The Dark Shards (IC)

by **Sweater Town** » Mon Aug 06, 2012 8:21 pm

Background
Long ago, in ancient Babylon a man by the name of Mushussu witnessed a star fall to earth. Locating the fallen star, he discovered that it was, in fact, a meteor made up of what appeared to be pure ruby. Not only this, but the ruby was perfectly round, about the size of a modern soccer ball. Mushussu took the ruby home and began studying it. He discovered that it held phenomenal paranormal power. Mounting it to a staff, Mushussu set out to take over Babylon and, indeed, the entire world. However, at the peak of Mushussu's reign of terror, just before he finally took over, the Ruby shattered, spreading fragments all across the globe. The blast turned Mushussu into a terrible monster. Thankfully, a Babylonian priest found a single shard and used it to imprison Mushussu in a pocket dimension prison, the entrance to which he hid in the city. Only that completed Ruby Sphere could unlock Mushussu's prison.

The shards of the ruby changed the course of history. Each shard contained a fraction of the powers the completed sphere contained. They eventually found themselves in the possession of some of history and myth's greatest heroes and villains. These people incorporated the ruby shards into everyday items, which then took on the powers the shards possessed. These artifacts have survived to this day, and are now in the hands of two groups of people.

The Cult of Mushussu: Those who want to reform the sphere and release Mushussu, and are using their personal shard artifacts to collect others.
The Protectors: Those who use their shard artifacts to fight back against the Cult.

London
Sylvia Pines wandered around Piccadilly Circus. She had little to nothing to do, but she knew it wouldn't always be like this. She saw all the warning signs. She knew that a war was coming. The two groups, protectors and cultists, had been enemies for millennia, ever since Mushussu's son had founded the Cult and Ugurnaszir, the priest who originally imprisoned Mushussu, founded the protectors. They had remained enemies, and fought battles all the time, but Sylvia knew things were about to change. Everything was going to come to a head. One team or another was going to win, and it would happen within her life time, she could feel it.

She felt exposed without her staff, but it was rather conspicuous in modern day London. People would stare and maybe even phone the authorities. And that would bring in the cultists. No, on a day off she had to remain invisible. She had just been about to browse through a shoe store when her phone buzzed; a text message. It instructed her to head back to headquarter immediately. So much for my day off.

Other Stuff!!

Key to below: Red=Cult, Green=Protectors, Blue=Rogue, Bold=Owned by a character in the game

The OOC is still open!

by **Halleon** » Mon Aug 06, 2012 9:25 pm

A small park in a suburb in the City of London

The man known as Shadow Reaper stood motionless in the shadow of the tree, invisible to the eye. He studied the two men before him with great interest. It was rumored that a shard was to be exchanged tonight, something the Cult had sent him to prevent. He had spent hours trailing the man. Shadow Reaper felt a great feeling of distaste towards both of the men, fools who thought they were important were always careless in their routines. In had been like stalking a child, a waste of his time. Just as he was thinking these thoughts he quickly noticed a group of men approaching their intentions were clear, someone was being doubled crossed.

Shadow Reaper couldn't suppress his grin, this is what he lived for the feeling of killing was the greatest feeling in the world no drug or drink could compare to it. The spirit Tamamo-no-Mae whispered in his ear as a lover would,"Remember the little boy you once was for your innocence can be reclaimed, my beloved give up this life of killing and join my embrace." The Spirit circled Shadow Killer trying to gain his attention but Shadow Killer was focused on the meeting of the men.

The group of four men walked up and surrounded the fat man in the suit as the fat man shouted for the elderly man to give him the shard so they could conclude this business.

The Elderly man shouted back,"Pay me first then the shard is yours!"

The Fat man with a evil twisted smile broke into a laugh before speaking,"Pay you? Your a damn fool, i'm just gonna take it."

The Fat man snapped his fingers as his thugs began to approach the old man they drew their weapons. Shadow Killer quickly sprung into action. What appeared to be a fast moving shadow soon merged into a man, with a quick slash Shadow Killer slit open one of the thug's throat as the man collapsed trying to stop the blood from pouring out of his throat. In a blur Shadow Killer moved as his Sessho-seki twin daggers quickly found the throats of two other thugs who didn't even have time to point their pistols at their attacker. The last thug fired a shot off but found that the attacker had disappeared. From the thugs shadow, he rose as his daggers stabbed the thug in the back lifting him up off the ground. His hands clasped the thug's mouth to stop the screaming as the thug's body shivered then ceased moving. Shadow Killer dropped the body before facing the Fat man with a grin, the fat man shook in fear trying to draw his pistol. In a moment the fat man drew his last breath as Shadow Killer removed his daggers from the fat man's eye sockets.

The old man watched with a deep look of disbelieve as he muttered the words,"this shard is a fake." Shadow Killer took no pity on the old man as he stabbed deep in the old man's heart with the dagger in his right hand as he sheathed the dagger in his left hand.
The eyes of the old man stared deeply into the eyes of Shadow Killer, eyes that appeared to be cold as death itself. The old man whispered the words,"thank you for ending my suffering."

by **Aldares** » Mon Aug 06, 2012 10:12 pm

Halleon wrote:A small park in a suburb in the City of London

The man known as Shadow Reaper stood motionless in the shadow of the tree, invisible to the eye. He studied the two men before him with great interest. It was rumored that a shard was to be exchanged tonight, something the Cult had sent him to prevent. He had spent hours trailing the man. Shadow Reaper felt a great feeling of distaste towards both of the men, fools who thought they were important were always careless in their routines. In had been like stalking a child, a waste of his time. Just as he was thinking these thoughts he quickly noticed a group of men approaching their intentions were clear, someone was being doubled crossed.

Shadow Reaper couldn't suppress his grin, this is what he lived for the feeling of killing was the greatest feeling in the world no drug or drink could compare to it. The spirit Tamamo-no-Mae whispered in his ear as a lover would,"Remember the little boy you once was for your innocence can be reclaimed, my beloved give up this life of killing and join my embrace." The Spirit circled Shadow Killer trying to gain his attention but Shadow Killer was focused on the meeting of the men.

The group of four men walked up and surrounded the fat man in the suit as the fat man shouted for the elderly man to give him the shard so they could conclude this business.

The Elderly man shouted back,"Pay me first then the shard is yours!"

The Fat man with a evil twisted smile broke into a laugh before speaking,"Pay you? Your a damn fool, i'm just gonna take it."

The Fat man snapped his fingers as his thugs began to approach the old man they drew their weapons. Shadow Killer quickly sprung into action. What appeared to be a fast moving shadow soon merged into a man, with a quick slash Shadow Killer slit open one of the thug's throat as the man collapsed trying to stop the blood from pouring out of his throat. In a blur Shadow Killer moved as his Sessho-seki twin daggers quickly found the throats of two other thugs who didn't even have time to point their pistols at their attacker. The last thug fired a shot off but found that the attacker had disappeared. From the thugs shadow, he rose as his daggers stabbed the thug in the back lifting him up off the ground. His hands clasped the thug's mouth to stop the screaming as the thug's body shivered then ceased moving. Shadow Killer dropped the body before facing the Fat man with a grin, the fat man shook in fear trying to draw his pistol. In a moment the fat man drew his last breath as Shadow Killer removed his daggers from the fat man's eye sockets.

The old man watched with a deep look of disbelieve as he muttered the words,"this shard is a fake." Shadow Killer took no pity on the old man as he stabbed deep in the old man's heart with the dagger in his right hand as he sheathed the dagger in his left hand.
The eyes of the old man stared deeply into the eyes of Shadow Killer, eyes that appeared to be cold as death itself. The old man whispered the words,"thank you for ending my suffering."

"Ready to head home, Killer?" Lucius laughed slightly, closing his eyes and smiling at his friend. The man seemed completely at ease with the gruesome scene of carnage and death, and didn't even so much as flinch as he stepped over a disemboweled body. Lucius understood the necessity of death in the way of the world, and he was fine with it. After years of masquerading as a ghost, he had lost the real appreciation of life.

Lucius was on a mission with his occasional partner when he had stumbled across what could have been an artifact, then the two had split up. Finding that the ruby was just a fake, he made his way back to find this common sight among his friend.

"Baghdad awaits, you know."

by **Halleon** » Mon Aug 06, 2012 10:24 pm

"Ready to head home, Killer?" Lucius laughed slightly, closing his eyes and smiling at his friend. The man seemed completely at ease with the gruesome scene of carnage and death, and didn't even so much as flinch as he stepped over a disemboweled body. Lucius understood the necessity of death in the way of the world, and he was fine with it. After years of masquerading as a ghost, he had lost the real appreciation of life.

Lucius was on a mission with his occasional partner when he had stumbled across what could have been an artifact, then the two had split up. Finding that the ruby was just a fake, he made his way back to find this common sight among his friend.

"Baghdad awaits, you know."

Shadow Killer flashed a smile that didn't extend to his cold lifeless eyes as he knew his partner had grown use to sights such as this. "Another dead end my friend, not even a challenge like slaughtering a butch of children, there's no pride in this not even a real shard, poor fool was trying to sell a fake."

He shook his head in disappointment as he walked with Lucius away from the scene in the background sirens could be heard no doubt someone had called the police after hearing that gun shot. Asking the question,"When are we suppose to return to Baghdad?"

by **Ouearotion** » Mon Aug 06, 2012 11:33 pm

Etani waved his hand around out the window of a limo as his chauffeur drove it through the streets of London. Young women ran through the street calling out his name "King Etani, please let me marry you!" They all screamed as his limo slowly moved through. One lady screamed "Ohh King Etani, if you let me be your queen I'll lift up m..." She was cut off by a loud buzzing noise which cause Etani to stick his head out the window. "Wait what did you say." He said to the attractive lady. "I said.." Her voice then changed to a manly voice "Etani, you haven't answered any of our texts, if you are still alive and well." After she had finished saying that the world turned dark, and all of the people excluding Etani disappeared. He then looked around "Where is everyone, what happened to my glorious fame!" A gunblade then flew through the air and stabbed Etani in the heart, killing him.

Etani woke up with a start, "What the hell just happened?" He felt around his body for any gashes and was relieved to have found none. "It must've been a dream or something." He then reached for his cellphone and pressed the power button only to see ten text messages and a missed call all from the same person. "Damn, they need me back at hq, this is what ruined my dream." He proceeded to get out of bed and take a shower before heading downstairs and into the kitchen. "For a second there I thought I was the king of Europe." He said to him self as he stuffed a few slices of bread into his mouth and chugged down a glass of milk. Once he had place his dishes in the dishwasher he raced upstairs and got the most important things he owned. The Bracelet of Nexus, without it he was basically useless to the protectors well except for his gunblade skills. "Now all I have to do is text the protectors back, and then I can get going to the hq." He reached for his phone and sent a quick text to the protectors before heading out of his house and racing towards hq.

by **Flammaland** » Tue Aug 07, 2012 12:48 am

Sebastian Forester was sitting in a pub, downing the last of his pint. Mjölnir was sitting in his brief case, waiting to be used again. Sebastian put is glass down and stood up, picked up the case then walked over to the bar, payed and left. He wandered down the street and into a small park, where a scene of chaos lay, dead bodies littered the ground. "Shadow, shadow shadow" he chuckled, his accent coming through clearly "What have you been up to?". He heard sirens in the background and pulled Mjölnir from the case. He spun it around by the leather strap he had attached to it and lifted into the air, using the hammer's momentum to carry him to his house in the outskirts of the city.

by **Jormengand** » Tue Aug 07, 2012 5:53 am

The tower of the dragon disciples: location undisclosed.

"nul'zor"

Pedro heard the single word behind him. "Stop," in the draconic language. He recognised the voice. "Commander Drach'tyr'yon. How nice of you to be there to see me off. Touched."
"Pedro, stop. Why are you taking the orb."
"To release him, of course"
"That would require inordinate amounts of power. You'll kill him."
"Well then, all I need to do is get inordinate amounts of power."

Drach'tyr'yon drew his sword. Pedro drew his. A voice rang out, clear as lighting on a calm day. "Second power of the dragons: hold!" Drach'tyr'yon stopped in mid-air, before collapsing to the floor. Both disciples looked at each other, Pedro slightly more confused than his opponent, who would surely not hold himself. They looked at the orb. "Let him pass!" it stated.

Drach'tyr'yon lifted his head, slowly at first. but then snapping it up at the end. He got to his feet clumsily, almost falling over. He looked not at the orb, but directly at Pedro, into his characteristic grey eyes. He then uttered a single word, not a question, and barely a statement, almost a command for explanation. It was emotionless, calm, and thoughtful. It needed no punctuation nor format.

"What."

Pedro showed him the bottom of the sceptre. "One of the shards? Where did you find that!?"
"In the tower. I was lucky enough to find this too." He showed him Gladius Libra's new attatchment. "Lucky indeed. I believe I can handle this better than you, however."
"However, I do not. Stand aside!"

He did so, and Pedro left.

Drach'jya'lor'tu did not relax. He knew the cult would be after Fi'ra'gu'ra, as well as himself. They would have to fight, and if the cult got hold of the orb that he had become, then he would be destroyed. He just hoped that they split up, and could be dealt with individually.

by **Lambrinisia** » Tue Aug 07, 2012 6:05 am

Halleon wrote:
"Ready to head home, Killer?" Lucius laughed slightly, closing his eyes and smiling at his friend. The man seemed completely at ease with the gruesome scene of carnage and death, and didn't even so much as flinch as he stepped over a disemboweled body. Lucius understood the necessity of death in the way of the world, and he was fine with it. After years of masquerading as a ghost, he had lost the real appreciation of life.

Lucius was on a mission with his occasional partner when he had stumbled across what could have been an artifact, then the two had split up. Finding that the ruby was just a fake, he made his way back to find this common sight among his friend.

"Baghdad awaits, you know."

Shadow Killer flashed a smile that didn't extend to his cold lifeless eyes as he knew his partner had grown use to sights such as this. "Another dead end my friend, not even a challenge like slaughtering a butch of children, there's no pride in this not even a real shard, poor fool was trying to sell a fake."

He shook his head in disappointment as he walked with Lucius away from the scene in the background sirens could be heard no doubt someone had called the police after hearing that gun shot. Asking the question,"When are we suppose to return to Baghdad?"

Francesca, watching from the comfort of a nearby coffee shop, advanced towards the two who were chatting too loud for her liking, producing two sets of airline tickets from her long coat. "You two are returning to Baghdad via Venice. There is somewhere I need you two investigate. I'll brief you once we're there. Lucius, you head to Venice via Madrid. Shadow, you enter via Rome and take an internal flight from there. I'll meet you at the usual place. Now get out of here. Shadow, you've made a huge mess which needs to be cleaned up!" she ordered. She spoke Italian as it was less likely to be understood by passers by, handing over the tickets.

Francesca stepped back as the blood pool slowly advanced and pointed a hand at the mess. "I reject!" she commanded and an aura surrounded the blood pool, bodies and even the bullet hole in a nearby tree. Everything but two pistols that lay on the floor. The aura drew strength from every living creature in the area and quickly rejected everything into oblivion, including the bullet. The bullet hole reversed itself and soon the area was peaceful, just as it had been. She picked up the two guns; a 9mm Beretta Px4 Storm and a .22 caliber Ruger. She dropped the Ruger into her handbag and tucked the Beretta into her waistband, careful to ensure the safety was on and that the barrel was pointed away from her. She knew too many people who had lost an arsecheek while doing things with a gun at the small of their back.

She wandered away as a policeman wandered into the area.

by **Tarnen** » Tue Aug 07, 2012 9:11 am

Walker enjoyed his time off and away from subordinates, and people trying to kill him for his artifact. He put his hand up to his eye-patch touching it for a second, though to the common person it would seem like he was blind in one eye, he actually saw out of both. He noticed a group of people gather around police, he walked up seeing the police telling people to return to what they were doing, holding people at arms length. He saw blood on the grass, and a body with blood on the cloth covering it, Walker infer it was a stab wound.

"Whoa there, no pedestrians pass this point." one of the officer said to him, he tried to move out of the officers way, but he kept on blocking him.

"I like to know what's going on over there." Walker said politely still trying to move out of the officer's way to see better.

"It nothing you need to worry about, move along." putting his hand near his chest to keep Walker at bay. Walker looked down at the hand and then back at the officer "Son, it would be wise to put that arm back to your side, unless you want it broken." Walker stared down the officer, the officer hesitated for a second before bring his arm down. His phone rang in his pocket briefly, he didn't need to look at it to know that he was need back at HQ. He smiled at the officer " You have a nice day now." He did an about face walking away from the crime scene. The officer breathing a sigh of relieve, Walker smiling as he heard it, he did have that effect on people.

by **Len Hyet** » Tue Aug 07, 2012 9:49 am

Silva looked down coldly and dispassionately at the scene below him. The Cultists had moved faster than he would have liked, not even bothering to let the scene play out. Four dead bodies, clearly killed by eachother, was nothing. The fact that the Shadow Pup, as Silva liked to call him, had moved so quicky betrayed that which Silva had suspected for years now. He was too damn impatient. Had he not moved, he could have plucked the obviously fake shard from one of the corpses.

The Assassin of the Protectors lightly stroked the Claw with his gauntleted hand. A surge of telepathic awareness cut into Silva's mind. It demanded he rip Charon's Claw from it's sheath and move among the Cultists as a killing maniac, slaughtering them and stealing their very souls as it burned the skin from their skulls.

Silva ignored the demand and instead continued stroking the hilt of the blade. As he watched the cultists, he finally decided it was pointless. He couldn't hear them, and they were too damn arrogant for him to care what they said. Silva shrugged and turned, walking away from the edge of the roof. He lightly leaped onto another, and began to run across the rooftops away from the cultists.

by **Lambrinisia** » Tue Aug 07, 2012 10:02 am

After issuing orders to her subordinates, Francesca headed to a large, imposing house near Regents Park. She had inherited this place from her Grandfather and it still had a large number of hiding places for mafia related business. Although Francesca had risen to her Grandfather's position in the mafia, she trusted her subordinates, which included two brothers, to take care of business and to give her fair share of the earnings. She unloaded the two pistols and hid them away, before grabbing an overnight bag and an Italian passport in the name of Maria Fratelli before leaving.

The tall redhead took a black cab down the road to St Pancras station where she caught the Eurostar to Paris. Here, she took a cab to Charles De Gaulle airport and flew to Venice, landing at Marco Polo airport in the early hours of the following morning. As she travelled, she followed all the precautions needed to avoid followers but she felt that she may have picked up a tail. Francesca headed towards a queue for water taxis, alert for anybody following her.

by **Sweater Town** » Tue Aug 07, 2012 11:53 am

Sylvia hopped on the underground and headed over to Monument Station. Walking back out into the sun light she let her eyes adjust and found her barrings. It wasn't too difficult. She was headed to one of the most noticeable spots in the nearby area: The Monument to the Great Fire of London. The Fire of 1666 had been one of The Protector's worst failures. It was sparked by a Cultist who decided the best way to defeat the Protectors was to burn down the city they called home. All he did was play a few notes on Nero's Violin, with it's ruby tipped bow. The city was engulfed in flames in a matter of minutes. Thankfully, her great-great-great grandfather had helped put out the fire with the aid of The Staff of Moses and several other protectors who had water related artifacts like Poseidon's Trident and The Piece of The Ark. The Protectors, greatly ashamed at what had happened, donated millions of pounds to the city and funded the construction of The Monument. Similarly, they also funded the construction of The Golden Boy of Pye Corner, a small statue that marks the spot where the fire stopped. Buried deep within this statue was a ruby shard that blanketed London in a sheet of protection that prevented any such fire from happening again.

Entering the gigantic column that is The Monument, Sylvia walked in a direction opposite to the main groups. She slipped through a door marked "Employees Only" and found her self in a storage room. Opening a small box, on a secluded shelf, Sylvia located a key pad into which she punched a ten digit passcode. Instantly a back wall swung open revealing a spiral staircase that led far deeper than the London Underground. As Sylvia began the long walk down, the hidden door swung closed behind her.

by **Naretion** » Tue Aug 07, 2012 12:42 pm

New York, USA

Nathanael's eyes shot open wide and he inhaled quickly, a sensation of fear and sadness overwhelming him as he found himself in his room inthe middle of the night. He didn't know why but he felt like he was actually crying somewhere behind his eyes, and so he let his eyes adjust to the darkness as he started at the ceiling of his room where he slept. A red glow appeared near his doorway as he noticed a red humanoid made of what seemed to be molten lava climbing on the ceiling towards him closely. 'Oh no...' He thought to himself. 'Not this again.' He said, getting closer to full tears as it crept closer above him, him knowing exactly what would happen. He closed his eyes and bit his teeth down hard, still knowing exactly what was going on without even looking. Just like always, the creature went right above him then jumped down right on top of him.

Nathanael's eyes shot wide open, panting as he awoke from his dreaded nightmare, a tear running down his face as he whined slightly in emotional pain, crying slightly, he sat up and curled together, softly sobbing to himself, feeling the pain of the molten lava touching is bare skin even out of the dream. After a moment he was greeted by a familiar touch. Mary, a young girl with blue hair and pale white skin was hugging him, Mary was a beautiful person, and was always there for him. He hugged her back and stopped sobbing but tears continued to run down his face. "Thank you.." He managed to choke out as she stroked the back of his head.

"I am always here for you." She said in her soft, innocent voice, continuing to hug him as his odd breathing continued due to his receding session of crying.

"I only...." He spoke to his best, trying to choke out each word. "I wish you were real...." He said, scrunching his face together trying to hold back the tears that wanted to flood out as he tightened his grip on Mary in the hug, some more tears running down his face.

"Just because I am not real....doesn't mean I am not here." She said, comforting him. "You see me, you believe in me. Therefore as long as you wish me to be, I am real." She said.

"I want to you be real." He said, his crying lightening up a bit as he softened his grip, sniffing and just enjoying the hug.

"Then I am real." She said. "And I will always be here when you need me."

"Why are all the others so unlike you..?" He asked sadly. "They do nothing but scare and harm me. And then you do nothing but comfort me when I am sad." He said. "Why?"

"I have no answers." She said. "I am but a projection of your mind as are they. If I could I'd gladly tell you why they do what they do, but I cannot." She said.

And from there everything fell into silence as Nathanael fell asleep while laying down hugging Mary. Soon after he drifted off, she disappeared. Regardless she was never really there to begin with.

The next day....

Nathanael woke up at 6PM, since as a night person, he made his sleeping schedule match his perference. He sleeps the day away and comes out once the night begins. He noticed Mary was gone, as she always was when he woke up. He got up, got dressed and went into his bathroom. After brushing his teeth he splashed some water on his face and stared in the mirror. 'It is getting worse.' He thought sadly, noticing small flashes and dots of light moving around his bathroom. He hallucinated over 90% of the time due to one of his three depressions. Psychotic Depression, which requires immediate medical attention once diagnosed. Attention he never got, which he should have gotten four years ago. Since then it went from 'episodes' once every few months to making him live in a world where he couldn't believe a thing he saw.

Nathanael showered and started his day by going outside, flipping his hair as he looked at the forest around him. He liked living in a forest. It was peaceful, quiet, and no one could find him. Before he was going to go to the usual chill spot he decided to practice his archery with his bullseye targets. If actually needed, he knew how to direct an arrow in any direction by using his Reaver Crystal to coat the arrow in it's essence, re-adjusting the arrow if needed, but he always practiced without it. He had been doing archery since he was 4. It was a passion of his, and he had a collection of bows and knives as well. He also had one firearm, a handgun. He did not keep it for self defense or any purposes other than to kill himself if he felt he couldn't bare living anymore, which is something he got closer and closer to doing with every passing day.

Nathanael called a few of his friends with the phone who were chatting on skype and put them on speaker, and practiced archery for the next two hours while talking to them. After he finished, he hung up and prepared to go to the usual chill spot to see who was there today. He was currently, as always wearing a black short-sleeved t-shirt with a band logo on it, black loose jeans, black sneakers with some red as a secondary color. Since he was 14, he wore a black bandanna around his neck, a Green Day bandanna and underneath it was where he his The Reaver Crystal, which was attached to him as a necklace. His hair was dyed black with a bunch of red highlights and he wore two black wrist cuffs, and two black finger-less gloves with red phoenixes on each one.

by **Liriena** » Tue Aug 07, 2012 1:16 pm

Venice, Italy

Despite his peculiar looks, Serafim found that he barely stood out in the crowd as he followed the woman called Francesca, occasionally taking an instant to admire the beautiful architecture of the city his parents had told him about so many times during his childhood.

To be honest, he wasn't that astounded by Venice. So far, it looked to him like a warmer version of St. Petersburg, and he hated St. Petersburg with a passion. In fact, he hated all of Russia, which is why he had felt so full of joy when the Cult had told him to go to Venice and meet with Francesca, after being stuck for a whole year in Siberia.

His blond hair and black coat fluttered with the air of a perfect summer day, his eyes now completely focused on his fellow cultist as she got closer and closer to the water taxis.

He wore a coat because he felt cold.
He felt cold during one of the warmest times of the year.
He felt cold in the bright midday sunlight.
He felt cold because of the damned sky-blue gemstone in his pocket. That hateful artifact that he just could not bring himself to get rid of.

He began to walk faster, the distance between Serafim and his target decreasing with each passing second. Then, finally, he was close enough to inconspicuously whisper to her ear from behind, making sure to sound as gentle and reassuring as possible, and prevent himself from frightening a person who clearly knew someone was following her. After all, Serafim did not want to die.

"Francesca Delasy? I'm Serafim Lazovert...a mutual friend of Mushussu" He spoke to her.

by **Lambrinisia** » Tue Aug 07, 2012 2:04 pm

Francesca nodded. "Follow me," she ordered. She led him through the maze of Venetian streets to a small jetty where a black launch was waiting, the engine idling. The driver looked up at the pair and touched his cap. "Climb in," she said, not wasting words. As the launch pulled off into the waterways, she looked him over. "So Serafim, tell me why you think you've been sent to Venice."

by **Liriena** » Tue Aug 07, 2012 2:37 pm

Serafim smiled mischievously. "If the intel I stole from our fellow cultists is anything to go by, then I assume that there is an artifact here, in Venice." He looked away and shrugged. "Forgive me...I don't like feeling ignorant."

His eyes were then lifted to the clear summer sky, a warm smile on his androgynous face.

"Doge's Palace, I take it?" He enquired, his mischievous grin back and pointed towards Francesca. "I hope we have the time to admire the art."

by **Ouearotion** » Tue Aug 07, 2012 2:45 pm

As Etani raced through the streets he had finally found what he was looking for, a closed bakery. Though the special thing about the bakery was that it never seemed to be open, but the door was always unlocked. Etani looked around to make sure no suspicious characters were around before entering the bakery. As he opened the wooden door a bell rang grabbing the attention of an elderly lady sitting behind the counter. Wrapped around her arm was a long green snake with a shard embedded in its forehead, making it a rare kind of artifact, a live one. The immortal snake was named Medusa's strand, because it was said to be once a hair on her head. One of its known powers is to give the user the ability to turn anyone who looks at him/her into stone by choice, this power usually gives the user the makings of an excellent gatekeeper.

The elderly woman and Etani stared into each others eyes as the snake on her arm slithered down and onto her forearm. She then spoke up in a raspy voice. "Can't you read, we're closed." She said with a frown as she continued looking into Etani eyes, if he looked away for a second she was ready to turn him into stone. Etani, still keeping his gaze, replied "Oh I'm sorry, everytime I skip breakfast my vision gets a little blurry." Once he had finished his sentence the lady smiled before pushing a button opening a secret door behind the shelf of bread. "Go right ahead Etani, you'll find your gunblade on the weapon racks." Etani then smiled before breaking his gaze with her and walking inside of the secret chamber. "Thanks for the tip Mrs.H." Once he had fully walked into the chamber, Mrs.H pressed the button again, closing it and bringing the shelf of bread back from underground. After the door had closed, Etani began walking down a long flight stairs towards hq. "They should really build an elevator or something." He said to himself as he continued his trek down the stairs.

by **Lambrinisia** » Tue Aug 07, 2012 3:09 pm

The launch cruised passed the palace and turned down a smaller waterway before turning once again into a jetty underneath a building. Behind them, a set of doors closed automatically. "We hope to be acquiring one of the pieces there, but one of history," said Francesca. "A Roman helmet, one thought to be of legend if you walk in the right circles to hear these things." She guided Serafim through the palazzo to an ornate office, taking a seat behind a large desk.

"Long ago there was a legendary Roman solider. He controlled the powers of the gods. The man was armed with the usual equipment of the Roman army but yet they allowed him to harness immense power. Battlefields were swept clean by this man. He controlled fire, water, wind, earth. He had immense strength and speed. However he only used one or two of his powers per battle. This equipment had been forged, incorporating ruby fragments within each piece. One day his legion was separated in the desert of modern day Turkey and surrounded by a huge army. They were bent on taking the Roman Empire. They surrounded the legion. Our soldier unleashed his entire fury, wiping out the army without a trace. His powers clashed and stormed together, whipping up a maelstrom of power. This caused a massive explosion of power and his body vapourised. His armour flew out in all directions. This was thought to be a legend until one of the artifacts was discovered. Now a second has been discovered, by those of more... ignorant backgrounds, who have displayed it in the Doge's Palace. His helmet. The plan is to have a four person team infiltrate the palace and recover the helmet. You, me and two operatives who are on their way."

by **Aldares** » Tue Aug 07, 2012 4:10 pm

Lambrinisia wrote:The launch cruised passed the palace and turned down a smaller waterway before turning once again into a jetty underneath a building. Behind them, a set of doors closed automatically. "We hope to be acquiring one of the pieces there, but one of history," said Francesca. "A Roman helmet, one thought to be of legend if you walk in the right circles to hear these things." She guided Serafim through the palazzo to an ornate office, taking a seat behind a large desk.

"Long ago there was a legendary Roman solider. He controlled the powers of the gods. The man was armed with the usual equipment of the Roman army but yet they allowed him to harness immense power. Battlefields were swept clean by this man. He controlled fire, water, wind, earth. He had immense strength and speed. However he only used one or two of his powers per battle. This equipment had been forged, incorporating ruby fragments within each piece. One day his legion was separated in the desert of modern day Turkey and surrounded by a huge army. They were bent on taking the Roman Empire. They surrounded the legion. Our soldier unleashed his entire fury, wiping out the army without a trace. His powers clashed and stormed together, whipping up a maelstrom of power. This caused a massive explosion of power and his body vapourised. His armour flew out in all directions. This was thought to be a legend until one of the artifacts was discovered. Now a second has been discovered, by those of more... ignorant backgrounds, who have displayed it in the Doge's Palace. His helmet. The plan is to have a four person team infiltrate the palace and recover the helmet. You, me and two operatives who are on their way."

"On their way is less accurate. Here is probably the better term." Lucius laughed and smiled widely as he leaned against a wall in the jetty. His usual uniform blended in with the darkness, only the white ruffles of his collar staying fairly visible.

Lucius had heard the story a million times, each time told with a bit different inflection. Sometimes, Francesca told it like it was a foreboding legend, a story to frighten children into not causing themselves to spontaneously combust. Other times she told it like it was common knowledge, that if you didn't know the story already you were either stupid or ignorant, or both in some cases. But Lucius liked it best when read straight from a book, especially the no-nonsense ones in the Cult library, where he usually spent downtime.

"May I ask who your new friend is, Lady Francesca?"

by **Halleon** » Tue Aug 07, 2012 4:12 pm

Venice, Italy

Shadow Killer remembered his many visit's to the city of Venice with a grin as the thought of the many death's he had caused over the years made him feel pride in his work. He believed that the more gruesome a killing was the more effective the warning was for it was one thing to kill but much more effective to cause fear in a city. The criss-crossing throughout the city full of canals and even waiting in a few alleys was a simple precaution that Shadow Killer took to make sure no one was brave enough to tail him and live to tell about it.

Shadow Killer guided the small water craft to the well known jetty that he had visited multiple times before. The doors opened automatically and closed after he walked past the doors. Quickly walking through the plaza he entered the office to greet Francesca with a nod as he began to speak,"The plan worked the Protectors believe that i'm still in London that killing should have them believing i'm now operating in their backyard, I made sure to make the killing as bloody as possible even letting myself be seen in a few places in London, the Protectors wont know they have been fooled as they shall be blind to what I must do here."

by **Lambrinisia** » Tue Aug 07, 2012 4:35 pm

Francesca turned to Lucius. "Our new friend is Serafim. He was sent here on orders from some of our other colleagues to assist us in this endeavour. We first want to scope out the Doge's palace." Behind them a screen lowered from the ceiling and a projector clicked on. "We have a live feed to the CCTV thanks to a personal friend. Our aim is this." Francesca pressed a button on her keyboard and the view closed in on one of the many camera angles, directed at a Roman soldier's helmet. It was tucked out of the way, obviously not a major feature. "It has the regular security system but nothing major. The ruby shard is visible, embedded within the faceguard. However, so as to not alert the authorities to the item we actually want, we will also be taking these." She clicked the keyboard and the viewpoints changed a few times. A number of paintings. The view changed to some more Roman military equipment. "And these will be obliterated at the scene. They hold no real value and to be honest, most are replicas. But then there will be no suspicion for one missing helmet. Any questions so far?"

by **Halleon** » Tue Aug 07, 2012 4:56 pm

Shadow Killer paid close attention to Francesca's every word as he watched the monitor display the different items that were to be stolen. Shadow Killer thought to himself how a four person team was suppose to pull something like this off without any unwanted attention or problems?

As he thought about this he decided to ask a simple question,"What shall be everyone's individual role and how are we suppose to pull this off with only four of us?"

by **Lambrinisia** » Tue Aug 07, 2012 5:07 pm

"Well, it's quite simple really. We walk in and then walk out of the back entrance. I go in earlier during the day and my contact will let me into the security room. There I will reject the server for the security system and therefore disable it. Lights on but nobody home. The replica items, I'll reject so it looks like we've taken a lot more than we have. The paintings will go flat in the getaway boat and we'll head out to another place we have out in the lagoon," answered Francesca.

by **Aldares** » Tue Aug 07, 2012 5:08 pm

Lambrinisia wrote:Francesca turned to Lucius. "Our new friend is Serafim. He was sent here on orders from some of our other colleagues to assist us in this endeavour. We first want to scope out the Doge's palace." Behind them a screen lowered from the ceiling and a projector clicked on. "We have a live feed to the CCTV thanks to a personal friend. Our aim is this." Francesca pressed a button on her keyboard and the view closed in on one of the many camera angles, directed at a Roman soldier's helmet. It was tucked out of the way, obviously not a major feature. "It has the regular security system but nothing major. The ruby shard is visible, embedded within the faceguard. However, so as to not alert the authorities to the item we actually want, we will also be taking these." She clicked the keyboard and the viewpoints changed a few times. A number of paintings. The view changed to some more Roman military equipment. "And these will be obliterated at the scene. They hold no real value and to be honest, most are replicas. But then there will be no suspicion for one missing helmet. Any questions so far?"

"Why attract attention? Why not just replace the helmet with a fake one and be on our merry way?" Lucius paid much attention to the slide show and pondered at Francesca's every word, something he learned was a valuable skill to employ with such a woman. Her power was strong and her rage was unrequited when she wanted it to be.

"We could blame the whole thing on someone else, even. That'd be much more fun." Shadow spoke his words, which brought up a valid point, but he wished to remain silent until the Boss told them all their jobs and positions.

by **Lambrinisia** » Tue Aug 07, 2012 5:14 pm

"Individual roles, Shadow, you'll be taking care of any security on the ground and watching our backs. Lucius and Serafim, you take care of the paintings and other treasures we want. I'll grab the helmet and take care of the replica stuff," explained Francesca. "Now as for the making a show, the people who work there are respected historians and the type. If we made a replica, they would notice and the Carabineri would be able to possibly trace who made the replica. It's better to remove that link without causing death or disappearance, especially as we can make it look like we took a lot more than we will do. That casts suspicion on much larger organisations."

The Dark Shards (IC)

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