no such word as lost

[Holly]

"Why the hell did I come here of all places?" Eve asked herself, kicking a rock down the cobblestone pathway underneath her feet. She halted for a moment, turning her head far enough to see a weeping willow whose branches reached down to a nearby river. The mermaid frowned more as distant words flew into her head, brought to her by a smooth talking kalahati. Before she knew it, she was standing under the trees again, eyes closed.

A sudden gust of wind made her shake her head. "Gosh, I hate him so much," A bitter smile took the place of her frown. Pulling up the hood to her sleeveless, red cloak and stuffing her hands into her pockets, she pulled one back out to reveal a crumpled piece of paper.

Her mind was still a little distracted, but she pushed back into the thought of getting to work. She looked down at the paper. "Danica Chesay. Another runaway," She sighed, eyes rolling.

Eve's job was plain and simple: finding people. She was not a bounty hunter and she wasn't there to find out the missing person's life story. She was just there to find who was lost because, in Eve's mind, no one was truly lost. Runaways were common among her jobs, most of them teenagers who just didn't like their parents.

"Nice to know where to start with this one..." She muttered to herself, beginning to enter the town.

[Sky]

Felixed sighed as he landed gracefully just outside of the small city of Capital Watch. He frowned and shook his head. He was here because he had a job, what exactly that job was he did not know. He guessed he would find out when he landed but nobody had met him so he really did not know what to do now. "Should I find someone to talk to? Maybe they could help?"

He started to head towards the city, looking for people along the way that could help him find whoever it was that he had been told to meet here. He saw a lady who looked to be maybe a little older and a littler taller than him walking down the path. He smiled a little and approached slowly. He hoped she wouldn't be the kind to not talk to strangers, it made his little odd jobs like this a lot harder to accomplish.

He walked up next to her and cleared his throat and smiled up at her. "Excuse me ma'm, you don't happen to be the person I was supposed to meet here, or do you know someone who is supposed to meet someone by the name Felix Waber?"

[Holly]

"Unless your name is Danica, and I'm doubting that entirely, then, no I'm not here to meet you, kid," Eve replied in a tone that was neither hostile nor polite. In a way, her voice carried the essence of an ally, not an acquaintence. She had to turn her head around so she could see the stranger directly, considering he walked up on her blind eye side. Normally that would annoy her, but her mind was elsewhere.

She pushed her hair back behind her ear, eyes narrowing as she turned her head back forward. "Have you seen this girl?" She held up the paper, a detailed sketch of the runaway's face plastered on it. She had a round face, almond shaped eyes, and cropped short hair. "The faster I can find her, the faster I can start on my next job which isn't too far away."

Her next assignment was far more interesting. Something about locating a lesser demon who had caused problems in a family. And they were paying more than runaway girl's family.

[Sky]

Felix blinked and looked closely at the drawing. His eyes narrowed at the picture as he took in every aspect of her features. "No I have not seen her..." He looked up at her and smiled a little. He had a plan, though it would mean avoiding the job he had been given. Well, not avoiding, dumping it all together.

If they hadn't been there when they said they would then why should he help them, especially when he could help someone else even sooner? He glanced up at the sky for a moment, ruffling his wings a bit before looking back at her.

"But I could help you if you like. Apparently my client ditched on me and I have nothing better to do. I can search from the air if you like, I can see more people at once." He stepped back and ruffled his wings a little, spreading them slightly to show her what he meant by look from the sky.

[Holly]

"Ah..." Eve turned back to Felix and truly looked at him for the first time, realizing that he wasn't actually a kid. He was probably just a little younger than her, a teenager. Unfortunately for Felix, there was probably no way she was going to address him as anything other than kid now that she had called him so. The mermaid shook her head, "I'm not really sure about that. I've never actually had someone ask to help before--"

She was cut off by the sound of an ear-drum shattering roar coming from just ahead of them. As the roar faded, a black circle appeared in the air and something dropped out of it.

Once Krista landed, the stone ground cracked every which way and an ominous feeling washed over Capital Watch. Standing up straight and dusting off her black dress, she glanced up at the obsidian circle still hanging in the air. Her rose red eyes swirled with apology as another roar echoed through the day. I'm sorry my dear, Mortimer, but I couldn't bring you this time.

Flicking her eyes to Felix and Eve, a beautifully deadly smile taking over her features. "Felix Waber I assume," She smirked at the kalahati. "I don't plan to apologize for my lateness."

[Sky]

Felix stumbled a little as the ground shook from the impact. So this was his client? She sure did know how to make an entrance. He winced a little as he felt the air around him change, this was not Simone he would normally associate himself with. He didn't like the way he felt around her and she looked a little to much like a demon for his comfort. He knew that his client was going to be a demon but he hadn't expected this, maybe she was an archdemon?

He shook his head and flashed his brightest smile, seeming to lighten the mood a little but not enough to make a huge difference.. "I assume that you are the contact I'm supposed to meet then? I wasn't expecting such a strong presence when you arrived. I knew I was meeting a demon but I didn't expect this. Do you happen to be an archdemon?"

Felix sighed and shook his head, "I'm afraid I'll have to turn you down if this request at all goes against the Hexedus." He pulled in his wings, realizing theater they were still extended and fixed his messenger's cloak to hide them from view again.

[Holly]

Krista merely yarned as Felix continued to blabber stuff she wasn't too interested in. She could have gotten anybody to get her task done and over with. She didn't need some kalahati questioning her or giving her a hard time about the Hexadus. The archdemon pondered if everyone just thought that her race was purely evil and that they would purposefully go against the holy gods. Sure, she was from the Santach planes, but she wasn't stupid enough to go against them then.

She was in their territory.

Eve gave Felix a skeptical glance. That was no way to go about getting a job and getting money to survive! If anything, he was just going to drive the girl off! And, of course she was an archdemon. While archangels gave off a subtle, ethereal, white glow, archdemons gave off the opposite. The dark, otherwordly aura coming from Krista was unpleasant and foreign. Not something you wanted to cross.

The archdemon summoned a floating platform made of pure darkness. She sat down on it, levitating just enough off the ground that her feet didn't touch. She spread her wings, black and bat-looking, as if to prove something. She didn't even answer Felix's questions. "I assure you this has nothing to do with crossing the Hexadus, kalahati. I just want you to find some people."

[Sky]

Felix straightened to his full height, ruffling his own wings slightly. He had never been asked to go on a man hunt before, this would be interesting. His light silvery eyes scanned the mass of darkness and he sighed. Eveything about this spelled trouble yet he needed the money. He nodded a little, looking up at the obviously taller archdemon, but then again most people were taller than him.

"So this is a man hunt? It sounds interesting. I'm in, haven't done one of these in a while." He looked down thoughtfully and started mumbling to himself. "Maybe I can apply some of my learned magics on this trip, the last one was kind of dull..." He shook off his thoughts and looked up, smiling brightly yet confidently. Again, his bright smile seemed to lighten the mood, his natural happiness bringing some light into the situation.

"Okay, so who am I looking for? Are they part of a specific group or family? Who are they exactly? Most importantly, is there more than one person?"

[Holly]

"I have four people I want you to find. Three of them you have to find, but I'll pay you extra if you can track down the last one," Krista explained, studying her fingernails absentmindedly. Her rose red eyes seemed as dull as ever as Felix murmured stuff to himself that she could care less about. She waved her hand in a circular motion, allowing what looked like a mirror to appear in midair.

"Looks, its been awhile since I've been in this pitiful world and I have no clue who's alive and who's not. I don't like to pay attention most of the time. Anyway," Krista snapped her fingers and a vision of a girl with golden blonde hair and ocean blue eyes. "This is my sister. She'll be a little older than this since, as I've said, it's been awhile. Her name's Holly Skies. Then there's Adara and Anthony Skies. They're dead. I just need you to find out where they're buried."

The image changed again, this time to a boy with a shock of black hair and gentle yellow eyes. "I'll give you extra money for finding him and finding out where he lives at the moment. When you have all the information, go to Brevis Village. I have business there. Got it?"

[Sky]

Felix raised an eyebrow in surprise. "I already know where one of those people is. Holly will be easy for me to find. She is an apprentice Mystic after all." He shifted his gaze to the sky and sighed. He knew exactly where she was, which major city she was in that is. It was going to be easy to fine her. But the other three? The graves he would just visit burial sites for. But what if he couldn't find those?

And the last one, something told him the man was not of this world, he didn't know what but something did. "Do you have any idea where they could be buried? Like where were they living the last time you saw them? That will make things that much easier to find the place two of them rest. The last one, do you know if he is of this world?"

[Holly]

For the first time since she got there, Krista actually showed interest in what Felix was saying. Her jaw almost dropped. Almost. Then she laughed, leaping down from her seat and shaking her head. "Hah! That's hilarious! I figured miss smarty-pants would wind up somewhere in a healer or alchemist position, but I didn't expect her to be a Mystic!" She hugged herself as if it hurt to laugh. "What kingdom is she working for? Notia? Deliciae?!"

"Acerbus Umbra," Eve answered after having stayed quiet for some time. Since she travelled to a lot of different places, she knew who all the important people were. Well, most people did, but she was more informed than most.

"Acerbus Umbra? No way! With King Falkor? And that crazy bitch, Roxanna?" Krista crossed her arms. "I didn't think she'd be able to survive in an enviroment like that," She muttered, waving her hand dismissively. "Anyway. Adara and Anthony Skies lived in Naktis. And who knows? Maybe he's is and maybe he isn't. You don't have to find him. You just do if you want more money."

[Sky]

Felix nodded and silently went through the directions in his head. This was going to be one of the more interesting jobs he had been given. At least he could move quickly, his wings gave him an advantage in that area. Hopefully he would have the job done within a few days, or weeks depending on how long it would take to find everyone he needed to find. He didn't like how the archdemon had laughed about Holly being a Mystic, to him it seemed disrespectful.

But ten again since when has an archdemon ever been respectful to a follower of the Hexedus? He smiled a little and shifted his cloak, letting his wings out of the hidden slits in it to get ready to take off. "Well, I should get going then, I have a bit of ground to cover. Eve, now that I think about it I have seen a girl that looks similar to that drawing but she goes by Cateline. She is currently in Celestial City if you want to go check her out anyway."

Felix took a running start and launched himself into the air, snapping open his pure white wings as he shot into the sky. He didn't look back as he adjusted his course, heading straight for Naktis, knowing that they had to have a grave yard somewhere in that area he could check out.