Drake Herminski's Story

Sia flipped through the pages of her book. The words were all strange and hazy. She'd given the book to a librarian to see if they could translate the language, but he hadn't been able to translate it. Instead he'd tried to keep the book. Sia was pretty sure she'd killed him. She'd let him have it for an entire week and... well, so long without the book made her mind grow a little...noisier. She'd actually killed someone with her Inner Vibration attack... She wasn't about to mention it to the others, though.

Her head ached, like it always did when Drake sent some stupid message to her. "It's just about time for us to meet up in the desert. I know, weird place to set up shop, but I promise..." She sighed, tuning him out. So they were meeting up in the desert, like they'd promised to do. She understood. She was pretty far away from the desert, though.

Sighing, she stood up, dusting rubble from her cloak. The remains of the library were sinking into the shadows at her feet. The books and shelves were like crags sinking into a black ocean and as Sia gazed at the ground, she wondered what people would think when they came to the library and realized that it was all gone. She'd heard screaming as she was destroying the building, but she'd barely given any living thing inside the building a chance to escape, having used her Splintered Sound spell and following it with a Sonic Boom spell. The library had crumbled so easily... She didn't even remember doing it. Now that her head wasn't screaming at her and was no longer splintered into hundreds of shouting voices, she could admit that maybe destroying the library was too much. Maybe.

Her head wasn't all in one place yet. Other voices were still chattering, mostly nonsense, mostly pleading for blood to be shed, mostly asking her why she wasn't terrorizing other places. She didn't listen to them, just asked repeatedly if there was some way they could teleport her somewhere else. The voices in her head weren't her own voices and though she didn't know who they were, she knew that the voices came from the book. Perhaps they were previous owners of the book? Or maybe one was Nyarlathotep itself? It didn't matter, as long as she could get something useful from them.

She asked for about fifteen minutes before the voices began responding. Words from the book kept flashing in her head, mostly unclear and hazy, until finally she was able to clearly see one:



She whispered it and felt the familiar rush of magic surge through her. The voices in her head were dying down, quieting. Whenever she used magic that's what happened to them, so she wasn't surprised. It was a weird kind of paranoia, where the voices in her head would scream that she needed to use the book, but she couldn't use any spells but Noise ones when she wasn't holding the book. Noise spells just amplified the voices when she wasn't holding the book. Any other spell quelled them. So in a blissfully quiet state, she found herself at the abandoned gas station.

She tried to recall the word that had gotten her there, but her mind kept drawing a blank. There was a slight buzz of noise in the back of her mind, like the other voices hadn't shut up yet, but she ignored it. Instead, she wandered around until she saw Delphinium. Sighing, Sia kicked a pebble and started towards the alien woman. If luck would have it, Delphinium wouldn't bug her with her normal ethical bull. But Sia knew better than to believe in luck. Odds were if someone was going to bug her about the fact that she'd killed a librarian and possibly some library patrons as well as destroy a library, it would be Delphinium. But she couldn't hide from the alien female-- the girl could sense people around her, after all. Sia couldn't see Drake yet... but chances were he was just out of Sia's sight.

Just a few more people... and we're together again, Sia thought, wryly.

Sia flicked her eyes towards Jack when he showed up. Sometimes when she went for long without the book, the voices in her head would scream at her to maim him somehow. He was strong and she wasn't as strong, so that was probably why they would do that. She didn't have any particular feelings for Jack, though. He was just a big dumb oaf. Still he was quiet for some time, until he noticed that Nathan wasn't around. Nathan was a good looking guy, but Sia thought he could be kind of airheaded. He didn't seem to be too bothered by Sia's behavior usually and he always spoke politely to her. The voices in her head never actually addressed him-- it was as though he didn't exist to them. Perhaps they were afraid of him? Of course if she could read the stupid book she might be able to figure out why those stupid voices were like that. She went to a table and sat down, gazing at the pages of her book without actually seeing the words.

Nathan finally appeared and addressed Sia and Delphinium. She nodded at him and said nothing. If she spoke, Sia knew either an argument would start or Delphinium and Drake would start getting on her case. Sometimes Nate did too, though Sia didn't pay him much mind one way or another when he started yapping at her about good versus evil. It was weird, but she usually just argued with these people and they were supposed to be her friends. Okay, but if they weren't always trying to do the moral thing instead of just doing what's gotta be done, we wouldn't have to argue this much. She thought.

Drake finally got the meeting started. "Say hello to the Zamzonite. Originally thought to be an alien being, but in truth, a mutant that's been tearing up the west coast recently." He said as he brought up a creature on the monitor within one of the walls. Sia paged through her book idly. The creature was definitely different... she'd give the thing that much. Violet was not a flattering color or good for hiding. I've gotta say that I'm not a fan of the hair either, Sia thought, looking the creature over. She wasn't sure what it was-- a conglomeration of other animals, maybe?-- but whatever it was, it was covered in coarse hair in specific areas. Drake continued, talking about the creature's regenerative powers and a strange defense mechanism that made the coarse hair become as solid as steel. Then, almost abruptly, he said, "Care to mention any stories of your exploits prior to coming here? I myself have just accidentally condemned two men to the chair, and feel rather guilty for it. Anyone at all?"

That was too funny-- Drake, the champion of morality, sending someone to their death? Smirking, she leaned forwards. "You sent two men to the chair? Were you channeling my aura or whatever it is that you hippies do?" She asked, chuckling. "...What, were they against the use of solar power in homes? Not going green? Or did they harm some precious animals?" Sia tipped her head. "...Well... No, that would make Del mad. Not you, Drake. Maybe they were just wondering why a lumberjack was wandering around in the city instead of being in the backwoods?" She purred, glancing at his flannel shirt. "...But as long as we're asking about our day jobs and straight up murdering people, I did happen to demolish a library and it's patrons a few minutes ago." Pausing, she stared at Drake. "...And as you can tell, the guilt is just wracking my system." Sia sent him a saccharine smile that could have melted paint off of walls. "But I like to think my reasoning was sound." She said teasingly. Before he could respond to this, she followed up with some questions about the creature. "So, what, the government made this Zamzonite thing and we're supposed to stop it... or is it just a mutant creature of unknown origin? What methods have already been tried to stop these guys outside of just shooting the things? I can bust through steel pretty easily, so I'm gonna need more information than what you've given me here. Are their hairs some kind of special alloy or do we not know that yet? And why exactly are we stopping them, anyway?"

The first person whom Del can sense nearing is Sia, a human who has the ability to use what this race calls 'black magic', though she doesn't appear quite capable of controlling her own potential, from the times that Del has been around for more powerful exhibitions of Sia's powers. The two aren't exactly close, both having their own moral standpoint on how to go about doing things. This isn't to say that Del isn't above swinging fists and getting her hands dirty to reach the desired goal, but at the same time she isn't going around blowing things up just because her temper is a bit foul that morning. Sia's seeming disregard for the lives of others is something which never ceases to get on the alien woman's nerves, and the two women getting into small arguments over such things isn't all that unusual. When the group had first formed, Del had hoped to somehow befriend Sia, because she hadn't really had much interaction with humans outside of school and protests, but it was clear almost immediately that such a thing wasn't going to happen in this millennium. Instead, the two manage to tolerate each other to an extent, although the line is very thin and constantly seems near breaking. For now, she says nothing to Sia, only nodding in her general direction, her unseeing eyes facing her but not registering anything as she senses the energy in her mind. She can smell smoke on the young woman, but does not comment on it, for now. Though Del is far from nonconfrontational, she doesn't desire to step on Sia's feet so soon in the regrouping.

"Fuck everything," growls a familiar voice, angry as usual. Honestly, even if his voice and energy weren't familiar, Del probably could have identified the team member simply based upon his words of greeting. Sia may be a bit temperamental, but as far as Del is concerned she had absolutely nothing on Jack Jackson, the human man with the stupid name and a mouth that, if human swears transferred to Caltarion ones, could rival the most vile and drunken of City Koles, who are, unfortunately, well known for vulgar language. Due to having been raised as a servant of a wealthier Rashna, Del never really adopted such a language, if only because using it in front of her family's employers would have meant a very harsh beating that would have had to be treated for the next week or so. Even the thought of it makes Del grimace slightly, remembering how she learned the lesson to keep her vocabulary in check. "For fuck sake, are we going to have to wait for that asshole Fenris? Cocky little fucker, with his dumb fuckin' hat 'n shit."

He would have been cut up and beaten until he couldn't move for months, Del muses coolly when she hears Jack speak further, swearing becoming more condensed with each sentence that was spit out of his mouth. Subconsciously, she notes that, apparently, Fenris always wears a hat. It hasn't been brought up before, and for all she knows everyone could be waltzing around completely nude- clothing doesn't exactly give off an energy for her to read, after all. The alien woman doesn't even bother greeting Jack- it'd only send him into some psychotic rant about the fact that 'he doesn't need no damn greeting from some fuckin' dolphin girl' or something like that. She really wishes he wouldn't mock her name every single time they meet- well, he hasn't yet. Not that she knows of, anyway, as she hasn't entered anyone's mind.

Del can hear the roar of an old motorcycle nearing, but it is the mystical energy flowing off of the rider that lets her know that Fenris, and apparently his hat, are nearly here. Unlike with Jack and Sia, Del has no real issues with Fenris, or Drake for that matter. They both have decent personalities, and the latter has intelligence that is comforting, considering that this planet does typically seem slightly lacking in that department. "Ello, ladies and gents! Sorry for being late. I had some problems getting 'ere." Del turns towards him, or rather his energy and general area, and nods in greeting. She clearly isn't the sort for actually saying hello, preferring brief nods. Besides, she'd really like to get on with whatever Drake has to tell them- she has things to do, after all. Finally, Drake comes out and begins to speak, but it is soon clear that he forgot to take her into consideration when making a diagram of this "Zamzonite" thing. He explains it briefly, and based on the slight whirring of a shifting image puts other things up on the screen- yet more stuff for Del to be ignorant of. He mentions a hostile species, but does not offer any names.

This would be a lot easier if- oh, f'asdne, Del thinks with a soft sigh, crossing her arms over her chest and giving up on pretending like these little visuals help her at all, not bothering to even angle her head towards them anymore. "I myself just accidentally condemned to men to the chair," Drake mentions, making Del narrow her eyes ever so slightly with irritation. Perhaps he has a good reason, but until it is given she isn't really too pleased with such a thing. Honestly, sometimes these people are no better than the Rashna, she thinks irritably. When Sia speaks, it is practically with the intention of angering Del further, as the human girl speaks sarcastically about what transgressions the men may have committed, drawing Del into it by mentioning that the harm of animals would have insulted her enough to kill people, not Drake.

"We can't all be Rashna-f'asdnein J'orglas," Del spits back at Sia, before remembering that the girl won't have the slightest clue what she is talking about. "Oh, forget it," the young woman begins to mutter when she hears Sia mention demolishing a library. Del practically worships the fact that this country has public libraries, even if they are absolutely no good to her, because such an institution would be laughed at on Caltar. Things available to be borrowed for free? Preposterous. Everything has its price and security is always provided when transactions are made- at least, if a wealthier person wants there to be, anyway. "What were-" Del falls silent again, closing her eyes and trying to regain some sort of calmness, only succeeding because Sia goes on to ask some legitimate questions. She waits for an answer to those before posing her own inquiries.