought occurred to Kira. The man had said "Give us your money." Us. Not "me," but us. There was more than one.

This man was probably the distraction, trying to pull their attention to him while others sneaked up behind them. Kira narrowed her eyes, and said to the others in a voice too quiet for the robbers to hear, "There are more. Look out behind you."

[I think I am here.]

4 hours ago, Hope Spren said:

“There are more. Look out behind you."

Marcel nodded but kept his eyes fixed on the thug. Did he call Marcel a grandpa? Surely Marcel didn’t look that old.

Hs gestured to the dead body on the ground and stood up straighter. The supreme art of war was to subdue the enemy without fighting. Sun Tzu.

“Unless you want to end up like that body over there,” He gestured to Christopher’s corpse. “I would suggest leaving.”

Edited August 20, 2019 by I think I am here.

[Eluvianii]

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I guess this is as good an entry point as any.

Lewis walked down the street, he was supossed to meet someone at that Disco. It was really noisy but at least that ensured some privacy. Didn't make it any less annoying though.

He could already see the entrance but never made it there. A sound to his right distracted him, by the back of the building.

There was an alley, the kind of place they would put the trash and the troublemakers in, nothing too appealing, so the amount of people in it was all the more surprising. Did they decide to throw the party out this time?

[+Sorana]

Wita tilted her head to the side, when another man walked up to them, talked about handing money over. They were - being robbed.

"You need to hide."

She told the little fairy and opened her bag for the fairy to hide in.

"What if he hurts you?"

 

Anthony laughed at Marcel's words.

"I know that you didn't kill him Grandpa."

A cruel smile spread on his lips.

"Hand your money over. It's as easy as that."

 

Sam slowly walked towards the alley, annoyed that another spectator (=Lewis) seemed to have found the site. Another one they would need to dispatch. Maybe, they should leave the corpse where it was, flee. But no, their orders were clear. Make sure nobody finds that corpse. He's swallowed some flakes on his way here, so he would start with the new guy.

"Why don't you leave?"

He asked and made a commanding gesture with his head.

@Hope Spren

@Eluvianii

@I think I am here.

[I think I am here.]

8 hours ago, Sorana said:

A cruel smile spread on his lips.

"Hand your money over. It's as easy as that."

So, they must have killed him, Marcel thought. That would be the only way they wouldn’t react to the body and be certain Marcel didn’t kill him. His fingers twitched slightly when he heard the thug call him old again. Bloodsealing was many arts, but it didn’t have quite as many combat uses as other magics.

“Do your thing, Radiant,” he whispered to the Radiant, taking out a stamp and beginning to carve a pattern. For any blood seal to work, it needed only one ingredient. As he carved he signalled to the thug to try his best, taking a defensive position

“I just need a drop of his blood,” he whispered. “Then he is no problem for me. Just a drop.”

[WrathofaShardKitten]

11 hours ago, Sorana said:

Wita tilted her head to the side, when another man walked up to them, talked about handing money over. They were - being robbed.

"You need to hide."

She told the little fairy and opened her bag for the fairy to hide in.

"What if he hurts you?"

Lyssa smiled and shook her head. "They can't hurt me," she wrote, "and I need to help you and Kira, and . . . what did you say his name was? Marcel. Him too."

...

3 hours ago, I think I am here. said:

“Do your thing, Radiant,” he whispered to the Radiant, taking out a stamp and beginning to carve a pattern. For any blood seal to work, it needed only one ingredient. As he carved he signalled to the thug to try his best, taking a defensive position

Kira nodded, tightening her grip on the knife. Fear was twisting at her insides, and she found herself longing for stormlight, to breath it in and feel that strength. She had some with her. Infused gems carried in a dark bag that would stop anyone from seeing the glow. Kira bit her lip, trying to pull her attention away from the stormlight. Only a few of the gems were totally full, and she couldn't waste the stormlight. Not only that, but using it would tip the robbers off to the fact that they weren't quite normal. And so she waited, tense and ready to attack as soon as the robber made his move.

[old man moomba]

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Time to go full Jotaro on this one. Also, you think the thugs would regognized someone flashing a mob symbol?

Quinn lit a cigarette calmly and took a drag. The whisps of smoke spun lazily into the sky, mixing with the cool night air. "You know what I hate?" he commented calmly, "The lowset class of criminal. Thkose who rely on violence alone to fufill their often nauseating desires. It makes my skin crawl." he shook his head, taking another drag on the cigarette, "I respect even the most petty pickpockets more than you." 

[+Sorana]

2 minutes ago, Dr. Dapper said:

Time to go full Jotaro on this one. Also, you think the thugs would regognized someone flashing a mob symbol?

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I'll leave that to you. As long as we end up with a hint why they killed the man, everything is fine

 

[AonEne]

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His copperminds weren't unsealed, right?