The Locket [Quest]

[Morgan]

A squat woman with dark skin, brown somber eyes, and hints of black that swirled amidst gray hair, Silvy Fishbone was hard at work. Gnarled fingers wrestled with the slippery body of a small Slick Fish as the aging woman stooped over three wooden barrels. Arthritis twisted her age-spotted hands and made grasping the little wiggling creatures more difficult than usual. She struggled to sort the fish by size; her mind constantly drifting off to thoughts of her long-lost daughter.

Three days before, Silvy had quietly slipped into the Salty Dog Tavern to post a flyer. She hadn't thought to leave much information about what she wanted help with, simply

'Halp Wonted: Kontakt Silvy Fishbone, Seler Of The Sterdyest Slick Fish In Town. Must be dependible, have good see legs, an be good wit a sord and maybe sum magic to.'

With hope and prayer, Silvy signed the flyer with the single letter 'S' and a picture of a fishbone before she handed it to the 'tender who chuckled under his breath as he read the flyer. She paid him proper coin then left once she was sure he'd hung it on his board.

[Zenophoenix]

Azure had finished his meal and paid the bartender. He was about to head out of the door when the bartender suddenly called him back.

"Hey, boy, you seem like you could handle this request. You've got a good look about ya, and that weapon of yours doesn't look half bad. Why don't cha check this out realy quick. If ya like it, then take it, but if you don't then just hand it back and head right outta that door."

Azure had taken down the flyer and read it to himself silently.

'Halp Wonted: Kontakt Silvy Fishbone, Seler Of The Sterdyest Slick Fish In Town. Must be dependible, have good see legs, an be good wit a sord and maybe sum magic to.'

It was written badly, but he could get the general message. A person named Silvy needed his help and they're at the Sturdiest Slick Fish somewhere in town. It didn't seem like a bad request. He was pretty good with a sword and he had his Plasma Magitech, so he decided to take up the quest. He nodded at the bartender and handed him back the flyer.

"Doesn't seem too hard, I'll do it." He said, confidently.

"Good lad, but I suggest you wait for more people. They may want a crack at that quest as well." The bartender went back to cleaning his drink glasses and wiping off the bar table as he spoke.

Azure ordered another meal, paid in advance, and waited for more would-be adventures to accompany him.

[Fallen Joy]

And the next would-be adventurer came falling from the skies—well the rafters actually.

THUMP

In a sea of white feathers, a petite female collided heavily into the bar table with an obnoxious noise that demanded the attention of the surrounding population; people whipped their heads towards the sudden disturbance. However, once the occupants discovered the cause, their curiosity and attentive faces relaxed and crackled into ones of sheer annoyance before returning to their business with chastising murmurs. The angel lay plastered across the table, her large wings crooked and ruffled like the pelt of an abused bird and a tarnished white dress half crumbled upon her rear to reveal a pair of strawberry patterned panties. Face planted down to kiss the wood, the woman was very much tranquil and static—painting the vignette of an abandoned doll.

From her hand dropped a porcelain bottle and shattered on the floor midst a small puddle of rice wine.

The bar tendered stared at the comedic scene with not the slightest ounce of amusement, shuffling grumpily to the female and whipping the side of her head with his cleaning towel.

“Oi, Joy! Wake the hell up!”

Fingers upon the table twitched and Joy’s body gave its first signs of life, stirring lazily against the surface. Her head lifted to reveal a pair of sapphire eyes that gazed dreamily through a veil of matching tresses—had she really sleep through that crash? Moaning slightly in irritation the angel curled her legs underneath her and sat up with terribly sluggish posture. Her milk face was flushed, and her eyes were bloodshot—the girl was either well beyond drunk or experiencing a horrible hangover.

“Don’t be passing out in the rafters like that, you gonna scare away the customers!”

“Sorry…” the woman’s voice whispered out before she turned her head to the bar tender and smiled sheepishly. “Can I have some more sake?”

The tender groaned. “You got money still?”

“I think so…”

Joy’s hand reached into the bosom of her dress and removed a pouch, flipping it over to reveal…nothing. The bar tender quirked a brow then burst into laughter.

“Looks like your last mission’s spoils have ran out. But hey, don’t worry, an old woman is looking for some warriors to help her with some quest. That young lad over there is waiting for some company, why don’t you go bless someone one else with your charms for once.”

Joy glare childishly as the bar tender continued to laugh and walked away.

“…I don’t even get some for the road…this tavern is so mean!!”

The angel flailed in frustration, consequently lost her balance, and fell off the bar table with another ‘thump’.

Groaning from the floor, the Joy ungracefully scooted herself toward Azure like a slithering slug. Once to him, she sat up, looking at him through squinted eyes and a goofy smile.

“Joy here! –Hic- At your service!”

She offered him a gentleman's salute and a wink.

[Blue Shoelaces]

Seaia looked up from her tankard at the sound of a crash. The strangest-looking woman she had ever seen was lying spread-eagle on the bar. Her white dress was mussed around her, and—were those wings?

"A bleeding angel," Seaia murmured. She drained her tankard and got to her feet. Since her arrival in Port Hymir two days ago, Seaia had seen elves, orcs, dwarves, and a number of creatures she couldn't put a name to. But an angel? And a drunk one, at that. That definitely took the cake.

She approached the bar to pay for her drink. There was a boy there, too—a teenager, by the look of him—and a flyer that seemed to be catching some interest. Seaia dropped a coin on the counter and leaned around to get a look at it. Her mouth twitched into a smirk. This cocky-looking kid and a plastered angel would make for interesting company, and Seaia couldn't help but assume they were going to need some help. And the ad did call for "see legs," after all.

The angel made a hiccuping introduction, and Seaia was quick to follow. "Seaia Graham," she said, putting out a hand. "Bosun on the Copper Lady for three years. Would you be in need of a hardened sailor?"

[Zenophoenix]

“Joy here! –Hic- At your service!”

The angel smelled of sake and looked like a wreck. The tender was right, she did have too much to drink already. How in the world was she going to be able to perform on the mission. Besides for the drunken stupor and the tattered blouse, she was actually pretty cute. He responded to her salute with one of his own and just decided to disregard her wink.

"I'm Azure, pleasure meeting you, Joy. Umm, are you gonna change before we go?" He said, eyeing her tattered blouse once more. "I mean, it might get windy once we get to the sea." He recalled that the mission called for seafarers and he was decent on the open sea, but this angel might be another story. That now made two adventurers for this expedition.

He was surprised when a third lady walked up to him and Joy and introduced herself as a Bosun, or Boatswain and extended her hand to him and then to Joy.

"Seaia Graham," she said, putting out a hand."Bosun on the Copper Lady for three years. Would you be in need of a hardened sailor?" Hey, now things had gotten interesting, they may actually be able to feasibly accomplish the mission. Sure she was just a Bosun, but she probably knew enough to get them where they needed to go and back.

He wondered if both of these women were any good with weapons, his Manatech wouldn't work here, having dissipated as soon as he entered the land of Iselyr, leaving only his dagger. So he couldn't activate any abilities or anything like that.

"I'm Azure, Magi Bounty Hunter and Mercenary. If you two don't have anything else to do, we can head to the "The Sterdyest Slick Fish", if anyone knows where it is."

[Fallen Joy]

Sitting in a drunken stupor upon the cold floor, Joy slowly canted her head like a puppy-dog, threads swaying over her face and shoulder. Blinking twice at his words, she remained silent for a whole ten seconds before slowly shifting her eyes down towards her tattered dress. An aqua opal embedded between her breasts glimmered brightly in the artificial light, perhaps the only beautiful thing about her worn attire, and despite the clothing's dirtied and slightly ripped appearance; it had a wholesome image to it. When she wasn’t sprawled out across the table, she didn’t flash anyone anyway. When Joy gazed back up at Azure, there was a terrible look of sadness upon her flushed little face.

“You…you…you don’t think I’m pretty?”

Actual tears shimmered up within her eyes, and she stared blankly at the ground as if devastated from a rejection. She sat there silently for a moment as Azure addressed the newest member of their strange trio.

“I’m Azure, Magi Bounty Hunter and Mercenary. If you two don’t have anything else to do, we—”

“YOU DON’T THINK I’M PRETTY!!”

Joy's suddenly outburst and wails broke through his phrase and the angel sobbed hysterically from the ground, rubbing her eyes and crying out like a miserable cat.

“What’s wrong with how I look!? Why am I not pretty!! You’re so mean!! I’m not…I’m not—Wait…” Her tears and sobs abruptly stopped. “That can’t be right because I’m a princess, and princesses are pretty! You must mean that you want to buy me a new dress, huh?”

People in the tavern face palmed.

Joy popped up to her feet with a sudden perk of light in her eyes.

“Why didn’t you say so? I’ll just take this off!”

Joy reached for the bottom of her dress and actually began to pull it off. Whether either of them had the decency to stop her wouldn’t matter cause Joy paused just as her strawberry garments appeared.

“Wait…YOU’RE A PERVERT!” Joy dropped the dress with a crimson blush scattered across her face. She turned to Seaia. “He just wants to see my goodies!!" He looked at Azure again. "You…You…THIS MEANS WAR!”

And the angel pounced Azure—she actually pounced for him! The end of this transaction would be either Joy straddling Azure with a terrible glare upon her face [meaning he didn’t move] or Joy tumbling onto her back alone [ meaning he did move]. Once there…Joy suddenly had another change of thought.

“Wait, did you say you were a bounty hunter? Me too! Kinda…I was an ass-sas.-shin…assessian….damn I can never say that word right!” She giggled. “So where we going anyways?”

The angel looked excitedly between them.

…Wouldn’t traveling with her be entertaining…Why did the bar tendering think her capable of handling this? Joy, an assassin? That must be a joke, right? Plus with only a dress on...no shoes..no socks...no visible weapons. How in the world did she fight?

[Zenophoenix]

Azure reacted quickly and braced himself as she pounced on top of him. He was just plain weirded out by Joy, she seemed sporadic and spontaneous, both of which didn't do anyone any good when it came to a mission like this. He doubted her abilities until:

“Wait, did you say you were a bounty hunter? Me too! Kinda…I was an ass-sas.-shin…assessian….damn I can never say that word right!” She giggled. “So where we going anyways?”

She had been an assassin? There was no way, but Azure wasn't going to open himself up for another one of Joy's crazily drawn out outbursts. He responded by simply getting up and dusting his clothes off, ignoring her and catching up to Seaia.

"Joy, come on, we don't have that much to be wasting here. Do you need help getting up or something?" He said, glancing back at her.

Things were getting really interesting. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't manage to stifle his laughter as he spoke. This girl would be a handful, just as long as she didn't do the dress thing, she would be ok.

[Blue Shoelaces]

Seaia frowned at the poster. "Is that meant to say seller?" she asked. "I never heard of a slick fish, sturdy or otherwise. But this town's not so big we can't find someone who has, eh?"

She had one foot out the door when the angel proceeded to throw an extremely enigmatic tantrum. First she was shouting about her clothes, then something about a princess... How old was this woman? She looked about Seaia's age, but she acted…well, younger. Then again, maybe she was young, for an angel. Or whatever she was. Who knew? Seaia pinched the bridge of her nose and tried to contain her temper.

The angel—Joy—threw herself at Azure. He stepped out of the way, and she rolled harmlessly aside. Then she started to giggle. That did it.

"What in blazes is the matter with you?" Seaia snapped. "Are you barking mad? Get up, you great ninny. There's work to be done, and I for one am in no mood for babysitting. Now are you coming or not?"

[Fallen Joy]

hic

Joy stared at Seaia's outburst, ironically thinking Seaia was the one not acting her age. She glanced at Azure.

"I think I made her mad."

Joy was tempted to laugh at her, but reconsidered when she glanced between Azure and Seaia, noting their combined disapproval of her behavior from their eyes alone. Immediately she rose her hands defensively.

"Alright, alright I am sorry! Sheese!"

Joy was a drunk. She had been for years, and while her reasons for drinking changed over the last few months, Joy's addiction to the intoxication had not. Luckily for them, the angel's surreal healing factor drained away the effects of alcohol at an amazing rate. Too bad for them she wasn't fond of being completely sober. At the very least though, she wouldn't be as obnoxiously drunk as she was now throughout their journey..hopefully. Hide the rum.

"Stop giving me the evil eye, lady, save it for the bad guys."

The jewel on her dress glowed bright for a brief moment as Joy popped up to her feet. She rubbed her temples lightly, staggering clumsily through a few chairs to the spot she crashed upon. Glancing up, Joy gave a graceful but powerful leap, snatching a white cloak hanging from the rafters and landing soundlessly.

"Kay. Let's go do this quest thingamajig."

Tossing the cloak over her shoulder, Joy smiled a tad more sharply at them. The inner workings of her body were truly amazing. In a matter of minutes, the angel had gone from passed out to belligerently drunk to lightly buzzed.

[Zenophoenix]

Azure had suppressed his anger for so long that all he could manage was a stifle of laughter. He watched as Joy slung a white cloak over her shoulder and seemed to be getting a little sober. Finally, maybe she could function enough to not get herself or even him, killed. He waved to motion the two of them out of the door.

Once they had made their way out of the door, Azure quickly ran back and snatched the flyer off of the board. He went back and caught up to them. Now the three of them made their way down the dirt road, looking for a sign or some landmark that would lead them to Silvy.

"Are any of you good at navigating this place?"

[Blue Shoelaces]

Seaia could feel the pressure building in her temples. She locked her jaw and forced herself to stay calm. No authority here, she reminded herself. If this angel—and Seaia was becoming less and less sure that this thing was an angel at all—if she wanted to act like an imbecile, well, far be it from Seaia to stop her. She had no stock in this quest, or mission, or whatever it was. If they failed, it wasn't on her.

…Then there was the nagging matter of pride. Damn it. She'd signed up to help out this Silvy Fishbone (What a name…), and she was going to do her damnedest to see the thing through. If that meant putting up with a bipolar homo-avian… well, it wasn't the worst that could happen, she had to (grudgingly) admit.

Seaia was annoyed to find that Joy was suddenly and inexplicably almost perfectly coherent. She glared as the angel-thing leaped twelve feet in the air to snag a white cloak and landed, almost smugly, without a sound.

In her ire, Seaia had quite forgotten about Azure. "Are any of you good at navigating this place?" he asked.

Of course, Seaia knew the streets of Port Hymir almost as well as she knew what was going on inside the mind of the eclectic angel-thing. That is to say, not at all. But that didn't mean she couldn't take charge.

"Excuse me." She snagged the arm of a passerby. A man, perhaps in his thirties. "I don't suppose you could tell us where to find an establishment name of the Sterdyest Slick Fish, couldja?"

The man barely concealed a smirk. "That sounds like old Silvy," he said. "That's ow she advertises erself." He pointed down the lane running past the Salty Dog. "Three corners down, an to the lef," he said. "Follow the smell o fish."

"Thank you," Seaia said briskly, and she began to stride purposefully down the street.

[Fallen Joy]

The angel’s eyebrow slowly rose. Reow. Seaia apparently had a lot of mental thoughts, and even though they weren’t expressed, the ugly lines forming on her once pretty little face expressed them quite enough for Joy’s observation. That was a lot of negative energy directed at her; this angel ‘thing’ almost felt special for the attention. Another day, when money for her precious alcohol wasn’t at stake, Joy would have heckled and annoyed this woman just cause her trunk snapped every time it was hit with a bit of wind. Temperamental people like her were always quite amusing to a carefree angel. But today Joy would ignore such childish temptations, mostly cause she was near sober now, and instead simply laugh before continuing to walk beside the two. Her wings flicked once before illuminating with a brief flash of white light and shrinking down to no more than a span of a couple feet—walking was much easier this way.

Joy stood nearby listening silently to the conversation with the pedestrian, the corner of her lips twitching with a restrained smile as Seaia strode like an alpha wolf down the street. Oh, she liked this girl; her sassy mean attitude reminded Joy of the past, of a woman that Joy was the best of friends with—they could probably be the best of friends too if Joy could crack away that ugly frown hardened over Seaia’s face.

“Nice work. Take us to the woman of fishy smells o’ fearless leader.”

Maybe not so soon…

Offering Azure another wink, much more direct and confident this time, Joy pursued after the strutting female.

[Zenophoenix]

There it was again, Joy had winked at him a second time. He wasn't offended by much and Joy didn't offend him at all. In fact, she was actually a refreshing personality to his usually mundane and dull life. Since he was actually a Magi Bounty Hunter, women often shied away from him, detecting his manaflow, and his stoic and serious demeanor. But this Joy, she actually didn't care or she was just plain clueless. Either way, he'd keep his mouth shut unless he was spoken to and follow Seaia.

"Ugh, that passerby was right. The smell of fish reeked and could be easily discerned throughout the town. Ok, three corners down and to the left. Got it." He thought, using his hand to cover his nose in an attempt to try to diffuse the smell. It wasn't working.

The group had managed to make it past the first corner. Joy and Azure walked alongside the confident and poised Seaia. Azure had secretly hoped that Seaia would at least tolerate Joy and that Joy would try to control herself. She would actually be an interesting girl if it wasn't for the random outbursts. But who was he to tell her how to live. When he himself needed work personality wise.

[Codeh]

There was a brief moment, a moment were darkness consumed everything that he represented. This moment seemingly lasted a thousand life times, but in truth, unknown to most, it was a few months. Something pulsed, deep within the winged beauty. It resonated with her mind and soul, her increasing sobriety nourished it like a mother nourished her child. Ivory and sapphire hues would be tinged with an amethyst impurity. The infectious waves wafted from her body like translucent purple smoke.

Or maybe not.....

The haze ascended, intangible in nature. It was not magic, nor physical, or corporeal, it was surreal however. It was a form of psychosis, something dreamt up by a childish mind that longed for a friend. Mental decadence brought on by trauma forced weird and unique coping mechanisms, enhanced by the magical environment and mental scaring from psionic intrusions, to give birth to outlets to pain, frustration, and depression. Such were the ways of the blessed whose enchanted minds had been shattered, their wills walked upon, and their ego nearly destroyed.

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For Joy's ears alone the sound of heavy boot steps would materialize. From her stern the sound grew, increasing in volume exponentially. Locks of dark hair swayed in a nonexistent breeze, a smile moving across a familiar visage to greet her. "Hey there cowgirl." In stride with the angel the man moved, his form almost completely solid, though a haze of amethyst hinted to him being less than whole. Leather armor gripped at his figure, a figure that was undamaged by violence, a figure that was wholesome, arm, and friendly.

Before Joy was a ghost, a phantasm, something that seeped from the depths of her unconscious mind. Something that she had been repressing with months of hard drinking. It was a tumor that had grown daily though remained benign.... at least until now. His right limb curled out as fingers passed through her hair, moving through her skull, sending waves of mental essence dancing about. The hand withdrew, and with it a small black shard lay in his palm. "Long time no see, sup sis?"

[Fallen Joy]

Joy laughed at Azure.

“Yeah, no kidding. I hope the quest isn’t to gut some guppies for a lost ring.”

Then suddenly Joy froze, a chill rushing down her spine—something was off. Extremely off. Normally the echoing of footsteps in the distance would do very little to disturb the angel’s natural peace of mind, but there was something about the cadence of the stride and the presence that coated its increasing proximity. A familiarity that caressed a sensitive nerve Joy strived to numb under endless gallons of intoxicating liquid.

He stood there beside her but the angel stubbornly continued to gaze forward, though her legs were suddenly too heavy to perform any more movement. In fact her entire body felt like it gained an immense amount of weight making it a struggle to even remain standing. Her fingers trembled slightly, her body ached for her to turn her head, but her mind screamed in protest. She knew who it was, she longed to see his warming smile, but feared the terrible memory that came with it—feared a relapse into the realm of nightmares she suffered since the night of his death.

Hey there, cowgirl.

Joy snapped her head in the direction of the phantom. Everything else, her quest, her companions, her world all vanishing under the gravitational pull of his ghostly face. Joy couldn’t breathe, her throat felt swollen and tight, the very beat of her heart seemed to freeze. All she could do was stare, transfixed, as the figment of her imagination reached into her head, manifested the most eerie of sensations, and removed a blackened jewel. Joy’s eyes reluctantly shifted from the man’s face to the jewel in his palm, and recalled the same adornment between the metallic tips of another’s hands—someone else she longed to forget. When she managed to find her voice, it escaped her in the form of a sob.

“S-Seth…?”

A tear trickled down her soft cheek before Joy realized where she was, his translucency, and just how damn impossible this turn of event was. She turned to Seaia and Azure, who were now probably looking at her like she’d lost it. It all snapped into place at that moment, this man was a hallucination conjured from her mind—a result of her sobriety. A wave of sorrow passed through her and she ripped her attention away from the ghost, turning her head down to the ground and immediately flicking away the tear. She needed another drink…bad.

“Sorry I…I thought I saw someone I knew. Let’s continue.”

Great another thing for them to add to her list of fallacies. Belligerent when drunk, crazy when sober. Her free hand reaching to clutch the jewel was rested on the cage of her arching heart, she shook her head violently several times.

Ignore it…ignore it…now isn’t the time freak out in front of them. Just breathe…and forget he’s there.