Acropolis

"Oh, come on!" Almond yelled in frustration. She sat down on the bed and rolled her eyes, then stared at the two people in the room. "I'm not looking to kill anyone tonight. Just let me finish my work here and I'll be on my way." Of course, she doubted that they'd just let her leave, especially since she started the fire. In any case, she was prepared to fight.

Renan had come to Haven because retired adventurers were found on every corner; men and women who had seen most of what the world had to offer. When searching for such things as the Sanctum Prime, these travelers knowledge could be more useful that going through old artifacts and books. Unfortunately he had become sidetracked when he ran into an old friend upon entry to Haven a few days prior to his current slumber. Years ago when he had escaped his horrible captivity, he had to learn to survive on the streets. One of the people in his motley crew of thieves had been a girl named Lilian who fancied herself an artist. She never gave up on her dream, rising from a common street rat to a moderately respected artist in Haven. Now here he lay in her bed, while she was off teaching young commoners how to hold a paintbrush.

He knew he should get out and try to scrounge up whatever knowledge he could about Sanctum Prime. Just like Lilian, he had his own dream, but resurrecting a dead loved one was a little more difficult than creating art. Ren had paid a few street thugs to report to him if they overheard anyone discussing the myth, so with that assurance, he closed his eyes for a few more minutes. Letting others do the work was best at times.

Ciel pressed his staff firmly against the assassin's throat, careful not to actually hurt her. As usual, he would avoid a fight if possible, but if a push came to a shove, he wouldn't hesitate to take action to stop her. Examining her, he noticed the hilt of a dagger concealed in her boot, and noted that she would probably do the same. He had heard tales of the white devil's legendary skill. Even if the newly arrived man helped him, Ciel silently wondered if they would really be able to defeat her.
Undaunted, he held his staff firm. No matter what the danger, Ciel knew a simply fact. There was right, and there was wrong, and Ciel would always stand up for right. He would not be compromised, and he would never, ever, give in.
"You endangered innocent lives when you started that fire," He said calmly, "If you aren't looking to kill anyone, then what are you trying to accomplish?"

Tanchell was surprised by the sudden arm grab. And then came the question of what his name was, but before he could answer with a common alias, he heard someone yell at the top of their lungs about fire. At first he became worried that he might have been the one to have caused the fire, not purposely, but he was still a suspect since he had been smoking, even if he hadn't dropped the cigarette yet. Looking around him, he soon found the source of the fire from a loud noise caused by a large bell; it was from an inn, not the same one that he had slept by. He wasn't sure of how far it had spread, but a few of the windows were open with smoke rising out from them.

"Should we...?" He asked the girl, being a bit unsure of whether he should help or not like he felt a bit obligated to do.

Now he was really confused. The blond girl suddenly went attack mode on the little white haired girl while she shouted angrily at her for starting the fire. He decided that he needed to cool things down a bit. Slightly placing each hand on both of the 'girls' shoulders he said in an alarmed voice, "There's no time for this right now. You two can fight later, but first we need to get out of here". He grabbed and gathered his things quickly and slipped a shirt on. Tugging the pair of ladies he hauled them out of the burning inn just before the flooring of his room started to get black.

Guilettos shuffled down the staircase, both girls still in his arms. He had them both dangling  off the ground just under the crook of his elbows like he was bringing in a couple of pigs to a slaughter house. The check-in lady was already outside and he hoped no one was left behind as he struggled to breathe in some fresh air.

Somehow though he seared through the smoke with black soot covering the three survivors, but at least they escaped safely without any major burns or injury.

Alice couldn't figure out how to respond to the man's query, should they help? No, no that would attract far to much attention to herself...
Alice plucked the cigarette from the man's mouth, took a puff of it, looked behind her, no guards, then threw it into an alleyway, "They don't take to kindly to outsiders here... so I say lets just move on, away from this commotion..."
At that moment three figures, one man, a feminine-looking boy, and a small girl charged out of the building, the two men were not that interesting, but the woman she recognized, she was the White Devil, the only contract she was never able to complete was out on her. Knowing this, Alice tugged the man down an alleyway, as to avoid the girl, even though Alice wore a mask the one time they had met, it was better to be on the safe side and avoid a scene.
"Come on, lets avoid it," Alice said looking up at the man and smiling.

Shen apears in front of them and starts to walk twords them and as he walks by he looks at the girl with a smile ands gives the girl a wink and drops a gold 12k ring that has a symbol that is should be very familiar to her ((the symbol of the assassin)). It hits the side of her foot and and then the ground with a ping as it lands.Shen then looks a for a sec. then walks back twords the inn to finish the dinner that he was preparing for all that the that are staying at the inn.

(OOC: Sorry for the inactivity I was in my sisters house and didnt bring my laptop, and her computer was fried so I had no ways to reply sorry I'll try to catch up with whats happened.....)

Feng had fallen asleep while reading the book he woke up coughing because of the smoke, "A fire?!" Feng said coughing he took a piece of cloth that was nearby and tied it around his face, making his way towards the exit seeing it set a blaze, Feng closed the door "Tch!" he grunted. 'The only way out is set a blaze, even with my ability's I couldn't do anything against this level of flames, and there no way out. I gotta make one if not I'll die in here.' Feng thought then walked over to a wall and kicked it and made a giant hole and walked through it, he took off the piece of cloth off his face taking a deep breath of air then slowly exhaling; Feng was right besides the entrance seeing many people shocked because of the giant hole he had made, he walked over to the people, "Everyone got out safe right?!" Feng said, "Yes everyone has gotten out safely." the clerk said, he nodded looking at the building.

Ciel sighed in relief as the last guest to the inn burst through the wall to safety. The inn would probably be completely burned to the ground in a few minutes, but everyone was safe. Pulling himself out of the white haired man's grip, Ciel landed gracefully on the ground, taking a moment to wipe the ash and soot from his hair. Quickly he checked his bag for his journal. He had left most of his notes behind, but as long as his journal was safe, most of his discoveries would not be lost. It was shame that the man pulled them out so early. There were good intentions behind his actions, but with just a little more time, perhaps the inn could have been saved. The odds would obviously be against Ciel in this, but he had a talent for shifting the odds in his favor.
He sighed. It would be no use wondering about the past like this. All he could do is learn from it for the future. The man's intentions were good, and that was what mattered.
"Thanks for pulling us out." Ciel smiled gently, "Please don't let go of the elf though; I need to talk to her later."
Turning towards the crowd of recovering inn guests, Ciel walked over to the man who kicked through the inn wall. Even though he was the last one out, he was in surprising good shape.
"Are you alright?" Ciel put his hand on the man's shoulder, subtly channeling as much healing energy as he could into both the man, and the crowd. There didn't look like there were any major injuries, but perhaps he would still be able to help, even just a little.....

Tanchell looked at the cigarette that had been thrown in the alleyway; at least the dilemma about what to do with it was now over. He nodded at what she was saying, he didn't feel all that welcome here either, Everything seems to be taken care of anyways, He thought, looking back on the scene. As he was trying to weasel his arm out of her grip, she began tugging him and soon enough he followed her, despite being slightly unwilling to because of the paranoia of what could happen. He looked back, swearing that he faintly remembered the white-haired woman he had seen, though he didn't mention this to Alice, "I suppose it's a good thing that we didn't have our breakfast there,"

Alice giggled again, tightening her grip on his arm and leading him down the alleyway, "Well I have a better place in mind anyway..."
She had realized why he smelled like he did, she had smelled that scent once before, on the White Devil, which meant that this man is from Nightfall. As soon as they got down to eat, she would question him further, she knew he knew something about Sanctum Prime, and she was ready to do anything to carve the information out of him.
"So, whats your name? You got interrupted a bit," she said giggling again and looking up at him as she continued to lead him down the alleyway.

Guilettos tilted his head to one side, but was pleased that his efforts were well appreciated. He did follow her instructions on keeping the white haired girl in his hold. He did remember her saying that this innocent little thing started the fire, of course he doubted it, but he wasn't going take any chances on letting her free if she did in fact start the fire.

Keeping his firm grip on the dangling figure he was slightly taken aback when a man suddenly kicked down a hole through the building and landed safely. This made him wonder if there was actually anyone still in there. He hoped that no one was. It would've been a painful death at that.

shen looked round at everyone around " is there anyone in need of healing?" he said with a smile " im a cleric of the order of the shining sun and im am willing to help in any why you need" a woman holding a young child " he very sick please help" Shen sets his hand on the childs chest and says a prayer and a light surrounds Shens hand. He then gives the woman a potion " give him this before he goes to bed and he should be fine................ anyone else need help"

"Are you alright?" a feminine looking man said towards Feng as he placed his hand on Feng's shoulder, feeling the energy pass through his body, "I am fine, there is no need for you to use your energy on me." Feng said, "I wonder what might have happened, everything was fine while I had fallen asleep..." Feng said looking at the building. Feng could sense the strong spirits all around the area, 'We're gathering all of the ones in search of it at least...this is no coincidence.' Feng thought, then heard a slight cry for help, his ear twitched trying to find the source of the cry's, "Help, Please!" Someone said while coughing from the top of the building, it was a small boy with his mother, "Someones still up there!!" one of the townsmen said pointing at the roof, Feng looked clearly seeing the figures, but there was no way to get to them the first two floors where set into an inferno no one could go inside without dying themselves. "Somebody please help them!" people said as they started to panic, "Tch! they will die of suffocation soon." Feng said.

Feng took a impressive jump, then used Geppo to take another jump and so on to get to the roof, he grabbed both of them "Its okay, I'm here to help." Feng said, and grabbing both the boy and his mother in his arms, seeing they where at the brink of passing out Feng jumped of the edge of the building; as the floor neared Feng used Geppo to stop his falling and only feet from the ground to fall to a gentle tap, he placed both them on the ground, "It's going to be okay. Anyone I need help over here, if not these two might die." Feng screamed, seeing if there was anyone around who could help these two people...

Without a moment's hesitation, Ciel rushed over to the man calling for help. Immediately as he reached him, Ciel placed his hands on the woman and child the man was holding, channeling restorative energy into them.
"Heal....." Ciel shuddered slightly as the power flowed through him, cleansing and healing the woman and her child. In his mind, he could see the smoke in their lungs slowly fading. He could envision their cuts and bruises slowly mending.
Unlike most of the healing powers known to Acropolis, channeling rarely, if ever, produced any shining lights, or melodious sounds when used. In fact, most people wouldn't even know they were healed, even after their pain disappeared. It was a humble power, but powerful, nonetheless.
Suddenly, just for an instant, a strange thought went through Ciel's mind. How had the muscular man known he was healing them? It would take someone of either great skill, or great affinity for the Flow to sense Ciel's channeling. Was it a mere coincidence? Ciel shook off the the thought, closing his eyes in concentration. This wasn't the time to think about that.
"Heal...." His whisper was barely audible. He could feel the power wrapping around the mother and her child. He could feel it embrace them, synchronize with them, and finally, purge them of of their suffering. In just a few minutes, their injuries and pain were completely gone.
"Ah-!" Ciel gasped for air immediately as he finished, suddenly realizing that he wasn't breathing the entire time. That was the weakness of a channeler. It wasn't uncommon for his body to forget to blink, or breath when he was channeling. Sometimes, when he channelled too much power, his heart would even stop until he either finished, or passed out.
The woman and her child just gave him an strange look, before quickly rushing off to a safer location. Taking a moment to regain his breath, Ciel turned back to the muscular man from before.
"Thank you for saving them," He smiled, "My name's Ciel. What's yours?"

Tanchell sighed, it didn't seem that he'd be able to get out of the woman's grip that easily, perhaps even because she didn't want him to escape; he almost chalked such a thought to paranoia again, but at the same time questioned what exactly the woman would want with him... was it to turn him in for something? He recalled stealing things in the past, but usually never enough to get him hunted down.

He almost thought that he had escaped the name question, but once again it had resurfaced, "Black. It's a weird name, I know, I'm not sure about what my parents were thinking either. And what sort of place do you 'have in mind' anyways?" He said, answering back with a question of his own.

"Black? That is a weird name..." she said giggling. She glanced behind her, they were far enough away from the street that no one looking in would realize what she was about to do, "Well, here should do..."
The smile was wiped from her face as she slipped the bow off her shoulder and slammed the man up against the wall, she then brought her knife up to his neck and continued holding his arm with her other hand.
"You are gong to tell me everything you know about sanctum prime, or I will start cutting things off..." she said, in a cold, frightening voice, "You Nightfall bastard..."

((OOC: Double posted somehow sorry :P))

'Such healing power, this is not achieved through sheer effort alone...to be able to heal these people and yet,' Feng thought but the shook his head, "It was no problem I can't just stand by and let people get hurt, and my name is Feng, Feng Soushiki, please to meet you Ciel" Feng answered the feminine man. Feng was happy that the people where alright that put a smile on his face knowing he could help though slightly sad he couldn't do much about the burning building though, he sighed, "By the way, thank you Ciel-san," Feng said and bowed to him, "It's pretty amazing what you did there." he then added, 'Its a rare sight to see such a skilled channeler.' Feng thought.

(OOC: sorry for not posting, been a busy weekend.)

Almond had a lot of patience. Sometimes, the only thing you can do is improvise and situations may just play themselves out, like this one did. Although she didn't like being held 'prisoner' she smiled to herself, knowing she had succeeded in burning the library. She was thankful no one was killed or too severely injured. Now, it was just the matter of being on her way. "Can I go now?" she asked in a whiny voice, looking at the man who now held her captive. That other man will be back soon. She'd rather not be here.

And then suddenly, in a flash, he was slammed against the wall of the alleyway, trapped under the grip she had on his arm and the knife that was up to his neck, "I knew that something was behind that smile..." He said, struggling to get it out with the knife up to his neck, wishing that he had heeded his own warnings. How could she tell that he was from Nightfall? Sure, he might look suspicious, but he had thought that no one should be able to tell that easily, "I know as much as everyone else does... that it's a place, thing, maybe even a person that can grant wishes. I got a library book, the one that I dropped earlier, in hopes of finding out more about it..." He said, expecting her to cut something off by now, since despite having told the truth and having told all he really knew, usually the word of someone from Nightfall was as good as garbage. If anything, she might think it better to just kill him right there and then.

" you to are impressive , the way you do what you do is just great" he walks over Feng and Ciel with a smile,but it hides the fact that hes weak from healing the young child. His walk is slow and with a slight limp " i'm Shen the faithless at least the what they call mee" shen wondered how long his powers would last him before they would leave him forever, When Shen got over to the two men he tought of how much power they could really have concealed in side them and he thought that he should be very carefuk around the two in frount of him."How are you?"

"You're far more composed than other Nightfall people I've had to work with..." Alice said, resting the knife on his neck, the cold steel pressing against his flesh, just a bit of force would be needed to get the blade in his neck, just a little, "But one thing I have learned a good deal about the Nightfall, is that they are damned good liars, and damned good killers, you're a bit more pathetic than the average person from there, why are you so frail...? The White Devil put up a much greater fight than you and she's abotu half your size... how sad..." she began to caress his neck with the knife, slowly sliding it along his skin, "Have your people abandoned you? You poor, poor dog..." She pressed the knife back into his neck steady as she could manage, then added a tiny bit a pressure to cause a small amount of blood to seep out, not much more than a paper cut, but just enough to show the man that Alice meant business. "So you little shit, I'll ask again, what the hell do you know about Sanctum Prime...?"

Ciel smiled a little shyly, not used to such compliments.
"Thank you... I thought your leap to save that woman and her child was extraordinary. It was really brave of you to leap into the fire like that." Turning to the cleric who had approached them, Ciel noticed a slight limp in his walk. Was he injured in the fire? Ciel shook off the thought. From what he had seen, the man was definitely a capable healer, with skills far surpassing the ordinary cleric. The question was, was he simply too drained from healing the child to mend his own wound, or was there something more sinister behind his injury?
Suddenly, Shen's voice interrupted Ciel's thoughts. A simple question;
"How are you?"
"Ah-!" Ciel flailed, "Pretty good. It's a shame we couldn't save the inn, but at least everyone got out safe." Smiling his usual smile, Ciel tilted his head slightly to the side. "What about you two? It's almost unheard of for a cleric of your power to bear the title of 'faithless', and you," Ciel turned back to the martial artist, "You're the Red Dragon. I've heard legends of your skill. What brings you guys out here? For some reason, I don't think it's a coincidence that we met like this."
No, Ciel thought silently, This was no coincidence. Whether it was fate, or luck, or some other yet-unnamed force, there was something drawing people with exceptionally strong hearts together. He could sense it in the Flow. Something, whether it was an event, a power of some kind or even something else entirely, was coming. Something was coming soon, and the world would change on it's arrival.

"How are you?" a cleric said as he slightly limped over to Feng and Ciel, "I am fine," Feng said with a bow to the man, "But you yourself don't look so good, friend." Feng added looking towards the cleric; but then directed his attention to Ciel, "Yes I am." he answered Ciel, not much people would expect him to be so 'small' a martial artist who's skill has gained him the tittle of invincible thought he cares less about such things, "I am here to visit my hometown, I was born and raised here; I was also looking for information in the library but it got burned down due to unknown means though I have to restart my search elsewhere." Feng said.