Reilly, you hear a voice on the other line you do not recognize say, "Lucas' Phone, this is Tony, what drink can I serve ya'?"
"Wait, what!?" Lucas responded to Tony's answer with a mix of exacerbation and surprise before glancing back at the road and having to swerve back into their lane to keep from moving into oncoming traffic.
Tony bust out laughing at Lucas' reaction so hard he nearly hung up the phone on accident-
Not wanting to die in a car accident, though Dionyssus would appreciate the amount of fun he was having at Lucas' corrected driving, Tony re-answered the phone while speaking through a stifled laugh
Hey, uh, not sure who this is, but Lucas is driving. Well, attempting to drive, ha ha ha- what's goin' onnn?
I was hoping to talk to Lucas about the murders. Tell him it is... Well, just tell him it is Reilly. I am in town. Is there somewhere I could meet him?
Xander grips the vines tightly with one hand, reaching down and pulling his knife from his boot and beginning to try cut through the offending vine. "Now now you big creepy possibly carnivorous flower, that will be enough of that!"
Xander, begins cutting through vine. Luckily it's not to hard to cut through. Xander breaks free and begins climbing the vines once more. As he climbs as quick as he can He sees the surrounding area glowing red... As he looks to see what it is he sees the plant below... Though now it can see him too. A giant human like eye and a red iris. another vines comes quickly from the side of the plant and wraps around Xanders ankle.
Gritting his teeth, Xander tries to cut through the vines again and keep going.
Xander cuts through again. As he climbs he notices the glow and shadows shift he can feel something behind him. He glances over his shoulder to see the giant red eye behind him. Then the splits down the center and opens to reveal a large maw with many teeth. It goes foe the attack!
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Tony looked over to Lucas
Says their name is "Really" and they wanna meet up- you know of a place?
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"Oh fuuuu..."
Xander, tries to move out of the way but the creature bites into his arm and pull him off the vines. A long white tongue now wraps around him. And starts pulling him further into its maw.
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Lucas frowned. "Tell him we'll meet him at the food court at the mall. I forget the name. But we'll be there in 15 minutes."
Lucas says he wants to meet up at the Food Court, and if you got us each a burger that'd be great. Oh, the food court at the mall. See you in fifteen!
Tony hangs up the phone and tosses the phone back to Lucas, forgetting he is driving.
With a final hiccup Tony rolls down the car's window and dumps the alcohol out of it I'm going to have to sober up, here. Woooooh, I did Dionyssus' work for him today hahaha!
'F#~! f@+@ f&#% f!*! f!##!!'
Xander attempts to slip out of the embrace of the tongue.
"DROP ME YOU SON OF A B~!!~!"
Xander manages to struggle enough for the plant to drop him. onto fairly soft ground.
The plant seems slightly confused as it looks one way then another.
Xander you notice a small tunnel in the wall near you.
Xander crouches low, and begins to move in to the tunnel, hoping to remain undetected.
The plant does not seem to notice Xander as he move to the tunnel. Once inside Xander sees a light on the other side. When he emerges he sees a ladder going way up to the underground ceiling though there is also more labyrinth path before him.
"Maybe... This is good. Okay. I will go and come back. I need a better weapon!" Xander begins to climb the ladder before pausing. "No. This could all change... I could end up not being able to come back. No. Let's end this!" dropping back lightly to the ground, he turns and begins to set off deeper in to the labyrinth, flipping the knife in to a downward, knife fighters grip.
As Xander heads down the path he comes to a fork. Right or left?
Xander frowned, before turning and taking the left path.
Xander travels for a time and then comes to another wooded area. These trees looked less ominous then the previous (Meaning these trees looked like normal bamboo) And the fireflies were flittering within.
Xander cursed under his breath, as he began to slowly move towards the center of the glade. "Apollo, if there is a trial in here, could you make it like... a b@%~!in guitar duel with someone, or something? Oh... and make them have a spare guitar, thanks!"
Reilly threw the phone onto the seat beside him.
What was that? And who want to meet at a food court? This is a serious conversation, not something to talk about over a giant pretzel.
He put the car in gear and headed toward the mall.
Xander goes into the wood. As he walks in he hears soft humming. It feels him with a sense of comfort and relief. He then sees a young girl of 10 or so with straight blonde hair coming to the small of her back, she wore a simple baby blue dress. She was sitting by a small pond with her feet in the water. The fireflies flutter over the pond as it reflects their light.
A white fox sits next to the girl.
As you draw nearer you relies the girl is the one humming, they then look up at you and the girl gives Xander a warm smile and says in a gentle voice,"Hello, Traveler."
Lucas, Tony and Reilly arrive at the food court. Reilly you spot Lucas near a large man you do not recognize.
Xander smiled slightly and bowed his head to the girl. "Greetings. I am pleased to find you and your friend here, the last copse of trees I entered was less than friendly. Could I rest here a moment?"
"Of course traveler." The girl says kindly. Have a drink. she then gestures to the pond. My name is Gelma."[/b] Gelma the gestures to the fox. "And this is Tilk." The fox yips. "And what is your name?"
Xander takes a seat, legs crossed, beside the pond, shaking his head softly. "I am not quite thirsty yet, maybe before I leave, it will be all the sweeter then. But thank you Gelma, and you too Tilk. My name is Xander, it is a pleasure to meet you both!"
"Tell me Gelma, do you know anything about the world above? You see... The city is under attack, from someone or something, he is killing people and leaving behind a number painted beside the body, in blood. I traced that killer down here and so I hunt. Do you know anything that could be causing this? Anyone I should speak to?"
Reilly takes a moment to observe the two before moving toward them. His hadn't left things terribly well with Lucas, and he didn't have time for a lot of emotional responses.
As he moved in, he screwed on a happy face and opened his arms to Lucas, ignoring the other man in hopes that Lucas would show some measure of formality and introduce his friend.
Lucas, it's good to see you again. What have you been up to?
Eventually he will drop the act and say, Look, I came back to town to look into these murders, and I'm wondering if there is anything you can tell me.
Lucas sat at a table near the doors and further away from other patrons, with Tony. Before Reilly arrived he looked at Tony with a serious and troubled expression.
"Look Tony, before he gets here I should let you know my cousin Reilly is a detective. He was away on business for a while but now it looks like he's back. He and I have had some disagreements in the past on what path to follow. His side of the family is very traditional and they didn't approve of my mother marrying my father, so things are somewhat strained there.I don't know if he knows that... that my sister got killed or not. It's probably best if you let me do the talking."
As Reilly entered, Lucas stood up.
"Reilly, it is a surprise to see you again. I had thought you were on assignment elsewhere. Forgive the abruptness of the location this was the easiest location I could think of to come to. This is Tony, a recent acquaintance of mine. I have been keeping myself busy lately with school."
After the strained pleasantries were put out of the way, Lucas sat back down and shook his head. He was about to say something else, but instead the question that had been sitting in the back of his mind boiled forth.
"Did you know that Mia's been murdered by the countdown killer? She was number 10."
Well, I am glad you have decided to do something useful with your life.
Nice to meet you Tony. How is it that you know Lucas?
And yes Lucas, I came home to see justice delivered to this killer after I heard about Mia. And more than that, I believe I have been threatened as well. I fear this may be some sort of family business, possibly cloaked in other killings to mask the killer's true intent. What do you know about the killing? The police seem stymied.
Xander, does not sense any ill will from the girl or the fox.
Gelma smiles, "The world above? I have not been up there for a long time. Right Tilk?" Tilk yips in response.
"As for your question of a wicked thing. Yes. Something of that nature has entered here though it has been here for a very long time." She then looks down at the water she looks to have fallen into some sort of reverie.
If there was ever a time for Tony to sober up quickly, it was before this detective cousin of Lucas'.
He began to fiddle with the items Tao had given him, letting Lucas talk as he laughed inside his head instead of outloud.
Tony as you fiddle about you hear a loud obnoxious voice calling out to you. You look up to see it is your date from the night before (The one you were with when you found Lucas' sister) She walks over quickly. When she gets to you she says, "Where were you? The cops let me go but I couldn't find you. Did they hold you long? Do they know who killed the girl? Your not a suspect are you?" She says all of this very fast.
Lucas almost squirmed under his cousin's gaze. He didn't exactly feel like letting him know what he and his mother were planning.
"Nothing more than you. I'd heard about the countdown killer when he first struck a few months ago. But then it was quiet, you know kind of became an urban legend. Then I heard about Mia and now we're here." Everything he'd said was strictly true.
Tony greeted the girl warmly, wrapping an arm around her as he invited her to sit down-
Remembering he is in public, Tony instead whispered in her ears sensually but not secretly
Nooooo, they THOUGHT I was a suspect, but don't worry my little darling, The Last Maenad doesn't go down that easy!
We are currently trying to find the man who did it. You could join if you want, or.... Tony traced a finger along the long of her back with a wide, very sobered grin.
So, Lucas, this is the company you keep. It seems like not much has changed. As for the case, there doesn't seem to be much evidence. Police have no leads. One officer also mentioned that there have been multiple suicides talking about dreaming and wanting to wake up. There is certainly something strange going on here in Spire. I guess it wasn't much use to get in touch, but at least you know I am here. If you hear anything, or think of anything else, let me know.
Tony snorted after amusing himself with the woman's neck- it looked better than the liquor felt
Detective... Dionyssus asks, no, COMMANDS, me o enjoy all the flavors I can stand from this world. You appear, heh heh he pats the lower back of the date from last night to be of a different mind. But- you are a detective. Do you only have questions to offer? What if...
Tony looked around the cafeteria, now disappointed- he was unsure where to take his date for her second one What if you joined us? As long as you don't NARC in regards to my safe, victimless habits.
Tony shot a deal striking poker grin to the Detective- one hand still wrapped around his date, the other holding up his head in earnest to the detective's response-
A detective along the way to the ruins would definitely help in finding something valuable to Tao.
Joined you in debauchery and alcoholism? I'm afraid I have more pressing matters to attend to.
Willfully ignoring Tony, Lucas continued to look straight at his cousin. He had hoped that having Tony sit quietly would have been a good thing. But it looked like he'd been wrong. He put a hand under his chin.
"The kind of company I keep is not a terribly important right now. We're checking into something else right now, it might be something or it might be a waste of time. Though the suicides are something new to me. I haven't heard much about them till now." Lucas paused for a moment, musing to himself.
" Perhaps this was not the best location to meet after all... Be careful, Reilly. I hope that your suspicions about who the killer is targeting are false but we'll see. As things progress, I'll let you know more about what I find."
Lucas then stood up and held out a hand to his cousin.
Reilly takes Lucas' hand in a firm grasp, impressed with the boy's strength. He turns to walk away but then stops and turns back.
What is it that you are looking into? Something to do with the case.
Lucas cringed at Reilly's questioning. Said too much. Dang, well I better tell him now. Once Reilly bites on to something he doesn't usially let go.
"Something from the ruins might help us in our search." Lucas admitted. "We don't know exactly where it is, if it exists, or if it does if it's even still there. Like I said, it could be helpful or a waste of time."
"The ruins! Reilly's voice cracked in his surprise. Your planning to run around the Ruins with this drunk? Are you trying to get yourself killed? You better believe you aren't running around the ruins without some competent back up.
"Tony's a little eccentric but we're working to the same goal. Besides, won't you get in trouble for not doing your detective work or something?"
"I'm freelancing at the moment. No one cares where I go or what I do. So I'm going with you."