Topic: Of Shadows and Light

Natalia

Date: 2006-07-01 17:14 EST
Of Shadows and Light A visit to the Onyx Lotus

Natalia Gioccone, before she set out to meet with Sprocket and so be transported to this sun-forsaken world of monsters and demons, had one final meeting with Clark Ionesco. The man in his impeccible suit, though easily appearing no older than she herself, was quite throughally her Elder in nearly every way. This meeting was simply to finalize what her goals would be, and what his directives were. Establish a haven. Meet with the locals. Establish links of trust to determine suitability for a company chapter. Establish allies.

"...Do you understand, Miss Gioccone?" he asked, finally.

"Yes, sir, Mr. Ionesco. I will do as you have requested, and to the best of my capabilities." She wanted to give him a dazzling smile. She couldn't. Her charms would never work on him anyway.

"See that you do, Miss Gioccone.." he started, turning somewhat in his plush, large leather chair. "..but even those capabilities might not be enough."

She was taken aback, then, and did not have to remember to blink before she blinked several times in disbelief. "You doubt my dedication, sir?"

"Of course not. What I doubt is you ability to handle this new world with just your own strength as your aegis. Sprocket has told me much of this world in the time since I had first ordered you there" Clark Ionesco paused, briefly.

Natalia nodded, wordlessly, waiting for him to finish.

"And now I will tell you a secret, Miss Gioccone. A secret that you will use only in the most dire of circumstances. The company you work for — my company — is part of several, spanning across multiples of worlds..."

"...Upon this world where you are to go, there is one. Another, much as us — though far, far different. Do not be misled by the commonplace appearance of her establishment. She is a creature of power, and one of resources. It is those resources that you might have need to tap."

"Be warned, Miss Gioccone. You must take every bit of your wit and charm and intellect with you if you are go down that road. She was shrewd, last we had heard of her, and unforgiving. The price for the assistance rendered could be smaller than you ever dreamed of — or far greater than you could have possibly imagined..."

"...I will tell you now, Miss Gioccone, what to say if you have need of her. Heed my words well, and now that if you have spoken them to the proper individual, then they will guide you from there..."

Several Weeks Later, After the Arrival

Natalia Gioccone now stood outside the Onyx Lotus, situated two blocks over and down the street from her apartment on the corner of Veith and Kloran. The night was pressing on, but she could see the faint burning of lights inside.

It would be dark. How quaint.

Pencil skirt and tailored blazer were, tonight, colored a deep navy with gray pinstripes. A soft blouse worn beneath was a luminious white to off-set the suit itself. Elegant pumps and silk stockings completed her attire — with, of course, the leather briefcase she had at all times, locked with the dual combinations of individual spinning tumblers beneath either latch.

Pushing her way inside, her eyes swept quickly from left to right, and then right to left back; the soft click-clack-click of heels striking a slow and calculated cadence against the flooring like a metronome keeping time. A hanger-on was shuffling about, "browsing" no doubt beneath the watchful eye of the languid cat that sat perched atop the counter at the far end of the room.

With the rasp of polyester skirt over silk stockings, she walked deeper inside, now toward that counter.

Myllyanna Lotus

Date: 2006-07-02 01:33 EST
From the other side, behind the shelving displaying bird and cricket cages to various idols and boxes with markings from unknown parts of many worlds, dark eyes watch.

Myllyanna remembered Natalia, and a soft smile set into place as she walked out from behind the display. An old ring tray in her hands, filled with rings of so many different sizes, colors, and shapes, she greeted as she set it at the counter.

"Good evening," she chimed as she folded her hands infront of her, pardon the mess we are re-arranging a few things. Myllyanna looked over her shoulder at the part in the back room curtian of beads. A small round face of Ami peeked out and ducked back in seeing her Mistress stern notice.

Turning her attention back to Natalia, " I trust you did not have a hard time finding the shop." She means the suit, it was a beautiful, almost too nice for this time of night in this section.

Natalia

Date: 2006-07-02 03:02 EST
Addressed now, the Rose turned aside as if examining something she had seen on a shelf that might have sparked her interest. She didn't have to remember to blink this time, though - it just happened. Some kind of strange plant with what appeared to be an eyeball set into the center of a tiny, green, sponge-like body'

Natalia remembered Myllyanna. Why did it have to be someone she had met before" If she could, she'd have made a deep inhalation of breath to steel herself, but such things were beyond her capabilities of doing, or simply outside the realm of her caring, now. So many wonderful and decadent treats, now lost to the whims of unhappy chance and the travail of ages.

Like chocolate. She misses that in particular.

"I trust you did not have a hard time finding the shop?" the Asian had asked.

That suit was almost too nice, wasn't it' Very nearly prim and proper, in fact, so elegant as it was stylish and, at the same time, simple. It suited her, to a degree, this woman of curves and a real physique. Round without being fat, nor too noticably plump. She was just soft and luscious. Simply — womanly.

"Not a hard time at all," she replied smoothly, clearing her throat as she swept dark eyes across other ...unique treasures....to be had on those shelves. "But I do not seem to be finding what I am searching for here, yet. Perhaps you could help me?"

She turned her dark, dark eyes onto Myllyanna then. Her gaze piercing, and even, and unblinking. Her voice lowered, mindful now of the other one elsewhere in the shop; the browser.

"Clark Ionesco," with a particular emphasis on the name, "has sent me to find a dragon."

Myllyanna Lotus

Date: 2006-07-03 19:27 EST
"Ah, Ionesco. If it is Ionesco that sent you then I can help you find exactly what you need." It was true, if she didn't have it, she knew who did.

Myllyanna blinked softly, and when her sharp eyes had reopened they were fixed on the other guest. But for but a moment, then resting back on the bella infront of her.

"If I remember...." she smiled ever so lightly, " last time I spoke to him he was interested in a few of these exact rings," her small hands motioned to the tray. An invitaion to step closer, to talk softer out of ear shot. She knew the rings where not it at all, but could tell the girl was smart and would catch on.

Inside, Mylly was curious. Hearing that name again made her wonder what the man was up to. She felt like a cat looking into a brand new fishing bowl.

Natalia

Date: 2006-07-05 11:42 EST
She turned her gaze briefly as the other displayed a rack of rings. She played her cards into this woman, trusting perhaps a bit too much, but....well, in the end, Clark Ionesco had sent her to her, now, if she had needed it, and she had, indeed, needed it.

Her dark eyes swept down over the rings, her hand rising and sliding lightly over several of them like an intimate lover's velvet caress. It was a ruse. Those dark, dark eyes were, in fact, turned sideways to the other woman, her voice still its normal tone. "Yes, they are lovely. I think, perhaps, he would have wanted me to pick him up one."

Her hand lingered, as if interested. It was a game she knew all too well. This time when she spoke, though, it was considerably softer; words came drenched in honey as if by automatic reaction of the parting her painted lips. "I am in danger. Not immediate, I do not think, but there are those who would not mourn my passing."

Myllyanna's eyes went from the rings to Natalia's face for but a moment then back to the rings, and with a soft flip of her hand shows one bloodstone from the Holy Land. Her voice was soft, as if talking about coloring, "You did not bring them to my shop, did you like this one?"

The Rose bristled. It was not a preening of dangerous thorns, though, but a fluttering of lovely petals. The woman's words, melding two ideas into a single series of words, displayed evidence of her dealings with Clark Ionesco and his associates. It was a subtle thing, the words she used, but it was there. How to have a conversation in public about one thing, but having its end aimed at another goal.

She had patience enough to outlast the most stubborn of those who denied her advances. She could hold a grudge for years, patient in the fact that, in the end, she would be the one with the last laugh and a lingering smile of triumph. Natalia did not have the patience to pick over words like that

It was noted and appreciated, however.

"I am not hunted that way. Yet." Her tongue slid across the front of her teeth as her fingers come to light upon the indicated bloodstone. A few seconds worth of linger, and a dismissive flick of her wrist was made as if turning it down. Her head lifted, settling dark eyes upon the Asian again briefly before returning to the rings.

Another was chosen and worshiped by the lingering touch of a finger, carefully selected because it was opposite of the one Myllyanna herself had indicated. "But I do not think it will be long. My activities have garnered notice, and I have been threatened for doing what I must. The power here...it is beyond what I have to wield against it..."

The woman in the fine suit lifted her chin, then, raising her eyes to meet the other's again. It was tradition, you see, steeped stronger in history than law, to meet another's eyes to show them respect. Perhaps it was just amongst her kind — her particular vintage of her kind, even — but such things were set into her as if cut from rock.

Meeting the eyes showed respect, because so often the eyes of her kind held a great power; the ability to fully Dominate another. Natalia did have a working knowledge of that power, much as she despised using it while on the prowl in the common room of the public house. She was, most certainly, not going to use it here and now. If Clark Ionesco held an awe for this lady, then that meant that she, herself, had power in some way.

Natalia was not a fool. She had no desire to taste of this woman's capabilities. "A girl must defend herself."

Natalia

Date: 2006-07-06 22:21 EST
Hearing that the Italian's danger was not on her door step seemed to make the Asian more relaxed. Natalia had an eye for the language of the body, and as much as Myllyanna attempted to look flat and level, the Rose could see the very minute relaxation of muscles across the side of the woman's neck, the vanish of a furrowed wrinkle upon the woman's smooth, smooth brow.

She could almost hear the other's heart slow a bit.

Myllyanna took a step back and looked to the curtian. A sharp couple of snaps of her fingers sent Ami from hiding to herd the browsing man out. The woman kept her gaze locked on Natalia as the younger girl ushered the looker-on out the door, assuring him that it was time to close, but welcoming him back in invitation the next day.

The Asian spoke, "Just a moment and we will have time. If you were sent to me, we don't have much to waste, do we?"

Natalia turned her eyes as the interloper was being escorted out. As he was, her hand dropped from the useless baubbles before her. The chime of the bell over the door rings, marking that they were alone as the younger girl ducks out of sight and upstairs.

"I understand you can be a hard negotiator," the Rose spoke, at last, "And I am not a reckless creature, waiting until the very last seconds before my foes descend upon me. There is time enough, and....perhaps....a little more."

Even in her time of need, the Rose was a person of habit. She wondered what this Asian might taste like.

"It's good to keep them close until you must spring away. But now, that we are alone....you can tell me exactly what you think I might do for you." Myllyanna moved them over to a set of hand carved chairs that still smelt like ancient pine. She motioned for the Rose to sit down, then turned and went about drawing the curtains over the windows, and displaying the CLOSED] sign in the door for the night.

Tiny steps were heard coming from out of the dark, and Natalia turned her head to spy the younger girl - Ami - bringing a tray of Tea.

Myllyanna spoke again, returning to the chairs that Natalia awaited her at. "I must know more."

"My superior, Mr. Ionesco, informed me you are a woman of resources." One stockinged leg rose and crossed over the other at the knee, bouncing elegant pumped foot once in what might have been a nervous tendency.

"Those I hunt have friends, and these friends have power that my own cannot compare with. Mine is the control of emotions, the taunting tease of a caress-not-felt. Not the ability to create shards of ice that tear and rip, or the power of the mind to open windows that....ought to remain shut."

She shuddered, then. The Red Fear. Even the remembering of it was enough to send a chill up her cold spine.

"I need....a defense. A guard. An aegis, I believe, is the term Mr. Ionesco used. Something that could cause these powers — this ...this magic — to fade and fail. ...Or be redirected."

Natalia

Date: 2006-07-08 16:22 EST
Natalia watched as Myllyanna sat down in the chair across from her. The woman took on a look of serious thought, and pose was one straight out of every antique comic of every proper Asian woman one would see. Natalia knew better than to think that the woman herself was antiquated, though. She was not some anachronistic armor-wearing lackwit like so many other sheep she's seen.

This one's mind was modern. Natalia could do nothing but identify with that — and appreciate it.

"You have already stumbled onto the right path," she said, finally, "for here in West End not all magics work as the should. But still, that is no promise from the ones you must concern yourself with."

She crossed her hands in her lap, and drummed her fingertips once as Ami leaves the tea set and departs again in utter silence. "Now, you understand what you ask for will take some research on my part, and time. While I can speed along the process so far, I must advice further you seek safe haven until then. Perhaps even a place here, in this section of the City' If they do not know you are here that is. "

The Rose's chin lifted, then dipped again. Words had been poised on the tip of her devil tongue, but were kept hidden behind neat teeth and painted lips. She watched with her dark eyes, hands already folded in her lap. Natalia was, perhaps, the West to Myllyanna's East in posture. "I have apartments here in the WestEnd, yes. But sequestered away in my apartments would mean a slow and painful death for me."

"I....have needs, miss." An ever-unblinking stare.

And she turned her head, then. It was a brief thing before she was back upon the other female. Her decadent habits had spoken too loudly in what she said; she needed this woman's assistance, not her body.

...Not yet, anyway.

"They do not know, no. Just when I am seen in that public house. That...that Red Dragon Inn. I will do as you advise, for as long as I can, and keep my trips into the public house at a minimum until such time as you have rendered your aid."

Myllyanna's stoic gaze almost made the Rose want to shift uncomfortably in her chair. Lifting a brow slowly, it slide right back into place with out a pass of judgement on her features. "I see, and there is where you would also need my help?" It was a question mixed with statement.

Natalia bent slightly, just far enough to scoop up one of the little cups of tea. Even if she never brought it up to so much as touch her lips (which she would not), she was well-versed in etiquette enough to not flat refuse the hospitality. Then, she said something as if by automatic rote; without thinking. "Are you offering, duckling?"

Natalia blinked. Like the little spongy green eyeball ...thing....on the shelf she had walked by, she didn't have to remember to do it this time. It just happened. Just like the words that came out of her mouth. She was a creature of habit, indeed. Natalia made a cough-like noise, and offered up an apologetic smile of painted lips.

Seemingly ignoring Natalia's words and apologetic smile, she continued on. "That is wise, as I doubt you have grown this old without learning a thing or two," she paused as she picked up her tiny tea cup.

"And he is going to be footing the bill for this assistance, or is he leaving that up to you?"

She looked Natalia in the eyes as she took a sip of the tea finally.

Natalia

Date: 2006-07-08 19:10 EST
"He has left it to me. Mr. Ionesco is a man of prudence, and I've no idea how to contact him now anyway. I am here on his assignments, but I stand alone in what I do, save only his words to seek you out if I come upon the situation I currently find myself in." She considered speaking of her skill at negotiating, but decided that, unlike Mr. Ionesco, that would not be prudent at the moment. Instead, she just maintained the eye contact the other offered, light glinting softly off the gold-and-red scepter pinned to her blazer lapel.

Myllyanna's chin lifted just the barest of bits, and she took in a deep breath. Natalia wanted to shift uneasily in her seat, but that might have given away too much. This woman frightened her, somehow, someway, on a very visceral level. She could feel it pumping through her blood.

Like adrenaline. Only cold.

The cost for these services would likely have been extremely higher for Clark Ionesco, but the Italian guessed that the 'cost' would be heavy for her in the long run as well. After all, was it not she that was the one that needed the protection and rare knowledge" Was it not her life that depended on it'

"Things are more clear now," Myllyanna said cryptically, setting her cup down. "It is good that he has sent you to me. And I am sure he has warned you to be prepared, so we will not go into that now."

"He did warn me to be prepared, yes, but he was....vague. Only that I needed to bring every ounce of wit, charm, and skill I had to the table when negotiations began. Know that I will do so." It seemed less like a threat, though, coming from the Italian woman, and more like a sort of promise that might be purred against one's ear. The Rose had thorns, and one such thorn was a keen mind when it came to negotiations. She did, after all, handle much of The Company's finances through the accounting office she was the head of, and the terse words and delicate compromise of the board room was always such delightful fun.

The Asian rose to her feet in one fluid movement and put on a soft smile. "I have yet asked if you have any questions of me?"

As the other woman rose, so too did Natalia, little cup set back upon the tray. She smoothed her hands over her pencil skirt automatically. One must always present their best. "Questions....yes. I am curious. How did Mr. Ionesco know to send me to you? How much resources could you have to stand out in even his mind as something that should be mentioned, when he gave not even so much as a single scrap of information about the rest of this place?"

A dragon like smile lit Myllyanna's face as she lowered her head in an ever-so-slight nod, "Questions such as those, I promise, are never answered, but found out for one's self. Be assured, this is a very very small universe."

"And yes, once we start talks, you will need all your mind, I simply like to make people use what they have, for we will talk about your cost once I have what you need. I will send Ami to you with news, so try not to be alarmed when she shows."

The Italian lifted her arm. A flare of fingers, a flick of her wrist, a sleight of hand and — snap — held now in her hand was a thin card, white, and emblazoned with a fancy "N" watermark. In block-print letters upon the card were two lines. The first contained the address of her apartments in the WestEnd. The second line listed the number of the room she had aquired for herself at the Red Dragon.

That card was extended out toward the other. "An absolute pleasure it will be, I'm sure. Once our business has been concluded, I would think to have you for dinner at my apartments if it pleases you. You look the kind to enjoy a good torta mantovana, or acquacotta, and it has been so long since I have played the good and tender hostess." She offered another dazzling smile, that card extended as much for Ami's sake as it might have been a rather open invitation for Myllyanna herself.

The Dragon Lady grinned — simply grinned — as she took the card and with every respectful flare walked Miss Natalia to the shop's door, "I would like that very much, I think. Until then, rest. Rest well while you can. Those you speak of do not rest at all. As promised I will send word."

Ami stood once again in the back waiting to take up the tea and lock up for the night as her Mistress said goodnight, though that night was way past its middle.

The bell chimed once more as the door opened, and Natalia Gioccone turned her head, canted to the side over her shoulder as she stepped outside, the night embracing one of its own. It was not the caul of a black leather trenchcoat, though, nor even the slinky little nothings of spidersilk halter that suggested and gave away in the same gesture.

"I will be waiting with baited breath, Myllyanna. Be assured of that."

And away she went, metronome click-clack-click of heeled shoes echoing on the broken sidewalk of the WestEnd as she returned to her haven to reflect upon this meeting. There was still that oh-so-special bottle of wine that she had brought from Sussex that would last her a few nights. And, if nothing else, there was always the legacy of Antonio Stradivari she kept in her posession to pass the time with.