|
Esther rushes to the door when Izumi comes a knocking, a large grey sweater and a pair of matching sweat pants and bare feet. "I got lost in a book. Come in."
In the living room, alone, there is the board of Go that Esther and Yoshitsune were playing on last time and, next to it, a black paperback book with a Ying-yang sign on it that reads Fundamental Principles of Go
"You said something about a bar?" She sits back down next to the board, puts a piece of the board into the book to serve as a bookmark.
Izumi had called in advanced to make sure that she was able to cross enter the territory and get into the Sanctum properly. She had basically just knocked on the door and it was already being opened. Izumi was wearing a pretty casual outfit today, nothing all that special. She gives Esther a smile and a nod before entering
"Yeah I was hoping you could come with me back to the bar to see if you can pick anything up that I might've missed due to lack of specific Arcana. I managed to pick up a little Fate to see if I can find anything on that end. We'll be heading to Atlantis, the Lost Bar. Though . . . I'd really like to level with you on something if that's okay."
"Ask away, we really shouldn't be going to that bar anyway, not tonight, not for that." Esther says casually, Inviting Izumi to take a seat "But I have ideas on how we can replace that activity however."
Esther ponders, if only momentarily, offering a game of Go would be a good idea. She decides against it. "But before that, Tea?"
"It would be impolite to decline you hospitality to I accept. Plus I do love tea, perhaps to that of a vice." -She replies, the last part about it being a "vice" bit jokingly. But she sighs-
"I am grateful for the appointment of Sentinel, however, I can't shake a weird feeling I'm having. I understand that I've been looking into the MK II issues even by myself but being open about everything I find. Is this some kind of political thing?"
"Well, yes, there is an element of political back and forth that's been going on that brought you up to the position, certainly." Esther returns with the tea already done.
"But it's not like if you'd have applied for the position that people would have refused your candidacy."
"You're a master, you've done work for the Arrow and the consilium before, maybe not flashy work, but things like that gets noticed nonetheless."
Esther resumes her seat. "And it seems there were a few more people at that initial encounter with the injured cop, according to reports."
"Speaking of which, have you started taking steps to learn Spirit?"
"It's on my to-do list I should be able to be an initiate of it in the next week or two. I realize that's a low understanding of it, but it's a start. Honestly, I can't keep on picking up every single arcana though so I'm going to need a few people with a higher understanding than I have. I did notice two and did a brief scan for anyone who seemed hostile. Upon not finding any I proceeded to move on and expand the search which lead to the police car. I noticed the lights and followed them since the others on site that I saw seemed to have it handled. I seemed like the best choice to continue the pursuit while the trail was still fairly warm."
-She accepts the tea and holds it in her hands for the moment-
"Oh we definitely need to do something about that creature." Esther says, looking to Izumi over her cup of tea.
"But I believe we'd be walking a path it wants us to take." She set the cup down. "I threw down some quick divinations."
"The choice of bar alone is a taunt. The creature wants us to pursue this as fast as we can."
"So we need to learn more before we rush in and finish it."
"I am an Adept of Time so I can do some as well, it was suspicious the way it just disappeared like that without triggering any of the lights or anything. But because of what it is caution is paramount so we don't trigger anything else. These types of situations is why I train more than just my magic so I can fight and defend without it if I actually need to."
-She idly taps her finger nails on the table, then takes a sip of tea-
"I know there are other people who know spirit already who could be useful during this investigation and I don't operate the same as others, I know where my strengths and weakness are so I'm aware of the times I'll need to request assistance. I also think that keeping this a secret is a bad idea, I believe in cooperation especially in times like this. So I'd like to present a united front as much as possible."
"Nothing of what we're doing here tonight is meant to be secret, but, during my prep time for it. Too many red flags rose for us to take action." Esther clarifies.
"Because I know the creature wants us to follow its trail to the bar, because I managed to gather it hopes our chasing it will help it get what it wants." Esther says "And then I wasted the rest of the spell trying to pierce the protection around what it wants."
Esther looks at Kaminari. "You said it was asking about a corporate guy at the bar?"
"That's what the bartender said, some corporate from the police department. I wasn't able to get -too- much out of him without making it seem like I was stalking the guy. I had to improvise on that one. Why did you ask about Spirit, do you suspect that there's Spirt work at play here? Or would Spirits prove more fruitful in this specific endeavor?"
-Izumi closes her eyes for a moment and raises the tea to her nose as if deep in thought and the tea would somehow help her-
"So what it wants, Is protected from temporal spying. Is likely related to the PPD and thus, the seers." Esther says with a tone of gravity. "Unless within the next few days, someone comes forward about their protection being tested five times in a row that works within the consilium or the assembly, of course."
Esther clearly has her doubt about that latter part.
"I was just following on the conversation from last time. When we poked you toward Centralia."
"Okay well the abyss isn't my strong suit, I know how it fucks with us when we get too carried away. But I do recall Acamoths and Gulmoths, now this is me spit balling but I think it might be a Gulmoth because it required the badge to become him? Gluttony feels like the most likely between the two."
"Hmm, that might mean someone with Spirit would be needed." Esther ponders. "With some form of luck, the Seers will murk it for fucking with them."
"I'm not counting on that though, but it would make sense then why chasing it where it wants to be a terrible idea." Esther leaves that floating in the air.
"Do you have any idea, even based on just a hunch or anything,, of what it might be looking for that would be behind Seers ward?"
"Tactically if one knows a trap is a trap it's possible to trigger it and maintain the upper hand. However, that would require extensive planning and foresight in order to accomplish with minimum injuries."
-she takes a drink form the cup of tea, which lasts probably a little longer than normal as she continues to think-
"Wasn't there a Scelesti sentencing about two years back or something that had connections to a Gulmoth? Is it possible there's a connection there or there were others cooperating with them?"
"Honestly, maybe there's a connection? I don't think so but that's...hmm" Esther takes a rapid not on the back of the book about Go that's laid there.
"But even if it's not connected to that bit of nasty business, maybe there's a Scelesti involved in this anyway."
"Too many unknown." Another pause. "The trap might not be for us, it might be for someone else and that might actually be worse. I feel like if we step on a landmine, we might not be the one blowing up."
"When you get back to your Sanctum, do try to use a few divinations on the situation if you can, see what you can learn."
"I'll make sure to do that once I get back."
-She offers a small nod-
"Well good thing I've never been intimidated by a heavy work load before, this is going to take some time to deal with, no pun intended. But I'll also need someone who's good at investigating and someone who's good with Spirits while I work on increasing my arcana there. I don't really plan on Deputizing anyone because I don't want any repeats of misuse of authority. For the record it brought me no joy to bring that to the Council's attention. The Laws exist for a reason and need to be upheld, especially by the Sentinels that are charged with doing so."
-For her part of being able to remain able to cycle through emotions randomly the emotion she seems to be emitting at the moment is conflicting. It's as if she believes it was the righteous thing to do but she's sad and disappointed that she had to do it?-
"You don't have to do everything by yourself. Ask for help when you need to. I'll review my notes to see who's good with Spirit, but in general, I think of the Children of the Tree have a lot of skills there."
Esther says, finishing her tea. "Don't worry too much about the whole Lex deal, no one is losing their lives over this. You protected yourself using one of the tools at your disposal."
"Now, I've got to go do some research." Esther stand up.
"Sorry about stepping on the break for the action, but I'd rather know what I'm stepping into."
"I think there's a saying about caution: 'Caution is the eldest child of wisdom' so while one can be overly cautious, using it in moderation is certainly no flaw."
-She offers a small smile and nod, finishes the tea and stands-
"Thank you for your hospitality and council, it is most appreciated. I hope your evening is an enjoyable one."
|