RP [Phoenix Team] - Through The Cries

But I still believe
I still believe
Through the pain,
And through the grief,
Through the lives,
Through the storms,
Through the cries,
And through the wars.
Oh, I still believe!
The Call - I Still Believe

Sargasso, Central View, Witchwood
A couple of days ago during a windy evening.
A black limousine with darkly tinted windows and a custom license plate was heading east on a dusty road through the dark, tall pines of the forest. The driver of the vehicle was sitting on a stack of phone books, small head and big eyes peeking over the dashboard as little hands grasped the steering wheel. Fluorescent locks of cyan hair cascaded down into the footwell, well past the driver's feet. Its hair was grabbing the pedals, one on the acceleration, another on the brakes. Atop the impish driver's head was a cap with a black brim.

In the back seat of the car lounged an impeccably dressed woman, or rather, perhaps a lady. A lady of fair skin and features, with curly floes of blonde hair tied into a practical but stylish bun, a nod to luxury in the jade hair stick used to tie it up.

Her modestly cut white silk blouse was trying to pass of as businesswear but clearly destined for greater things, a black pencil skirt belted at her waist hugged down to her lower thighs, while crisp vertical striped black and clear stockings, stretched across the spacious interior, grabbed the eye and dragged it kicking and screaming up the toned calf and over the skirt. Who sat, arm playing slowly with a deliberately carelessly stray lock through her fingers.

Together, the chauffeur and the passenger were heading towards the bridge to Ogonori Island. Drips started to spot onto the windscreen, prompting the driver to reach for the windscreen wipers. This, however, wasn't gelling with expected conditions. "Miss!" The imp called out in a high voice, keeping their eyes on the road. "It seems to be raining... I wasn't aware there was a squall coming."

The lady turned her head from staring lost in thought through her window to look ahead, then up at the sky out the window. Her large eyes, shadowed only by a touch of make up to catch the eye, narrowed in suspicion. She was aware that congregations of witches tended to make weird phenomena and unexplained weather occur, but the inclement weather didn't feel like it was caused by a mere coven's meeting.

"Strange." She murmured, before turning to the driver again. The rain was starting to pick up, now pelting the vehicle. "Ivory, make su-"

A bolt of thunder cut through the night sky, striking the road and trees ahead. Bark and burning boughs started shooting onto the road, before another lighting strike ended up felling a tree just ahead. The imp cried out and hit the brakes, tyres skidding on the wet road despite ABS brakes. The lady felt the overwhelming presence of something different. Something fundamentally wrong.

The car collided side on with the fallen log and flipped over it, sending the long vehicle rolling down the road, crunching and shattering. Airbags on all windows deploying with the sound of a dozen shotgun blasts. The workmanship of the car stood up to the battering as well as it could, however whatever windows weren't smashed were gouged to opaque condition, the panels crumpled and scratched to bare metal, and finally, landing atop its roof, wheels spinning helplessly in the air. Debris and shattered glass sprawled across the road.

Two figures approached from the forest in the rain, one towering and glowering with electric blue eyes, the other tiny in comparison, grinning visibly through the darkness of an inky cloak. "This is the one we're after." The smaller figure said. "She's sitting on a ... battery big enough to kickstart your plans."

"Good." The tall one replied, approaching the wrecked vehicle's door and pulling it away with cybernetic arms. Inside, he could see the figure of the witch sprawled across gently deflating airbags. The man reached in, and found himself intercepted by a limb made of luminescent hair.

"Don't touch Miss Harumi!" Ivory called out, stricken from her experience in the crash, but sensible enough to know that whoever this was, wasn't here to help.

The big man grunted in annoyance, pulling at the vise-grip of the imp's hair. "Deal with the little thing," he growled.

As he spoke, the impish figure used its grip on Driver's arm to pull herself through the car and wrap herself around him, hair flowing in bands to encase him, as she bit into his arm with a suddenly too large mouth, unable to pierce the tough polymer layers he wore.

Driver gave a grunt in acknowledgement of the pain more than anything, other arm tearing at the hair surrounding him as the cloaked figure raised a hand and started summoning the words of power. The dialect they were using sounded fundamentally wrong, even for those who sought the Weald, it was words that were not designed to come from a mortal mouth, and changed the very material it touched. Ivory's eyes widened as she looked at the other figure.

Suddenly there was a crackle from the car as what was supposed to have been a fire bolt instead whicked into a small dart of flame and landed upon the figure's chest. The flame sticking to the figures cloak, sizzling as magic met magic until it fizzled to nothing.

The figure turned and saw Harumi sprawled on the now floor of the car, pushing herself up, finger pointed at her trying to cast another spell. But something was wrong, her magic wasn't working, she felt a drain on her powers.

The figure smirked even more broadly and finished the spell. An overwhelming sensation of tiredness and fatigue swept over Harumi, and she felt her limbs lose sensation, starting at the fingertips and toes and creeping up her limbs. Trying to raise her hands to protest amounted to nothing, and the witch slumped back down, feeling their body betray them. With a surprised moan of protest, her body fell limp, barely a shiver passed down her legs.

Ivory watched the enervation of her mistress with horror - and knew in her gut that she had to retreat - get help - from someone - anyone. Releasing her fangs from Driver's arm, her long prehensile hair went into retreat, and with the rain and wind, she blipped away in a flash. Driver raised an arm to try and strike at them, looking around for where they could've gone. "We've got a loose end-" he protested.

"No matter." The smaller figure beside him said, reaching up to place a hand on his shoulder-blade. "We have our prize. We should move before the police arrive. Time is ... a wasting." Driver looked down at the smaller figure and heaved a sigh. There was enough sound and fury signifying activity caused.

"Very well, then." He said, reaching back into the car and hoisting Harumi over his broad shoulders.

Harumi's eyelids begun to feel heavy as she was manhandled and the rain started to thin out, giving way to mist and the smell of gasoline. As soon as she closed them for but a moment, she was completely unconscious - sapped of spirit. All she could hope for with her last clear thoughts was that Ivory could find someone.


Mission START!

Sargasso, Barrier Island, Ferros Block Apartment 7-02
Here and now, an early, misty morning.
Prone to waking up earlier than he'd like to lately, Luca was spending the morning doing some touch up work on the panels and bodywork of his motorcycle, evening the dents out with a metal ball and a strong magnet, and then painting over the scratches and scars.

He bent down to grab a can of crimson paint, discovering that it was unusually light. He knew only one culprit, and it lived on his sofa. "Blue! Did you drink the paint I use for my bike?" Luca called out from his workshop, shaking the empty can with annoyance. He had to do some touching up, but noticed the paint can "You know I need that for work!"

Yttrium's head bobbed up from the couch in the living room. Her sleep schedule was erratic at best, rising from her bathtub when it suited her, and wearing an outer skin to ensure she didn't stain Luca's furniture. "You should've labelled it!" She replied, lounging with her legs up.

That was a new excuse. Luca stepped out into the living room with his hands on his hips. "Wh- You can't read!" He pointed out.

Yttrium was about to retort, but there was a series of knocks at the door. Both her and Luca's heads swivelled towards the front door. Who else was awake at this hour? Falling back on proper paranoia, Luca approached the door with his laser pistol in hand.

The door slowly opened by itself as he walked, creaking on hinges that had never creaked before, revealing the small form of what would have been your typical shrunken grandmother figure, except for the wide brimmed pointy hat with a ringlet of very small bones embedded in the band, and the robes. Nothing good came from someone who wore robes outside...

"I'm sorry, dear. You took so long I got bored and let myself in." She smiled sweetly at Luca before bundling herself in. The man looked towards Yttrium with a raised eyebrow, wondering if she was another friend of theirs - the Crude just stared at the new arrival dumbfounded, slowly retreating behind the couch to let him deal with it.

Following shortly behind was a well dressed figure in suit pants and vest, muscled arms shown off from strapped up sleeves above the elbow. In their hands was a small case, the strangers head however appear cast in permanent shadow, little but a pair of dimmly shining eyes were visible in the gloom as light appeared to lose its nerve and fail and falter above his shoulders.

The pair of eyes moved in a way that Luca got the impression of a respectful nod as the stranger followed the clearly defined witch into Luca's apartment. The man closed the door behind them and blinked in dulled surprise, wiping some of the sleep away from his eyes as he figured he'd get down to business. "Two questions - one, who gets up this early in the morning, and two, who are you two?" He asked groggily.

"Call me Crone," the old woman replied offhand, pushing herself up onto one of the seats at the table. "And this is my research assistant, Mister Cordial. He's very useful."

The so named Cordial busied himself in the kitchen, somehow finding teabags in Luca's cupboard and turning on the kettle. The pair of eyes again nodded to Yttrium on the couch, the heavily muscled figure incongrous in the kitchen setting. Yttrium was peeking over at the meeting taking place, watching Luca pull a seat from the table for the Crone and her partner, before sitting down at the opposite end of the table.

"Alright then, Crone," he said, resting his head in one hand and draping his other hand across the table. "Shoot away." He was trying to get a closer look at the old lady's face, but her hat was in the way, so he settled for counting the bones in the brim and trying to figure out what animal she had them extracted from.

"Soon, dear. Tea first. Please, sit down." She smiled at him warmly, patting the table across from her with a small frail arm. Mister Cordial returned with a pair of mugs, placing one down in front of Luca, and the other for the Crone. Examining the mug, Luca saw that the shadow-faced man had added just the right amount of milk, turning the black tea brown like Luca would when he made his own cuppa.

Taking a sip, he tasted at least two teaspoons of sugar in there too. Grimacing in surprise and looking at the shadowed man's face, he couldn't help but raise the cup - it was a good cup of tea.

Cordial appeared not to have made anything for himself, although it was possible he had no need of food, instead an empty mug rested upon the table next to Crones as he stood just behind and too the side of her chair. Dim eyes staring at Luca intently.

"Mister Corial has a knack for such things. He tells me it's just how his type are." She explained, smiling over her own cup before taking a sip. Sighing loudly she put the mug down and put both hands on the table.

"Now, to business!" She announced.

Mister Cordial brought up the briefcase in one smooth motion and opened it on the table. There was a loud bang, and flash, and with a roar a small figure stretched out of the suitcase, the roar becoming groan as the small dark figure with orange hair stretched their back, one hand behind their head as the other stretched up, back arched. Yttrium's head raised from the couch in surprise at the bang, while Luca simply shielded his eyes and cleared the residual smoke with his hands.

"Oi, shrivelled bitch. I told you I couldn't fit inside the suitcase!" A girly feminine voice complained, filled with unearthly menace and shrill fury. Now revealed to be a pale vaguely feminine figure with exaggerated hips standing on his table.

Luca looked over the small thing and the suitcase towards the Crone with a raised eyebrow. "...what is this?" He asked, looking back at the imp and raising a hand to poke it in the belly. "A doll?" Similarly, Yttrium had tilted her head in amusement, eyelash flicking up and down in curiosity.

"D-d-doll!" The figure cried in disbelief, a hand fluttering up in what might vaguely have been small breasts in an offended fashion. "Do these look fake to you, you-you paint sniffer!" As they spoke hair curled up and into a ball at the end, winding up to punch Luca.

"Now now, Ebony-" Crone protested, trying to calm the angry imp down. Unfortunately, a clenched 'fist' of hair swung in from the left side towards Luca's head. Instinctually, he ducked under it and countered - a knife edge chop stopping short of the imp's midsection. Ebony was surprised by the reaction - most oil men just took it on the kisser. Ivory's recommendation was on the mark for once.

Crone sighed, "Pardon her - she's a hothead," the old woman explained before returning to her original train of thought. "Do you want this man's help, or not?"

Ebony shivered as she thought she was about to be hit, her body clenching against the force that never arrived. She growled, fist and fist going to her side to clench in anger until she sighed and spun on her heel to one of the empty chairs, plopping down upon it gingerly, rubbing her belly where it had almost been hit.

"So... Ebony," Luca asked, looking at the imp sitting at his table now. "What's the problem? My team and I solve them."

Ebony grumped loudly, glowering at Luca with red eyes before he shoulders drooped and she relented. "My mistress has gone missing, my sister says she was taken by someone who you might know, at least, according to the old hag here." Ebony thumbed towards Crone.

Luca had many enemies, so narrowing it down was crucial. "Can you describe them?" He started.

"A big man, in a suit with a helmet, like it was part of him." She said, a finger scratching her har as she tried to remember what Ivory had relayed to her. A pointy tooth showing above her lip.

"Driver..." Luca muttered under his breath, before raising his voice back to a conversational level. "Sounds like someone I know. By the way," he asked, looking up to the Crone and Mister Cordial, "how'd you find out about me? Phone book? News article? Trail of destruction I left recently?"

"Don't recognize me, Luca? I haven't aged that much since those long gone days, have I?" Crone smiled, picking up her mug to sip it once more and give Luca a chance to think, tipping her hat back to show more of her bright but wrinkled face. A wart on her nose, almost there by obligation rather than hygiene, and wizened green eyes peering at Luca beadily above the smiling face.

He tilted his head, blinking before raising a pointer finger as recognition dawned on him. "Didn't I get your cat out of a tree a few weeks ago?" Luca said, continuing: "You're also one of the lecturers at the magic university down in Middleton..." Crone was nodding along with what he was saying, but when he ran out of memories, she filled the gap.

She tapped the end of her staff against the floor, with a light bump. "I was considered to be an EAD - but I didn't take it." The old woman said, "I put my ethereal duties first."

Ebony huffed, folding her arms. "More like decrepit, prune-faced old bint with too many contracts to count!" The Crone raised her cane, a knobbled stick which looked as though it was grown and plucked, roots and all. "Okay - fine, fine! My mistress was last seen in Witchwood, almost at Sticks' County to get to the bridge to Ogonori Island. The police got to the scene of the crash - and, and, Ivory says there was another person with the big guy."

"Who? A short guy, close cropped hair, big shit eating grin?" Luca asked, describing Frankie.

"No - a woman, still grinning though," Ebony pushed her fingers together, looking aside as she recalled what her sister felt when she looked into their face for the briefest of moments. "Ivy said she was a powerful spellcaster."

"That's a new one..." Luca said, scratching his head. "I didn't think Driver was working with magic. Anyway - no matter what he's got planned, I'll get your Mistress back." He put his other hand on the table, revealing the Grapple Stunner. Making a couple of gestures with his fingers, he brought up the communicator to the Phoenix Team group chat. "I'll get the team together, and we'll head to Witchwood this afternoon."

He begun transcribing a message...

Code:

FR: Luca
TO: PT-GroupChat
-MSG-
Guys, we've got a new client, looking for a kidnapped friend.
Meet at the foot of Ferros Block at noon, and we'll head to Witchwood together.
PS: The Driver is involved - identified by a friend of the target who fled the scene.
PPS: Also, so is magic. Be prepared for weird things maybe.

A reply came quickly, unusual for the early morning.

Code:

FR: Seiren
TO: PT-GroupChat
-MSG-
Buried under projects, both lit and fig. can't come.
Sorry.
Come see me l8er.

"We have some friends who can help, they also work for my mistress." Ebony offered, looking from her chair as Luca coordinated his group. Trying desperately to remain relevant.

"I'll consider it," Luca said, nodding. "I've-" A new message came through suddenly.

Code:

FR: [ENCRYPTED]Rider
TO: [ENCRYPTED]Phoenix
-MSG-
Source says Driver was sighted again.
Sending Shadowcat to assist this time.
He can't be allowed to make us look bad again.

Luca blinked. "I think we can take the rest from here ma'am," he told Crone and Ebony, nodding as he stood up and raised his hand to give it a businesslike shake. "Leave it to us." He smiled warmly, nodding to assure his new clients.

Ebony took his hand with a band of hair and shook it gingerly. "Um, are you sure? We have people-"

And with that, Luca spun out of the room and left to get his weapons, jacket, and his bike out of the shed downstairs. Taking a can of crimson paint Cordial offered him on the way out. Yttrium followed, hastily donning and integrating armoured plates into her form.

Later, Luca and Yttrium were waiting half an hour before noon for the Team's arrival, sitting at ground level of the apartment complex.

 

"Phoenix."



Out of a shadowy corner of the complex's lobby stepped a blonde woman in a long coat. The coat's black colour and red edges matched the streaks in her hair appropriately, lending her the airs of a dark personage, especially with how the shadows seemed to follow her straight out.

"I've heard a lot about you. I expect you to live up to your reputation, Phoenix." The cat said, hoisting her comically long sword of her shoulder and setting it scabbard tip to the ground, with her hands on top of the grip. It blocked her face for a moment, so in the slightest hint of a fluster, she twisted the grip and the scabbard shrunk, allowing the length to reach a more normal level for using as a pseudo-cane. She gave a glance of acknowledgement to the Chelti in the room, eyeing them cautiously.

"Is that one a threat?" she asked Luca, reaching a hand to flick the blade open ever so slightly while she indicated at Snuffles.

 

Sargasso, Barrier Island, Ferros Block Ground Level
Luca was expecting Snuffles to arrive first, and he gave the chelti alien (and their mouthy bird) a wave of acknowledgement. He didn't pry too much into the living standards of his crew as long as they showed up fed, dressed, and with an appetite for wetwork. As he waited, he could feel air moving unnaturally, a soft breeze he didn't anticipate brushing him by. Looking over his shoulder and towards the lobby of the apartment building, he saw the petite blonde woman materialise from shadows.

Hearing his EAD codename, Luca didn't put on much of his usual boast and charisma on. "As have I - you used to roll with Decker, yeah?" He asked, having glanced at Shadowcat's file while he was compiling what he knew of the fallen organisation. "Hopefully the time off hasn't softened you either."

When Shadowcat drew her attention towards the Chelti, Luca snickered. "Of course! I point them towards the enemy, and then they're threatened." She had heard that Luca was working with such a repulsive alien species - say nothing of the Raiken he was seen rubbing shoulders with. Then - the Chelti's pet bird made its mouthy outburst - and Luca didn't let it slide. While the organisation was disgraced, some of its people could still hold their heads with some dignity.

"For your information," He pointed a disciplinary finger towards Sparrow, "she disappears in shadows, reappears when you least expect, and stabs things with that long sword, hence the name. And it is a long sword." Looking aside after sticking up for Shadowcat, he asked, "Magic or something, right?" He knew what it was, but he wanted to give it an air of mystery.

The roar of Breyja's bike pulling up nearby signalled another arrival, and a message on the groupchat from Ravnir confirmed their status. Nodding, Luca corralled the new arrivals together: "Ravnir is on location, so we'll move out, and I'll outline what's going on when we're all together." Snuffles and Breyja had brought bikes, while Yttrium was riding with Luca in a large sidecar. With that, Luca had set the destination for everyone to follow, and they set off together.


Sargasso, Southern Palms, Witchwood
Riding out together, the team moved south through Ogonori Island, heading to the southernmost point of the island and turning right to head down the long bridge to Southern Palms. The windbreakers to stop trucks and larger cars from rocking in the breeze were up and on, diffusing the gusts and making the trip towards the continental landmass of Sargasso. The trip through Southern Palms was first greeted with the lush, verdant fields of Agrary, rows and rows of traditional crops growing and flittering gingerly in the breeze, while orchards of fruit trees had caught the morning dew - making the fruits shine.

Beyond that, the mostly Greaseheart settlement of Sticks County loomed large - the hulks of washed up old interstellar spacecraft moored to the ground and repurposed into living spaces and salvage businesses. Traffic thickened a little as people were doing their daily errands, but it thinned at the edges of the flyover country, once the treeline of Witchwood came into view.

As the motorcade of Phoenix Team (and Shadowcat) continued heading northwest towards the forests of Witchwood, the team begun to notice a haze uncharacteristic with the rest of Saragsso's weather falling over the dark pines, as the canopy of the forest begun to blot the sun. Strong rays of sunlight and an overcast, diffuse light kept the road visible - but anything beyond a hundred or so metres was an outline. Luca had turned on a fog-cutting light as a precaution, slowing his pace in case something leapt out and sidelined his bike.

Looking at his GPS, the coordinates for the scene of the described smash-and-grab was approaching. Luca held up his hand to call for quiet as a fallen tree came into view, followed by warning signs erected by the local council directing people to use one lane of traffic. An automated 'stop/slow' sign checkpoint was erected on the two lane road, moving traffic around the scene of a car-crash and fallen log. At this time of day, the pathways through the forest weren't travelled much - with many people favouring the north/south highway via Agrary, or moving through the more familiar and urban Sticks County.

Dismounting and walking past the automated stop/slow sign and road cones, Luca saw a fallen tree laid almost parallel to the road. Looking at the wood chips, shredded leaves and scuffs on the ground, the car must've crashed into the log side on, and then pushed the log out into the road. The skidmarks on the road indicated a sudden stop, but the car hadn't had the time or distance to do so effectively.

Looking closer at the car, Luca and the others could see that the passenger side's door had been torn off its hinges and discarded, leaving the plush white interior of the limousine to the elements. Broken wine bottles, crystal glass, and red stains littered the carpet and leather seating, while a stack of phone books secured by a belt had smashed through the driver's side window and the windscreen.

Then there was the melange of smells in the air mingled with the forest haze - of damp, steamy fire and twisted metal ozone, mingled with the collage of the car's oil, drained petroleum, and other mechanical fluids.

What he couldn't see, however, was the magical auras which pervaded the area, lingering in the air and fog. What Luca could however tangibly effect was a business card he found in the car. "Harumi Club?" He asked himself, turning the white card around in his hands, reading the black text on it. He brought up his communicator to see if he could look the place up, but he found that there was little signal out here in the fog. The local search page failed to load. Frowning, Luca kept on trying, but the network wasn't available.

"Ugh, what gives?" He bemoaned, narrowing his eyes and looking out and around. Shadowcat, however, could feel the effects of a spell which stopped conventional communications methods. The approaching Ravnir would also sense a magical effect over this area of the forest which still persisted - and he would also notice his communicator's signals going thin, then returning to normal elsewhere.

 

Sargasso, Barrier Island, Ferros Block Ground Level

". . ." Rumia somehow vocalized an ellipsis on Sparrow's insults, making a motion to draw her sword when Luca finally commented on her presence. To his comments, she replied, "I worked with him on occassion. Now, I aid him in his goals, whatever they may be. My blade is as sharp as it always was, Phoenix. As for my talents, you will see."

On the egress, she simply walked back into the shadows and vanished from sight.

Sargasso, Southern Palms, Witchwood
She reappeared from behind a tree near the crash site, stepping carefully around the leaves and grass as to not disturb it too much.

"How distasteful. I could weave a more potent blackout spell than this," Rumia chided, feeling the off-ness of the air.She reached into separate breast pockets with both of her hands, retrieving a dagger and a monocle with a three inch long handle that made it more like a weirdly designed magnifying glass.

She twisted the handle of the monocle, causing it to flash and tint the very slightest hint of red as she looked through it. Rumia took the moment to conclude aloud, "There are none dead here. Or at least, nobody left the mortal coil right here today."

Rumia twisted the handle again, turning it a blue. A quiet "Tch" escaped her mouth before she continued, "Whoever did this was smarter than they have any right to be. I can see only one essence trail leading from here - and it wasn't the backseat person. The backseat one's trail ends just outside the car, but the driver got away. Or left a breadcrumb trail purposefully."

She pocketed the monocle and unsheathed the dagger. The knife was covered in many etched writings that glowed softly as she traced the area in a circle around them with it, leaving a faint trail of light.

"Try your communicator now. Within the bounds."

 

Sargasso, Southern Palms, Witchwood, Overturned Limousine
Feeling tremors in the ground and making her oily skin shake and jiggle, Yttrium could feel the approach of Ravnir, and she turned to see the Raiken emerge from the trees, hauling his enormous sword over their shoulder. "Oh! It's the Ravnir!" The crude greeted Ravnir with the corners of her face turning up into a smile and an enthusiastic wave, in a show of kindred spirit between large aliens.

"We're just getting started as a matter of fact," Luca answered the raiken's question, "someone's put a blackout ... hex, curse, or something over this area." He looked towards Rumia with acknowledgement for her identification of the phenomenon. "The only reason we have a clue as to our target's whereabouts is that the driver of this limousine fled the scene. A service imp by the name of Ivory, I think."

Yttrium's gaze was wandering around as she looked into the engine. "You mean she's like the little doll thing that greeted us with the witch this morning?" she asked, tilting her head as she squatted down and looked about the crime scene and the trees, currently absent of a meaningful task.

"That would be Ebony. I think they're sisters if the naming convention is anything to go by." Luca replied as he stepped into the magic circle Rumia had drawn up, and gave his communicator a couple of shakes. Even though few parts of his communicator were analogue, the digital signals incoming leapt back to full strength. "Cheers," Luca acknowledged Shadowcat's assistance before searching for and calling Harumi's, holding the receiver to his ear as the dial tone beeped.

The phone rang once, twice, thr- there was a clacking of an old style telephone handle being picked up and a straightforward, feminine voice of someone who clearly relaxed at home in a suit and wore glasses for the look answered. "Hello, Harumi's Club, we're not taking bookings right now, could you call back anoth-"

"This is Luca Pavone, I'm trying to get your-" As soon as he identified himself to the operator on the other side of the line, she started questioning how Luca got the number, then passed the phone to another voice. After some quick pleasantries and an introduction to a 'Momma Sue', who identified herself as the matron for the club, Luca continued with the investigation: "That's right, I'm looking for Harumi. I'm at the scene of the crime. I want to talk to Ivory, get her to recall what she saw." He pulled the phone away from his face and put it on speaker, motioning for the others to listen.

Snuffles' alien snout meanwhile had picked up the unmistakeable scent (and taste) of expensive perfumes, mingled with the wine and broken glass inside the interior of the car. Following the scent, the chelti could perceive a stain of perfume against a tree southwest of the crash site, heading into the thickening trees and uphill.

Luca's communicator meanwhile had a light, lilting, and vaguely feminine voice pour out of it, perhaps not entirely used to speaking basic. "My Mistress was taken by the ... the Driver man. I tried to fight him and defend Mistress, but I had no choice but to blink away when the other witch took notice of me." Luca was curious as to the identity of the co-conspiritor, but motioned for the Imp to continue her recount of the events. "but I stayed nearby - I watched them cross the road and head back the way Mistress and I were going."

Breyja's search of the surrounding area and the beginnings of the forest found deep bootprints in the muddy soil and crushed foliage on an outcropping a few feet above the road, providing a vantage point as the car was to turn a corner in the woods. From here, the vehicle wouldn't have been able to react as the tree fell in front of its path - a trap around a blind corner, indicated by where the skid marks started and how the limousine flipped. Then, footprints lead towards the scene of the crash and onto the road. Driver's distinct and heavy footfall made him easy to track against the ground.

In addition, footprints lead to the vantage point came from the road, then disappeared - perhaps indicating that Driver and their companion had been dropped off. When Rumia came close to this area, she could smell the aftertaste of ozone in the air. The lightning bolt which had felled the tree on the road would've been cast from here. In addition, she felt the presence of the blackout magic and gravitated towards runes etched into a pine tree, alight with magic.

Dispelling the effect would involved felling the tree or finding some way to disrupt the runes without causing a backdraft as the excess magic power blew out. "Can you describe what the other person accompanying The Driver looked like?" Luca asked Ivory, as any clues as to this person's identity would be vitally important.

"I only saw a grin under their hood, with too many teeth - more than a human's." Ivory replied. "Is ... is that all?"

Luca looked up. "Any other questions for the star witness?" He asked.

 

"A witch? Hagbloods are so reprehensible," Rumia hissed, as her cat-ears listened in on Luca's call while she eyed the runes on the tree she'd found. "And runes are so primitive. What are they, a primary schooler?"

She pulled out a communicator and snapped a picture, sent it to Luca, then pocketed it again. "Ask her if she recognizes that. I never studied this kind of low-tier trash," Rumia said. One of her hands went to her side, gripping her sword. A breath hissed out of her teeth as a metallic slide was heard, then the clacking of the blade's hilt meeting sheath in a mere two seconds. The pine tree fared poorly from this interaction as an "x" shape rendered itself across the trunk before sliding apart into chunks, which caused the runes to spark and fizzle. Rumia watched the tree fall further into the forest rather than back onto the road.

Rumia stalked back towards Luca, eyeing Ravnir in the process but holding her tongue on commenting on him.

"Footprints disappeared. It seems they might have went with a repulsor or rotor driven craft than a tread or wheel-based one," she said.

 

Sargasso, Southern Palms, Witchwood, Overturned Limousine
Watching the splinters and chunks of wood fly into the air and come apart at a distance followed by tree smashing against tree and hewing boughs with it, Luca sucked on his teeth and wondered aloud with his communicator still in hand. "Ivory, ask Momma Sue if she knows any witches who fancy carving runes into trees." He received the image of a rune on the tree's bark from Rumia a moment later, and passed it along to the Imp. "Could narrow our co-conspirator down. These things have, like, signatures, right?"

Ivory could be heard umm'ing and ahh'ing at the picture other end of the line, before Momma Sue's voice came through. "I'll take a closer look at this." She said, taking a moment to take in the features of the rune etched onto the tree. A two-circle styled base with smaller incantation runes peppered throughout, and a handful of power runes oriented at forty five degree angles. "I'll retrace this at home and ask my Weird contacts what they see. Could you get more pictures?"

Luca glanced towards the freshly felled tree on the hillock, and picked some wood chips out of his hair. "Unless you wanna hundred piece jigsaw puzzle, that ain't happening." He lamented, looking towards Rumia with a withering glance and a shaking head.

Noticing the Chelti had gone into the woods following their nose, Luca pointed out in the alien's general direction. "Looks like Snuffles has a trail though." He said, corralling his team to begin following the alien bounty hunter. "Keep us posted," he made his last address to Momma Sue, "and we'll get Harumi back one way or another." With that, he pocketed his communicator and begun advancing towards the hill, following the Chelti.


The Witchwoods were one of the slices of natural land which went without the Unit's signature terraforming touch. Only the roads which wove through the hills and trees, flanked by fluorescent guiding signposts and lined with protective railings broke up the green sprawl. The scent of pine and other coniferous trees laid thick in the air, uncharacteristic for the tropical climate of the rest of Sargasso - perhaps another Unit or Maidenhand innovation of botany and mass landscaping at work.

Along the way, the team saw the signs of animals large and small - squirrels, rabbits, foxes, birds of many sorts, and insects moving happily with the breeze. After an hour of trekking through the forest, Luca and company found themselves in the heart of a rolling meadow, deep inside the forest and away from any road. The trail went cold amongst the forbs and underbrush - but did so in a flattened portion of the field which smelled faintly of brimstone and burnt petrol. A closer inspection of the surrounding brush saw signs of scorched grass and dirt.

Standing in the middle of a circle of flattened dirt with a pattern burnt into it, Luca put his hands on his hips, shaking his head and scratching behind his ear. "So. They teleported somehow, or they got another pickup. Hm." He paced about the circle.

Looking out across the green field and idly undulating, the team's Crude crossed her arms and looked up at the overcast sky, spiderwebbed with grey, perhaps bringing a light shower in an hour or two. "Do you think they got a helicopter, or something?" Yttrium scented the air with her shining exterior, noticing the smell of exhaust against the dirt, bending down to grope at it with a pseudopod extruded from her elbow. "There's petrol fumes here too, but not like the ones at the crash site..." Perhaps a mix meant for a different sort of engine.

Before he could answer, Luca put his foot down near the edge of the clearing as he pondered his options. One arose when he felt something vibrate underfoot as a rising hum filled the air. He dove away with a gasp and roll, thinking he'd trodden on a mine. Ravnir and Rumia could sense the telltale signs of magic stirring beneath them, and Rumia watched a pattern of red lines unfurl on the grass, turning into another circle - much larger and more potent than the rune upon the tree, measuring three metres in diameter.

From the patch of underbrush Luca had dove into, he emerged with an raised eyebrow at the new discovery. "Well then!" He announced triumphantly before realising he didn't know what it was. "...what is this?" He kept his distance from the centre of the circle, in case it reacted to someone entering, or if something was to come out. As he looked around, his foot bumped against something left in the underbrush. He paused and knelt down, lifting a hand-portable fuel canister with a twenty litre capacity. It was empty, judging by how easy it was to lift and the lack of liquid inside. Yttrium blinked at the sight of the can.

"Say, Rumia," Luca said, lifting the can up for the others to see as he kept a wary eye on Yttrium - who was reaching to grab the can and finish off what was left. "You know anyone who uses petrol or other hydrocarbons to kick start big spells?" It was a very Greaseheart form of magery different from Hagblood doctrines or Rumia's more esoteric background - incorporating combustion into a magical spell. He'd seen a technomancer in a garage at a strip mall doing it once or twice. "Does such a thing ring any bells to you?"

 

"Tch." Rumia clicked her tongue, staring at Luca with a blank expression. "I thought you'd recognize this sort of thing, seeing as you are a Greaseheart, Phoenix."

Rumia walked over to the grounded circle, running her hand through the grass and and grasping a piece of greenery in her hands.

"And to answer your question, I recall one or two revmages amongst our ranks at the EAD, though I never spoke with any of them. Their skillsets put them far, far away from mine in most missions. Otherwise, I don't make it a policy to interact with such. . ."

The cat-eared woman held up some of the herbs she'd picked, displaying them to the party. "Basic magic users. This is Fel Leaf. It's something the inadequate use to get their magic started, like tinder for a fire."