[Archivé] A la recherche d'un alchimiste [Libre]

Comme tous les soirs, c'est la fête a Cruor. Les bars et les rues grouillent avec des ivrognes, des vagabonds et, près des ports, les pirates et marchands.
L'odeur de l'alcool et du vomi empestent les allées, tandis que le bruit des chants, des bastons et des cris remplissent l'air.

Dans une taverne surpeuplée une belle baston prend forme. Les paris tournent, l'argent change de main et la bière tourne. Dans un coin retiré, Istenia sirote sa bière. Elle déteste le gout mais il vaut mieux ne pas se mettre en avant ici. Elle a donc une forme complètement humaine; la différence est mal vue dans ce coin.
La baston s'approche d'elle. Je ne m'implique pas elle se dit. Mais bien sur, a ce moment la, un chemin se fraye dans la foule et le corps d'un ivrogne vient la plaquer contre le mur, l’étouffant.
Elle glisse jusqu'au sol, attendant que le blanc sorte de sa vision. Elle se relève doucement, sous le regard de tous et dans un mouvement fluide, elle assomme l'homme tenu devant elle, qui lui avait jeté l'ivrogne dessus. La masse énorme fait trembler le sol et dans le silence qui ensuit, Istenia quitte la taverne, déposant quelque pièce sur le comptoir du bar.
Une fois dans la rue elle se dirige vers le port pour laisser l'alcool se découler de son système.

In the dim bar, drunks buzzed around. Clashes, punches, shouts. Yells went around the tavern, except for one place. There, a table was set, at the corner, nobody noticed. The glass of pink wine glinted. Still. Unmoved. Silently.
A pair of eyes reflected on the glass without emotion… staring at the clear liquid under the yellow light… trying to figure out something, not there, but at somewhere else. By drumming fingertips with the heartbeat, he found, the FOUR letters got no less weight at all. The untenable mission, he still kept in mind.
On the table, wine rippled carefully…
 
The boy stood up and snapped. The isolated screen he made closed. Thundering noise crashed him with a full force, suddenly. Looking at the light upon his head and those hanging on the wall, drunks stupidly fought and moaned around, he snickered…raised the glass...
 
In his ear, the gurgling sound rumbled… An empty glass returned to the table heavily.
 
Then, he unlocked the back door… at the last step…Door closed.
A snap.
The noisy bar became a pitch-black cellar… Lights were all out, drunks were shocked by this sudden darkness, quiet like prisoners.
 
Everything behind him would be messy and chaotic, funny and ridiculous, which might cause lots of trouble later… but to him, a maker, WHO CARES! anyway.
However, in the front, a girl about 17 years old across the street…
 
Did she see anything?

She turns down a dark and filthy alley, unperturbed by the things crawling in the shadows. She stays in a human appearance; being different isn't celebrated here. The balls of fire lining this alley have long since blown out, flickered away in the cold recesses of the city.
She's disappointed with the lack of information she's been able to extract from people, although they're all been drunkards, so she isn't surprised. She turns into a slightly wider road, disregarding the surprised looks of men, to see such a young, small girl walking around the city this late at night. She keeps walking, rubbing her knuckles that are still sore from the tough jaw of that idiot she punched.

She can feel the man behind her... And hear him too, despite his efforts at being discreet. Even in human form she still has the hearing of a fox. She's only half-heartedly been trying to lose him; a part of her wants to find out what he wants. She's caught a glimpse of his profile and he doesn't seem like a beggar or a drunk. He looks like a vagabond, like her.
She keeps walking. Now, glancing up at the signs above the shops, she realizes she's entered the darker places of this town, where you can find everything and anything. Exactly where she wanted to be.

She checks her bag. Five runes left and only a handful of blank stones and herbs. Better not waste them.

None of these places look to be an alchemists shop. How disappointing. She wants some excitement, some adventure, although these streets have given her quite a bit to deal with. She stops and turns around to face him, simultaneously casting a spell. The alley lights up in a violent flash, casting daylight into every nook and cranny, allowing her to see her stalker.

The girl kept walking…
An absent-minded attention he paid on her. A good omen. Nothing shown she had noticed he blacked out the bar; silently, he followed the dark figure… while continuing having his mission meditation.
Sometimes, he would look around to see where he was at, to make sure no danger around. However, there was no specific destination he must go or find... If fatigue summoned him, it wouldn’t be too late for him to find a hotel until then. After turning several corners and passed several streets, Coi found himself was at the darkest place of Cruor.
Now, he did awake from his meditation, or from a bit of drunk state… Until this moment did he find the dark figure, whom he regarded as some kind of “head light”
was the girl across the street.
 
Not a stalker he wanted to be again after the event of Kill Behekine.
Just about to turn back and made way on his own, he felt a weird spell cast out… from that girl?
Without any thought, a snap… the beam of light that had been shot toward him was suddenly put out. Clear and shinny. He narrowed the eyes to adjust the brightness. All around him was under day light beams, except for the way between the caster and him. Clearly, he knew, nothing could the caster see of him but a total black figure.
 
Standing sideway, he snorted…
No interested in who the hell cast this spell… just waiting for he/she taking it back or some further explanations and reasons if he/she would like to express.

Her spell illuminates the alley, all except for a funnel of darkness between her stalker and her. The darkness he has created is pitch black, darker than the night they had just been in. Her rune fizzles out and she internally hits herself for wasting the precious few she has left. The tunnel persists.

More intrigued than frightened, Istenia calls out towards the darkness. Hello! Who are you?
She morphs her eyes to fox eyes to better perceive her company but the darkness is impenetrable. She has nothing else to do but wait for her companion to respond.

The wind swirls down the alleys, howling as it rushes through the dark recesses of the city.

The harsh light lasted much shorter than he expected. Darkness swept around him again as soon as “Hiss” sound had been sent out. Magic from a powerful rune! He clearly felt its life ended in the air.
By spelling a rune, he/she just wanted to see him clear? And almost awaken the whole city?
Thinking of those questions, he snickered. A great disappointment this caster would receive after knowing it was in vain. What a pity.
 
It was the girl across the street, he realized, as her question flew to him as abruptly as the magic cast on him and a glance he had given at her. A “hello” softened the inquiry tone. Coi got back his “snap” and faded the tunnel out.
Still, he remind his sideway stance. The right of whether to let him go was held in that girl’s hand. To end this all, he forced himself to say two words.
“A boy.”
Nothing else he would disclosure to her.
 
Silence.
He waited…
In another silent five seconds, he would walk away.

A boy. That was the extent of her knowledge on the person she was facing. Her spell had been deflected and the stranger hadn't answered her query to her satisfaction.
She wasn't given much time to reflect on the matter, for out of one of the shops burst a tall figure. Staying in the shadows he rushed Istenia, throwing a small pebble at her feet. Oh no was all she had time to think before she was engulfed in a dark ball of energy. Just before it obstructed her vision she saw the figure charging the strange boy.

Around her was nothing but silence and blackness. She couldn't see, hear or move. She was the prisoner of a dark rune-cage. She started working on attaining the ethereal planes of consciousness. Once there she could attack the foundations and maybe regain enough movement to throw one of her own runes.
In the plane, she reached out a strand of thought and wrapped it tightly around the first pillar she felt. In a swift movement, she tried to topple it but to no avail, it was a sturdy structure.
She worked at it, oblivious to whatever was happening outside, pounding against an ethereal matter with her thoughts until she felt a crack. It wasn't much, but it was good enough. She slipped a thin strand of thought through and expanded it. Like a felled tree the pillar crumpled and dissipated. She reentered her physical body to find that she could now move around a bit. She reached into her pocket for a blank rune and with her fox claw carved 3-like shape into it. As it touched the ground it exploded into a ball of light, dissipating the dark rune-cage. She blinked the spots from her eyes and took in her surroundings.

Making up his mind leave the girl there as soon as the first stride was given. In such a serene night, with slight drunk state, a sound sleep was he needed the most, especially after the sudden offense he got from that girl.
Full mind to leave… Just then…
From the door, in less than three meters away, abruptly, a tall man in black suit dashed out and pounced straightly on him after a rune thrown at the girl. Subsequently, an explosive sound cracked.
Without any time to aware what happened, the man clutched his neck hard and tried to grasp his two hands. In an emergency, he then drew a knife and stabbed at the man’s waist. However, the man noticed and stopped him by pressing his hand tightly on the ground, snatching his knife away. An unclear mind slowed his wit down…
Apparently, the man knew his “snap” power; in result, he did not use magic but fight with full strength.
 
Suffocated.
Another exploded sound broke out, which caught the man’s attention… until then did he let go Coi’s neck and stand up; whereas, his two feet stepped right on Coi’s two hands.
The man, he knew, he did know, Coi cannot do anything without his hands.
The air coming into his breath all of sudden made Coi cough very hard… puffed.
 
Why? All of these?
Without another five more seconds, looked at the front, Coi raised his head at bit… the scene…
 
“BACK!”
 
SHOUT!
Indeed, there are two tall women in red suits walked toward the girl from back.
 
Unable to move an inch…
A red razor light swept through their direction…

She only had a couple seconds of freedom to take in the scene around her, the street near destruction, and the strange boy, lying on the ground, apparently immobile, with her attacker standing over him. She was suddenly grabbed from behind, her arms pinned to the side of her chest. A voice whispered in her ear: "Don't move. Or you'll be killed." The tone was calm and factual, the voice was that of a woman. Istenia felt a field of Anti-ᛖᚪᛟᛙᚸ surround her, stopping her from using any of her alchemy.

She didn't particularly want to die and she wasn't quite sure of what was happening anyway, so she followed complacently, hoping to get an explanation without too much torturing. She dropped a single enchantment: ᛃᛊ undetectable to the guards. As the rune passed through the barrier it lit up, tracing her footsteps for the boy to follow if he wished. She gave him a last backward glance and then plunged into the dark streets of the city once again, frog-marched by the two guards.

As Coi attempted to figure out what was the red razor light for by narrowing his eyes, the girl had been captured by a woman with some whispering words. A frown. In a flash, the powerful arena was formed.
In the girl’s surprising looks, a guess he made: these three people were coming for HER! That girl had kept something they wanted, rune? and they thought he was her helper so the man had taken control over him first.

If that was the case… then…
With not much time of thinking, the girl had taken a sudden action. She cast another rune, which caught him unprepared and also to those man and women. Out of desperation, the man left him and dashed toward the girl in racing paces.
It proved him was right: They did come for her!
A good fortune arrived, he knew after his hands retrieved freedom again…Stand up in a big jump. Not to lose any second of counterattack, he drew a big net as the wall. For sure, it couldn’t stop them running after him but could give him more seconds.

In this present, he had no chance but to “help” that girl, whom he even didn’t know.
Following the direction in which the girl had escaped, Coi threw a big spring at front and then---- JUMP on it!
He was now at the top of all building, or to say atop the city, Cruor.

Afterward, a skateboard he then made. Swinging and flipping to follow that girl’s trace. His next step was trying to connect with that girl since he found, from the high place, that girl might be surrounded in less ten minutes by three different directions.  

A triangle was gradually built… and aiming at her!

The Arcana she had cast had taken the red-caped women by surprise, sending them flying back into the wall of the alley. Istenia knew they were only winded and that they would be after her soon. She dashed down the alley.

Ahead of her, she heard rapidly approaching footsteps. As she rounded a bend she found herself suddenly confronted by the man who had first attacked her. She felt angry, she knew Cruor was a city of bandits, drunks, murderers, pirates, and cults, but it wasn't typical for these kinds of groups to persist after meeting so much opposition. She had stopped running and was facing the man, her fists clenched:
"WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH ME?!" She yelled boldly. Her voice echoed off the walls, sounding hollower with each repetition.
The man grinned an icy, heartless grin. He stared at her for a little while, cocking his head to one side. "We want your cooperation." His voice was colorless and hoarse, sending shivers down Istenia's spine.

"AFTER ATTACKING ME WITH A BLACK CAGE?!" Stupid people doing stupid things was what made her so pissed with humans in general; they didn't think everything through and made rash decisions.

His grin widened but he didn't answer her, he just stood there. In the ensuing silence, Istenia heard the dreaded sound of approaching footsteps. She snarled, Goddammit she had done exactly what he wanted her to: waste time talking. She fished around in her pouch, two runes left, both blank. Fuuuuuuuuuudge. I would take time to go through the process of imprinting the stone but what other choice did she have? She pulled a willow branch and a chip of obsidian out of her satchel. The man watched curiously, sure that what she was doing was futile, she was surrounded, there was no escape.
She scratched the stone with the obsidian carving a theta Θ into the stone. It was a variation on traditional runic that she had conceived to adapt rune magic to Aniformus. Unfortunately, it meant learning a whole new language for the imprinting chant but the chant was shortened compared to traditional runic.

Holding the rune in one hand and the willow in the other she began to chant, as quickly as she dared.

"Τώρα ακούστε, δυνάμεις υπόγεια - απαντήστε στην κλήση, στείλτε βοήθεια. Ευλογώ τα παιδιά, δώστε τους θρίαμβο τώρα."

In her hand, the rune glowed a brilliant shade of green and just as the imprinting finished the two women rounded the bend behind her. She was on the verge of casting when she heard the approaching roar of wheels on shingles. Finally!
She slipped the rune back into her pouch, pulled the drawstring tight, crouched while turning into her fox form and readied herself to pounce just as the strange boy came flying off a roof.

Fast thoughts running through his mind, Coi found things would be easier if he could drag those women behind. The longer he put off, the better the girl could escape.
Rune…. The girl used on the attack gave him an idea. He then drew several pebbles and threw them down in front of those women and moved between them to interrupt their routes.
Too dark to see him clearly, they seemed to be unable to detect his site so both of them swiped their red ray in vain and stupidly.
Clearly, he knew if he cast gunpowder, this game would be ended at once but without any willing to arise the whole city up, he gave up.

While keeping casting the stones, he fasted his skateboard… he’d better getting faster down to the girl than those attackers did. In result, watching the women approaching, he gave a flip…
It could be said he threw himself down at the same time as they surrounded the girl. Striking the skateboard at one of them, a woman maybe and he made a long hook in a flash, tuning his hand to swing another like fishing…
Meanwhile, the girl pounced on the other…

No time for clearing the whole events, Coi grabbed the girl’s hand and rushed toward an alley near them he had found, which could lead them to the downtown of Crour…
Not thinking too much, he blocked the way back with his magic power- painted wall, as solid as concrete made.

Until then did he find she was a fox girl !