38 Suns

--- Jon ---

“Alright, think anyone will notice this?” His ma asked, propping up a mannequin they’d spent the last two hours working on.

“If we get the lighting right, and they don’t look too closely with their flashlight.” He admitted, “I’m just worried it doesn’t look real enough.”

“Eh, if we cover it in pig’s blood no one will be able to tell the difference in the lighting.” His Ma assured him. “Especially if we’ve got it dressed up and bandaged like this, can’t even see the plastic skin.”

“I guess…” One of his biggest concerns was always whether or not their props looked ‘real’ or not. (Though I guess I can get Pix to cover the difference if I’m still worried about it after we’ve set everything up.)

“You worry too much, by the time they get to this they’ll be scared enough that they’ll believe it’s a real body especially once we set it off.” His Ma dismissed before giving him a smile. “Now let’s test this baby out, shall we?”

“Alright.” He nodded, gaining a slight smile of his own as he picked up the control to this particular trap.

“First up, the eyes.” His Ma told him, turning the lights off for a moment.

He flicked a switch and two dim red lights turned on within the gaps of the mannequin's bandaged face, a slight cover over each lens keeping them looking like actual eyes rather than simple LEDs.

“Next the jittering.” His Ma nodded, turning the lights back on.

He slowly spun a dial, causing the mannequin to jitter and jerk with increasing frequency random pauses keeping it in the realm of unnerving instead of silly.

“And the main event.” His Ma grinned.

He hit the last button on the remote, killing the mannequin’s jittering as its back pressed into the chair where it waited.

“Think the delay is too long?” His Ma asked after a moment.

“Maybe by a couple of sec-” The mannequin’s chest cavity burst open sending several spongey objects flying as the little tubes within began to hiss out air from its empty tanks. “On second thought, that’s just long enough to let their guards down.”

“Yep, just got to test it with a full tank to make sure the hose pressure is right.” His Ma seemed to think about it for a moment before giving him a curious look. “How far do you think is too far for the blood spatter to fly?”

Scene Consequences

-Thanks to Ma’s help gained 1XP to Stealth and Trap Making.

--Currently: Stealth Lv. 6 (13/14) and Trap Making Lv. 9 (1/20).

---

“So what exactly did you want to talk about?” He asked leaning against a wall as his eyes drifted around the room a bit, taking in the organized back room of the Witch’s Wares. A complete contrast to the mystical mess that made up Miss Edna’s Magic Emporium. “I mean, it must be important if you couldn’t just talk about it over the phone.”

“Alright, so here’s the thing…” Samantha began, taking a seat in a nearby office chair. “How much do you know about the city’s Halloween?”

“Besides the Gamer Guild’s Dungeon? Not much.” He admitted. “I haven’t even been in town for a whole year yet.”

“Right, figured it was something like that.” Samantha admitted. “Okay, well every year there’s this… thing that draws the attention of all the magic users in town.”

“What kind of magic thing?” He asked with a mild sense of foreboding. (Please don’t be another Beast of Blackwell. Please don’t be another Beast of Blackwell. Please don’t be another Beast of Blackwell.)

“The kind of thing you don’t have to get involved with.” Ms. Delacroix assured him. “The thing is before this thing kicks off there’s a meeting between Sanctuary and the city’s notable magic users to make sure everyone is on the same page about everything.”

“Okay.” He nodded, following along thus far. “But if you don’t need me to get involved, then what exactly is the favor you wanted to ask me? Unless you just wanted me to know about the meeting?”

“Er, yes and no.” Ms. Delacroix hedged with a grimace. “I do want you to know about the meeting, but the favor is that I kind of need you to attend the meeting under the Witch’s Wares’s banner.”

“What do you mean?” He frowned.

“Since this is a big meeting between the different magic groups within the city, that also means everyone who attends is representing said groups. And the more impressive of a force you can put up without crossing a line the more respect you can maintain between the groups.” Ms. Delacroix explained. “Now normally this means each group brings three people to these big meetings to prove that they are at least mildly established. Unfortunately my mom -the actual owner of the Witch’s Wares- is out of town for the next couple of weeks…”

“Meaning you need someone to fill in her spot in your group…” He figured, not really caring for the idea of actually joining the Witch’s Wares.

Something that must’ve shown on his face given how quickly Ms. Delacroix assured him that, “We don’t need you to actually join up with us. We’ve got enough of a reputation that no one is going to run a real fuss about anything, but at the same time since a few of our… employees broke off to do their own thing…”

“Being short of the limit makes you look weak.” He sighed, already piecing together the scenario based on what he’d picked up from both his Ma and DeSade about the social dynamics of interacting parties.

“Right…” Samantha grimaced. “And since this is my first time representing the store without my mom to back me up, I’d rather cut off any accusations before they can be made. Which is where you come in.” She finished, giving him a look as she did so.

Inhaling and exhaling deeply, he gave Ms. Delacroix a look of his own. “And how exactly are people going to know I actually know my stuff? I mean, I hope you’re not expecting me to make a spectacle of myself over this, because I’d prefer to keep my head down if I can.”

Ms. Delacroix gave him a snort of amusement. “Trust me, while my ‘magic sense’ isn’t really worth much, once I actually took a look at you with it. I could tell you’ve at least dabbled in magic a fair bit.”

“I guess…” He admitted, some part of him still reluctant to get even mildly involved with whatever this ‘magic thing’ was that was drawing the attention of all of the city’s magic users.

“Look, it’s not like I’m asking you to do this for free.” Ms. Delacroix told him. “I’ve got a few… rarer books on some of the more esoteric magics. If you help me out I’ll give you one of them. And just to be clear this is the stuff we don’t usually sell unless you’re fairly high ranking.”

Running a hand down his face he gave the shopkeep another look. “And I only have to show up?”

“And maybe talk to a couple of the city’s other magic users, but, but the Heroes’ Guild and Sanctuary both are going to be there so the worst that’ll happen to anyone is maybe a quick magic duel if someone gets testy.” Ms. Delacroix both admitted and clarified. “Though that shouldn’t be a problem for you unless you actively pick a fight with someone for some reason.”

He considered it for a moment, tilting his head side to side, before eventually relenting.

“Fine… I’ll go to this meeting thing.” He sighed, really hoping he wouldn’t regret this. (So help me, if this turns out to be another cult thing, I’m murdering their god.)

Scene Consequences

-Upcoming Event: [First Arcane Meeting] on [Turn 40].

---

“Uh, are you sure you want to do this?” He felt the need to ask as he followed Ying through the park.

“It seems like it could be fun, and honestly things have been a little… slow outside of our spars.” Ying admitted. “I’m hoping this’ll break up the monotony a bit.”

“Uh, I get that but… Should we really be using magic in public?” He asked, because while he wasn’t actively hiding his magical ability he didn’t feel comfortable with just anyone knowing about his magic. (Especially since it might make things harder on Ying, with her mom and everything.)

“I’m not going to be using anything blatant.” Ying assured him, despite the fact that she tended to lose control of her powers at least twice a day whenever they sparred.

“Yeah, but… I’d rather not drag Wolf and Pix into whatever mess we get into.” He tried, knowing just how stubborn the other teen could be once she’d decided to challenge herself. “I mean the Gamer’s Guild is a gang, there’s no telling how they’ll react to us.”

Pix gave him a dismissive trilling sound from atop Wolf’s back.

“If anything you two are worrying too little.” He argued half-heartedly. (Though it’s not like I’m going to change any of your minds.)

The little fairy and his canine companion both were more than excited when Ying had brought up the idea of going to the guild’s dungeon with thim. An event that would allow both of them to walk around in public rather than having to hide or be dismissed like they usually were when he had to travel through the city.

“Look Jon, I know you haven’t been in the city long but the Guild has been holding these dungeon events for years, and no one has died or gone to jail because of them.” Ying told him, understanding the situation a little better than him having lived in the city all her life.

“I guess…” He sighed, before taking a look around the handful of tents the Gamer’s Guild had set up for their event as well as the small crowd gathered. Several of whom were very obviously Deviants.

“You have your kit with you?” Ying asked, dragging him towards the main tent.

“Yes.” He nodded, making sure his jacket’s hood was up because even if Ying was comfortable with no way of hiding her face, (I’d rather a gang not be able to spot me in a crowd.)

The only reason he wasn’t wearing his helmet was because Ying talked him out of it, largely with the argument of associating her as an open Deviant who was friendly with a Mask. Something that would definitely put a target on her back in a city like theirs.

“So… Do you actually know how we’re supposed to sign up for this?” He asked, feeling a little antsy in a crowd like this.

(If this is how I’m acting here, I can’t wait to see how I handle Ms. Delacroix’s Arcane meeting…)

“Well that depends on how you want to handle the dungeon.” A voice answered him, causing his eyes to snap to a brown haired girl with freckles sitting on a nearby crate.

“What do you mean?” Ying frowned taking the lead on this conversation as he subtly shifted behind her while corralling Wolf and Pix.

“I mean, if you want to run the dungeon by yourself you just have to go into the main tent and sign the appropriate liability waivers, as well as their consent to film and record forums.” The girl explained, stepping around Ying as she focused on him for some reason.

“Um, can I uh, can I help you?” He couldn’t help but ask as something in the back of his head began to itch.

The girl’s eyes drifted towards Wolf and Pix before jumping back to him as she smiled, “Yes, I think you can.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t think we caught your name.” Ying interrupted stepping between him and the girl that was probably a couple of years younger than them.

“Roxanne, Roxy to my friends.” The girl smiled offering her hand.

Ying glanced at the hand before gently pushing it away. “Well, if you could explain what you want with us Ms. Roxanne?”

“Hm, I don’t want anything with you.” Roxanne admitted, giving Ying a once over. “At least not right now.” Her eyes met his. “Him on the other hand.”

“And what exactly do you want with him?” Ying growled, her eyes becoming slits.

“I want him in my party.” Roxanne answered, unintimidated.

“Like… an adventurers’ party?” He asked, feeling the itch in his mind once more as he realized there was something about this girl he couldn’t place his finger on.

“Exactly.” The girl smiled with a few more teeth than normal. “I’m not sure if you can tell, but you look like you could get pretty far through the dungeon all by yourself, and that’s before you account for your friends.” Roxanne explained gesturing to Pix and Wolf.

“So you want him to help you with your dungeon run?” The draconian teen scowled.

“More like I want to help him.” Roxanne shrugged, before glancing at Ying. “Though I suppose you’re a package item.”

“Yes. We are.” Ying growled, literally this time.

“Good, then that gives us a full party!” Roxanne clapped with a smile. “Between all of us we might actually be able to beat the whole thing.”

“Er, what do you mean?” He felt the need to both ask and step between the girl and the dragon.

“Well, the dungeon is thirteen levels, with both the difficulty and prizes growing with each level that you finish.” Roxanne elaborated. “Now I’ve done a few runs myself so I’ve got a solid understanding of a fair number of the floors, but unfortunately I can’t really play the game without a proper party.”

“Which is where we come in.” He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck as the girl gave him a cheerful ‘Yep.’.

He glanced to the companion he knew was annoyed by the girl's presence. “What do you think, Ying? Want to give her a chance?”

Ying inhaled and exhaled, seeming to weigh the choice as they watched the girl interact with Pix and Wolf, both parties clearly curious about the other. “While I don’t entirely like the girl’s personality, the idea of trading such an advantage annoys me as much as dealing with her for the next hour would. Though if we end up at a disadvantage because of my stubbornness I’d be even more annoyed with myself.”

“So you want her to join?” He checked, trying to decipher what she just said.

“Hmm.” Ying didn’t answer for a moment, though she did eventually give him a smirk. “Actually I think I’ll abstain from voting on this matter.”

“Uh, but… why?” He frowned, knowing that smirk just meant more trouble for him.

“Because this way rather than being annoyed with myself should this go wrong, I can just be annoyed with you.” Ying told him with a smile full of fangs.

“Of course.” He sighed, before turning to the girl pretending not to be paying attention to their every- (Actually I think she really isn’t paying attention to us.) He blinked, watching the girl stare at Pix in total fascination.

Something that absolutely wasn’t doing him any favors when it came to the little fairy’s ego, (not that I’m one to talk.)

Shaking his head, he gave the girl a once over, taking note of the few bits of armor and weapons that he’d initially dismissed, given how -physically- this was supposed to be a neutral place of sorts, under the Gamer’s Guild’s rules.

“Alright, Roxy.” He called, getting the girl’s attention before telling her,