Setting

This rather overstocked bookshop boasts volumes on nearly every available surface. A light layer of dust covers some areas, while others seem meticulously cared for. A leather chair sits behind a checkout desk, atop which there is an ancient pull-lever cash register, a large brown sales ledger, and a copy of whatever genre fiction book Philius has decided to indulge during his breaks.
Out on the shop floor, there are numerous tables, most of them sporting one or two small glass cases. Within the one closest the front counter are the following books:
- Lewis Carroll - Alice In Wonderland (2nd Printing)
- Winston Chuchill - A History of The English-Speaking Peoples (1st Edition Rebound)
- Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton - Falconry In The Valley of The Indus (1st Edition)
Mismatched wooden chairs are scattered around the shop so that one may have a seat at hand when needed.
The whole place smells of old paper, binding adhesive, and pipe tobacco.
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It was a scream at first, and then she shouted.
"Nanda ittai!?" Before falling with an audible thump onto the floor, blankets, the manga, were strewn all about as Aeka scrambled almost comically towards the nearest bookshelf. There was the look of sheer terror as she tried to run; with being on the run for almost a year, and watching as her bodyguard's head was blown clean from it's shoulders by an Umibozu sniper, PTSD was in full swing as the young woman collided full run into a bookshelf, bringing it and it's content of books raining upon her lithe form.
She broke out into a cry of pain, before she sat crumpled on the floor.
"Watashi wa ie ni kaeritaidesu." She managed to get out between a few quiet sobs before she saw Jane in an aisleway, and she turned away to try and hide the tears and the embarrassment
"Gomen'nasai, Gomen'nasai desu." She said as she quickly tried to pick up the books, shoving them every which way while staying turned away from Jane. "Gomen'nasai" She said again. She looked pensively at the food that was being cooked, before she frowned visibly, but still trying to keep turned away from Jane and Phil.
"Gomen'nasai" She said again and again, like a broken record she kept repeating the words, while trying to find the right place for the books she knocked down.
She was still in her dirty BDUs, BDUs that she had looted from a military stash house back in Aslund, the musty smell of fear and old worn military fabric was distinct from the smell of old books.
"Gomen'nasai" Aeka affirmed yet again, bowing profusely to Phil and Jane. Something seemed off about this Princess, the way she acted was furtive and fearful. She did not enjoy the grace that her sisters and brother enjoyed. Her life was filled with pain, a negligent father, an abusive brother, and a life lived in constant abuse, torture and agony at the hands of a man who would smile to strangers, and then turn and subject her sister to some of the most horrific abuses imaginable. The scars were faint, but present, the faint scarring on her wrists that had long since healed.
Everything had spilled from her pockets in the brief freakout, papers, currency from several different alien governments, and a bright red passport with a brilliant yellow chrysanthemum emblazoned on the front, and asian style text.
Jane glanced at the papers all over the floor, so many different coloured bank notes and languages that she didn't understand. What kind of life must this girl have had?
She quickly regained her composure as Jane embraced her. "I'm sorry." She said, heaving a sigh. "I should get going, I don't want to impose any more than I already have." She said, trying to push away. "I have to go to Shintenchi, there I will be able to find my Half-Brother, and put a stop to this madness."
The musty smell of sweat, mud, and everything else the young woman had to wade through wafted through, overpowering the smell of books. She hadn't had a chance to clean up, and had been wearing the same clothes since the bunker. She reached down and grasped the bright red passport.
"I'm sorry to have troubled you." Now with her composure regained, she took in a breath and looked up to Jane. "I cannot endanger you or the owner of this place. If I am found, the Umibozu will leave no survivors.. I don't want that to happen; I must leave."
Now stepping around the entire scene without saying a word, the tall man moves to the apparent clerk or owner and shoves his hands deep into his pockets, bringing out a small brass object with white glass bulbs at the tips of its twisted design. Holding it out to the owner he opens his palm fully and he object begins to float and rotate in his hand. He spoke in Galactic Basic since it was the easiest to understand. "Do you know what this is? If not you're wasting my time." The object was in fact a Voltaic Key, used to manipulate and create EM Fields and control magical artifacts. He only seemed to care about his business, and had no care nor time to care about anything else.
She took in a deep breath to compose herself; at that moment she decided to tell Jane everything.
"My brother, Shimizu has poisoned our father to make him ill and die; then he can ascend to the throne." She said, moving to rest against one of the bookshelves. "He also.." She trailed off and looked to the floor, swallowing hard before rolling up her BDU Shirt and underlying camisole to expose her bare abdomen. The body was emaciated from months without adequate food, but all along her body were scars, with one that seemed more recent than the others.
This odd scar was the size of a ping pong ball, with faint tendrils of scar tissue running out across her abdomen in a web like fashion.
"I was shot with a high powered weapon; my bodyguard took me to this bunker where I was healed; but the Umibozu killed her so I had to flee."
There was another, fainter scar that betrayed something far worse; the way the scar moved along the large web like scar was akin to a surgical incision, which ran from under her naval, to the belt and waiste of Her BDU Pants. A few more surgical incision like scars dotted her abdomen.
"My Brother, Shimizu is not the true crown prince, my half brother Yosho is the real crown prince. He lives here; on Terra in Shintenchi. I have to find him so I can overthrow Shimizu, before Shimizu has us both killed."
She looked at the coin, and nodded, reaching out to take it.
"If it's not too much trouble; I would like to rest a few days. Get some new clothes; clean up.. I promise I too will assist you however I can; and when I have brought my Half Brother back to the Empire; I will make sure you are compensated." She said, her spirits elevating some. "I am sure I can find something in the Imperial Archives on Niihama, that would make this affair well worth your effort."
At that moment she jumped at the sound of the door opening, her eyes moving to the front door as the stranger walked in.
Anyone could be an agent of the Umibozu, and so she watched from behind an assortment of books, before turning her attention slightly back to Jane.
"Thank you for helping me... I am truly humbled." Aeka said, bowing briefly, before going to her jacket and rummaging through.
She produced a small blue crystal, which was intricately engraved with alien symbols. Aeka held up the crystal in front of Jane, and then she let it go, the Crystal began to float there, silently as if to defy gravity. "It's called a Skystone, I picked it up on one of the outlying shogunates before I left Axis. They bring good luck." She said, pushing the Crystal towards Jane. "For your kindness."
Setting
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I think one of these characters isn't meant to be tagged, but I wasn't 100% sure which one, so I tagged them both anyway...
by Umbrella
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"I'll help you," Jane said, "in any way I can." How could she not after seeing what Aeka had been through? Jane saw Aeka's suspicion at the man that entered and felt it too, but the man seemed okay. Suddenly, with a wave of his finger, he tidied up the mess in the shop and Jane jumped, still not used to being surrounded by so much magic. But she was going to have to get used to it, she knew.
Jane tried to focus on Aeka rather than the man and his levitating object. Jane watched the crystal floating in the air in amazement for a minute before wrapping her fingers around it. She couldn't express how much this meant to her. She had never received a present in her life. Her mother bought her food and books and essentials -- she had never been unprovided for -- but she had never been given anything beautiful. Jane felt like it was a marker of her new life. "Thank you," she said, and hoped there was something of her true appreciation in the tone of her voice.
He promptly turned his attention back to the mass market science fiction novel, evidently uninterested. There was, however, a very real sense that the books themselves were now watching the stranger, and while the attention wasn't exactly menacing, it wasn't particularly inviting, either. There was old magick at work in this place. It was in the walls and the foundation, as much a part of the structure as the wood, brick, and mortar comprising it.
"Good, you know what you're talking about. Then you should have or know where I can get this title."
The paper had a single book title on it, reading: Aeturnum Mechanicus: Paleal
This particular volume was rare, infact even outlawed in most systems and described the use of Artifact based magic on planetary scales. If the shopkeeper had a copy it would probably be very expensive, so as motivation the stranger pulls out a black bag from his inner pocket and shakes it, making the celestial ringing sound of magical gems inside.
"I am willing to over compensate you and more if you have it for sale."
She looked to the ground for a moment, and then to the stranger that had entered; she could sense the magics fighting with each other; no thanks to her genetic enhancements. Something seemed suspicious to her, so she remained hidden behind a few bookshelves, while turning her attention back to Jane.
"I don't want to trouble you with all this; though." Aeka replied. "Really.. I just want to go home, back to Niihama... I don't want the Umibozu to keep hunting me down.. So much weight on my shoulders."
It seemed from the shopkeeper's attitude that this business would be best dealt with quickly. "I am also a... 'collector' of knowledge, and Keeper of secrets. This is one book I would prefer remained the latter." His voice got more serious on the last point, showing how important this transaction would be for him.
"We saved you some breakfast," Jane said, with a quick glance between the shelves where she could just see the back of the strange man. Not only did Aeka look like she needed as much food as she could get, it seemed a good way to get her out of the presence of the man that was clearly causing her more stress.
Bringing out one last slip of paper the stranger slides it over to the shopkeep, this one a teleportation sigil of ancient design, with the name of 'Arkvaes' imbedded in it.
"If you ever seek knowledge, my Data World will welcome you." With that the stranger turns to go, rolling up his sleeves in preperation for some form of magic as he walks out the door.
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