Back from the Dead [Arauchia]

[Jesse Fforde]

Shitshow was the word that Jesse related to. Public relations were not his thing, either. The idea that vampirekind could put themselves on a stage and try to talk humanity into acceptance was… well, boring. He shrugged.

”I tell you about the administrator, but I don’t muck around on the Crownet much, to be honest. I couldn’t give you an honest rundown of who they are or what their goals might be because I don’t pay much attention. It’s just a platform for trolls,” he said. The few times he’d used the public crownet he’d found it to be useless, a place for people to run their mouths without fear of retribution. No one could honestly take it seriously, could they?

As for other tips and tricks, Jesse, right then and there, couldn’t think of anything. In five years he was certain plenty had changed. Plenty would be different to how Arauchia remembered it to be, but all that city-change was mixed up with all Jesse’s personal-change, and sometimes the two were hard to separate. How long ago had these things happened?

”As for the rest – I’m sure things have changed but we might have to play it by ear. Time is different now, I guess. A lot has happened. Did you… were you around when the military set up camp around the entrance to the catacombs? That charge is a no-go zone, really. Only way in is through the sewers…?” he asked. The biggest change, he presumed, was that the government knew more than they used to. With the advent of vampire-kind revealed to humanity, they could only grow in their understanding of what they were up against. Jesse was honestly waiting for a war, an explosion. Peace, he doubted, was an option.

The best they could do was be prepared. Or else go in with weapons cocked and fangs beared, ready to spill as much glorious blood as possible.

[Arauchia]

Previously, Adela had limited her communications on the Crownet to matters of business only. Bounty announcements, recruitment, and that was it. The rest was all drivel. Under the guise of anonymity, you could bet that individuals would behave like the uncultured swine they were. At least some things never would change. People generally never changed, for as much as they claimed. All beings were creatures of habit to a degree, so once it was ingrained, good luck.

Adela thought about the scene he was describing at the Mausoleum, which if memory served, was located in the northwest along the city's outskirts. While she had taken the sewer entrance a few times, she had usually waltzed right in the front door of the crypt. The more and more Jesse described, the more she concluded that humans knowing about their existence was terrible. While a formal masquerade may not have been in place, there was no way she was going to live her life so openly. Even while human, Adela kept an extremely low profile because of her work and grew comfortable with living on the fringes of society.

"I suppose the best option now is for me to just go out and explore." She started as she glanced over to Jesse. "Feel out the place. Buy some clothes and weapons. Things like that." Sure she would buy stuff, but only after relieving a few people of their wallets or profiting from selling things she lifted out of buildings. "Maybe then I'll have more direct questions as to how things got to be as they are from where they were." After a certain point, Adela was unable to absorb more through reading or discussion. She was a hands-on learner and was eager to get to investigating.

[Jesse Fforde]

Jesse stared at Arauchia for a good five seconds as he tried to make up his mind. This was a woman he knew nothing about beyond a conversation that had lasted no more than half an hour and he had already offered her a place to stay. He’d offered her close proximity to the family he was so protective of, though said family often didn’t recognise how devoted he was as its ‘patriarch’. The word was loaded -- when one heard ‘patriarch’ they envisioned some wise, sage elderly man who’d lived a full life and who was intimidating in all his knowledge. Jesse wasn’t sure anyone would consider him a Patriarch.

That was beside the point.

Arauchia was fresh from the womb, so to speak, with nothing and no one. She spoke of buying weapons and clothes, but with what money? Did she have a stash somewhere, hidden, that she might find and claim for herself? Or should Jesse offer that, too? It felt strange to be kind, like some kind of good Samaritan. It wasn’t the skin that Jesse Fforde had been born into. And she was not of his blood. Why should he?

Still.

”I can lend you some money to get you started,” he said. Lend. Not give. Lend. ”If you don’t have some secret stash somewhere,” he said. He might have offered the weapons instead, but he didn’t have any good ones lying around. ”The good weapons, these days, you can buy online, on auction. They’re custom made and generally far superior to the ones sold blackmarket in the shops,” he said. And far more expensive, too.

[Arauchia]

"Nah, no offshore secret caches. I was already down to my last couple hundred when I blinked out of existence." Adela explained as she considered Jesse's offer for a moment, sinking into the silence like she would the shadows.

Despite the man's rough exterior, he seemed to be a kind sort as he was willing to help her get back on her feet. In most ways, she was inclined to take the cash. Adela was already indebted to him, so what harm would enough money to pick up a couple weapons be? Probably not much. But she also was wary of possibly being reduced to an indentured servant that would work off her debts. Maybe it would be better to earn it then take it in case things didn't work out so well.

"How 'bout we start with the room and, then perhaps if we are comfortable enough, we can discuss terms of a loan." As she spoke, Adela rose from her seat and smoothed out her blouse. Violet eyes glanced back to the shimmering air where he said the portal was. "If you have a spare handgun lyin' around, I would happily borrow it. That way I can start fundraising of my own accord." She figured he would understand what she meant by that, however the Spaniard knew it was completely unsafe to walk around unarmed. As long as it shot bullets, she would get by just fine.

[Jesse Fforde]

Jesse nodded.

The woman was independent, happy to take care of herself, to a degree. This, he could jive with. There was nothing worse than full-grown adults latching on to other full-grown adults and expecting to be coddled. It was unbecoming.

Though Jesse wasn’t sure what exactly he had laying around, but he went to one of the chests surrounding the crafting area and threw it open. Inside were different weapons and parts; things that had been gathered and left aside for anyone wishing to use them, or that had been left behind by those who’d dabbled in the craft of making weapons in the past. They were all lined up neatly, organised by best quality to worst. There was a handgun, one of the Psylen X4s that could be thieved from the Lionellis. Arauchia had requested a handgun specifically, so it was this that he plucked from the cache.

This he took back to her, along with a box of the required ammunition.

”This should get you started. I’ll ask around and see if I can get you something better,” he said. ”Unless you’d like something a little bigger? I’ve got some assault rifles collected from the Hellheims – not exactly inconspicuous, though, if that’s what you’re going for…” he said. Unless she’d been trained with a handgun and was just more comfortable with a smaller weapon. Jesse himself liked often to use only his own two hands, or blades. He had a questionable relationship with blood, and liked to see a lot of it. And he liked to hear people scream. Screaming and bleeding were goals more easily reached with a blade rather than a bullet.

[Arauchia]

She didn't even need to be asked to take the weapon. Her hands moved to as polietly as she could, snatch the gun from his hands along with the ammo. She placed the case of ammo down on the couch arm as she withdrew a clip and in one fluid motion opened the gun, loaded it with the ammo, and pulled back on the safety to test it's responsiveness to fast loading. "Mmm. I prefer less obvious weapons. I prefer to blend in then stand out." Violet eyes scanned over the gun as she held it up close. She already liked this gun; it had a good weight to it. To a trained eye, it would've been extremely obvious that the petite blonde was very well versed with guns and probably had killed with them.

"Muchas gracias, Jesse." Adela grinned as she re-engaged the safety on the gun, then tucked it in her waistband. She scooped up the box of ammo like a kid might snatch candy in a candy store. This would do the Spaniard a world of good. She missed her daggers, but this handgun would suffice for right now. Besides, in her weakened state it would likely end poorly if she did close quarter fighting. Better to ease back into it.

Adela started to walk over towards the shimmery portal he had mentioned that would take her to her accommodations. Just before she got in, she turned back to face him and offered a gentle smile. "It wasn't the way I expected coming back, but it sure makes for a good story. Looking forward to getting to know you better." After she finished speaking, Adela gave a small curtsy of her appreciation before taking a step backwards into the space the portal occupied. It took a few moments for the Spaniard to remember ho to entrust her body to the magics. However, when she did, she blinked out of sight leaving no trace but an empty blood bag.