Day Five - 9006/50k

Two days. Two. Whole. Days. No one in this damn town seemed to know a thing about any wizards named “Midas,” anyone mysterious, and despite the dozens of people she’d shown it to, no one recognized the picture she’d been given. Which was how she came to be sitting hunched over a mug of ale, elbows on the bar, feet on the crossbar of the stool she was sitting on, in a tavern near the docks. The alcohol had just started to spark a slow burn in her gut and head, easing away the stress and annoyance of her most unproductive day.

The door of the tavern swung open, letting a blast of cold air in to the warm, musty environment of the room. Kiri lifted her head and glared at the people responsible - a cat dressed all in black with a katana strapped to her back, and a tall, graceful angel with long reddish brown hair with two swords at her hips. If she had to bet, she’d call the first one a ninja, and the second… Well, anyone with swords like that and a stance like that could only be a swordsman. And therefore not just beneath Kiri’s notice, but worthy of her derision. 

She stood up, the stool creaking as she shoved it back towards the bar. This would be fun. The ninja and swordswoman had sat down at one of the few tables with open seats, to a mixed response from the patrons already seated there. Kiri sauntered through the crowd and sat on the table itself, favoring a few of the others she recognized from her past nights in the bar with a grin. Then she turned her attention to the newcomers.

“You best be careful, country girls. You might trip and fall on your little knives there.” The table got quiet very quickly. The ninja didn’t seem to care, but the angel looked up and met Kiri’s gaze with a fiery look in her eyes. 

“Just so long as you don’t hit yourself in the foot with your little peashooters there, I think we’ll be fine,” she snapped. Kiri paused for a moment, then burst out laughing.

“Oh, this one’s got a mouth on her. And here I was thinking those little hick towns where people still use pointy things had better manners.”

“Certainly better manners than the crude, honorless, idiotic ruffians who have to kill from a distance.”

“Oh don’t worry, sweetheart. I have no illusions about my own oh-so-questionable breeding. Personally, I’m inclined to think you’re the idiotic one. I can kill you before you ever get near me, or even see me. Now… how is that idiotic?”

“You kill without honor. Without reason. For money.”

“Hmm, let me think about that… yup! Everyone’s got to make some pocket money. If you’re good at something, never do it for free, I always say.”

“You place so little value on human life? You would kill someone you don’t know, just because you’ve been told to?”

“And paid, don’t forget paid.”

The angel shook her head and stood up abruptly, pulling the cat next to her up as well. “Despicable. Come on, Destiny, let’s sit elsewhere. We don’t need to put up with this.” The ninja - Destiny, apparently - looked from Kiri to her friend to the mostly hostile faces of the others at the table, and quickly followed her friend across the room to the bar. Kiri pushed away from the table and sank down into the chair Destiny had just vacated, placing her feet meaningfully on the seat where the swordswoman had just been seated. 

“Well, this table just got a lot friendlier,” she declared, grinning at the others at the table - who laughed and agreed. Two in particular caught her eye - a small, slim angel who looked decidedly out of place, and was drinking steadily and swaying in her seat, and a young, rather handsome mercenary like herself. They stood out among the rest, who were mostly merchants and other businessmen-type. This whole search was not going very well with her working solo. Maybe it was time to start putting together a crew for herself. 

Over the next hour, Kiri continued chatting with the people at the table, focusing especially on the angel, who she learned was named Renee, and the gunman, Derek. Derek was quick to agree to join her, being as starved for work as she herself had been before the Midas job fell into her lap. She didn’t tell him much, just her room number and the inn she was staying at so they could keep in touch. Renee, on the other hand, was entirely drunk within ten minutes of the moment Kiri sat down. Drunk, and very friendly. 

“You lookin’ for crew?” Renee slurred, leaning her head on Kiri’s shoulder and gazing up at her with a goofy smile. “Ahhhh’m lookin’ for somethin’ fun… you look fun. C’n we have fun?” 

Kiri patted the girl awkwardly on the shoulder and gently pushed her upright into a sitting position again. “Yes, sugar, we can have fun. Tomorrow. When you’re sober.”

“Bein’ sober s’not much fun… I’m on vay-cay-shun, y’know…” Renee pouted. That lasted for about ten seconds before she giggled again, at some thought privy only to herself. Kiri shook her head and turned back to talk with Derek, but something across the room caught her eye. The pair from earlier were standing in front of a table, with a shadowy figure seated in the corner across from them. Something about their attitude caught her eye. They were leaning in, and seemed intently interested in what the man was saying. There was a cane leaning against the table, black glossy wood with a very unique top. It was a silver dragon’s head with gleaming red ruby eyes, and it gave Kiri an uncomfortable shiver down her spine. 

But, whatever interested those two should probably interest her. They were suspicious characters, and what had Kiri been doing for the past two days if not looking for suspicious characters. She continued to sip her rum and soda, quietly formulating a plan, waiting until they finally finished talking to the shadowy figure and left his table. After waiting a few more minutes for good measure, she abruptly stood up, snagging Renee’s arm as she did so. “Just play along…” she whispered into the drunk angel’s ear.

Dragging Renee with her, she crossed the room to the shadowy figure’s table. As she got closer, she could see it was an elderly man dressed all in black, with a cloak draped over the chair next to him. Skidding to a halt in front of them, she promptly proceeded to act as drunk as possible, giggling and elbowing Renee playfully.

“Hey, mister… my friend here and I are havin’ a bit of a disagreement… See, Renee here… “ She draped an arm around the angel’s shoulder for effect. “Doesn’t believe in magic. Now, I’ve been trying ta convince her, but I just can’t seem t’persuade her. So we figured we’d get an outside opinion. Y’look like a respectable fella, mebbe you c’n help us here.”

He just looked at them. Several very long moments passed. Finally, he shifted in his seat and sighed. “Very well. But you might want this back first.” He held out a revolver that looked awfully familiar. Kiri patted the holster at her waist, and her eyes shot wide when she found it empty.

“Hey! That’s mine!” she yelped, snatching the gun back and shoving it back into its holster where it belonged. “Nice parlor trick, but that’s just sleight of hand, right Renee?” She looked meaningfully at the girl, who nodded obediently, smiling drunkenly. The man cocked an eyebrow, but otherwise his face was blank. 

Setting one hand, palm up on the table, he focused on it for a moment. Bright orange and yellow flames began licking at the air above his hand, but hovering several inches above it. The fire grew, until it was a proper ball of flame. With his other hand, he drew it out into a long, slim shape, sculpting it with careful movements of his fingers until there was a sleek scimitar of flame, hilt and all, hovering above the table. Before Kiri could comment on the fact that it was a sword - and therefore necessarily not impressive - he’d compressed his hands together, causing the flame to burst into a miniature firework, each individual spark then drawing back together to reform the fire ball. 

Renee was pleasantly mesmerized this whole time. When the man finally waved his hand and let the flames disappear, she smiled cheerfully at Kiri. “Well, ‘m convinced. S’magic, sure ‘nuff!” And she staggered back across the room to the table. Kiri watched her go, shaking her head, then slid into the seat next to the wizard - for it was clear now what he was. Plenty of people could work magic, but to have control like that was a clear indicator of a wizard.

“That was pretty impressive, I can’t lie. No parlor trick there.”

“Indeed.” He leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest.

“You know, it seems to me that a man like you would know a lot about what goes on in a town like this.” Maybe it was the sheer amount of alcohol she’d consumed, or the frustration of the past two days, but Kiri just didn’t feel like being subtle right now.

“Perhaps,” was all he replied. Clearly not a big talker. The one-word replies were getting old.

“I’m looking for someone, and I was hoping you might be able to help.” When the man again simply looked at her, she cleared her throat nervously and continued. “From what I know of him, he’s a wizard - much like yourself. Goes by the name of Midas.”

The man lifted an eyebrow at this and leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table. “I’ve heard of him. Now why would you be looking for Midas?”

“Well…” She came up with a lie on the spot. “I have a message from an old friend of his.”

“What might the name of this… old friend be?”

“Well, he told me to call him Black Diamond, obviously not his real name. That mean anything to you?”

The man hadn’t responded in the least to the name, but Kiri had the strangest feeling that he was keeping tight control of himself. This feeling became more concrete when he spoke again.

“Yes. It does. I suggest you forget about him, and about Midas. You would not want to get on either of their bad sides. And to be on the good side of one is to be on the bad side of the other.”

“You seem to know quite a bit about their situation.”

“I do. I know them both very well. Things are not what they seem. Midas is a wizard of much renown, he and Black Diamond have good reasons for opposing each other.”

“Seems like this Midas is a powerful fellow, then.”

“Yes. I am.”