Chronicles of The Omniverse Archived Lutetia City: The Monastery

As written by Rōnin

"Hey, this stuff is cool," Aaro retorted, "and a helluva' lot easier to hide on your person than a gun or throwing axes." He picked up bloodbane. "Besides, it's like I said - I don't even think we'll need this one. I just snagged it cuz' it went along with the whole 'fight the undead' theme."

Aaro looked over at In as he slipped off his blazer. "Hey! Looking good, In! Damn, that is dapper." He unbuttoned his own uniform, revealing a green collared shirt that may have just been a tad too tight, clinging to his toned frame and stopping at around mid-bicep.

"Here, catch," he underhanded heavyweight to Jim. The vials were tempered fiberglass and there was an air-tight safety seal over it. The chances of any of these potions breaking from being dropped or being accidentally opened was negligible.

"We're just taking precautions, In," he explained, though there was a tinge of doubt in his voice, "we're not actually expecting anything bad to happen, but... I mean c'mon, we're not going in empty-handed. Even you brought some vials of salve." He chuckled, shaking his head and looking around at his friends. "I guess that's the way the Academy has raised us - to be paranoid of everything and to walk into any situation armed to the teeth.

"Anyway, we ready to go?" He rubbed behind his head. "What's uh. What's the escape plan again?"
 
As written by Krysis

"I think we're going to have to go out a window. That's why I brought the rope and pitons. In case we have to get in back the same way." Celeste answered, but then she looked at Inarin, "Unless someone has a better plan, the ladies room at the back of the library has a window that has been... compromised. Unfortunately it is smallish and, umm, in the ladies room."

"Once outside, I have a sister that can help us get around. Pierette would be willing to help, as long as we get her into the rave. Just... don't give her money and don't accept anything she might try to give you. She's not trustworthy." Celeste blushed to admit that she had such a family member, and mumbled something further that sounds like, "And she lives in her car."
 
As written by Faithy

Jimmy pulled off his blazer, revealing his red button up shirt that was all kinds of awesome and stylish, which was to be expected due to how he tended to gravitate towards the more stylish things in life. He hadn’t noticed at the moment that it was a tad on the tight side and he hoped he didn’t get into any fights because he probably would end up busting a button or two and well, he rather liked this shirt. Shaking his head, she stuffed the blazer into his bag, burying his books on top of it before catching the vial of heavyweight. Taking off the topper, he drank down some of it while the others got ready to go.

“Eh, like Aaro said… precautions. I don’t plan on getting messy tonight, but I’m not going to be naïve and assume nothing will happen. Drunks can be stupid sometimes.” He shrugged a little and glanced towards Celeste as she explained what her escape idea was. He already knew from past experiences that going through the girl’s bathroom window wasn’t doable, at least for him. Musing, he shook his head a little, knowing that while the others might be able to do her idea, he would spend the evening stuck.

“Girls window won’t work for me. I’m not small enough to get through it… I might have tried previously for uhh… other reasons.” He glanced over at In, hoping he had a better idea.
 
As written by Script

Inarin flushed at Aaro's compliment, smiling hesitantly and avoiding eye contact. "Th-thanks," he replied, "You look nice too. Y-your outfit, I mean."

He hurriedly turned away and back to his bag to avoid going any redder, letting the conversation about preparations and plans carry on for a few moments whilst he gathered his composure. He mentally chastised himself for being unable to take a compliment without becoming a flustered mess. What was wrong with him? Seriously!

When he straightened, he was holding a length of rope that he'd retrieved from the bottom of his book bag. "I brought rope as well," he said, "But I also have this."

At that, he pulled the key from his pocket, stepping over to the window of the study room and slipping it into the lock. It turned with a click, and he swung the window outwards. "We're not too far up here, we should be able to get down easily enough. Easier than through the bathrooms, anyway."
 
As written by Rōnin

"Looks good to me," Aaro said, looking out of the window down at the floor beneath, "but wait, if we tether the rope to something in here so that we can grapple down, how are we going to get it back? Couldn't someone come in and see it?"

He judged the distance to the grass. "We could probably scale down. I see some divots in the stone that we could get our fingers into. I wouldn't recommend a straight drop, though. Not without something on the bottom to land in."
 
As written by Krysis

"Great. I'll give Pierette a call, she'll give us a ride and a place to stow extra gear." Celeste whipped out her cellphone then, which was an embarrassingly older model, and moved towards the door as she makes plans with the sister. She'd make sure the door was firmly closed and the 'occupied' symbol was employed, so random students wouldn't come in while these four proselytes were off being rebellious.

She was still in her uniform and wouldn't get out of it until on the ground, since she would rather mess up the stuff the church provided instead of one of the things she had bought for herself. Which was why the nice clothes were on Under the uniform.

---

Pierette had been calling around on her own, listening to loud music, smoking... something. Maybe it was supposed to be weed, but it sure wasn't giving her any sort of anything. She pouted at another refusal and was about to try another contact when, "Celeste! How is my bibby baby sister? All tucked in with the books and no boys?"

"Perilous Pierette, can you even hear me over that racket?" Celeste answered with a tone of determined niceness, though she couldn't help the bite in the back of her words. "Never mind that. I need a favor and you owe me a gazillion of them, so time to pay up." She had blushed and turned her back on the boys as much as possible and kept her voice low.

"A favor? Phffft! You don't Owe favors to family. And what on this dirty world could I possibly do for you? Huh? Answer me That little sis." Pierette taunted, having no intention of helping Celeste unless there was something in it for herself. Never mind all the times that Celeste had sneaked food and money to her, oh no, that was only her due. Baby sisters had to be good for something, after all.

"I need a ride for myself and three friends. To a party. Which you can come to if you are with us." Celeste said it all in a rush as she tried not to give Pierette time to think about it. "Meet us near the--"

"You? Are going? To a party? With Friends?!" Pierette asked in her overly dramatic way, then squealed in delight before asking insistently, "Is he cute? He's Got to be cute to get you out of that place! Will I meet him? Is he coming with?"

"Just come get us, Pieri. Now." Celeste groaned, rubbing her forehead before she turned to find out who remained, hanging up on Pierette's excited chatter.
 
As written by Faithy

When In produced a key that was used to unlock the window, Jimmy arched his brow, wondering where the fellow Proselyte got it from. Moving over to the window, he peered down towards the ground, calculating the distance from whey were at. Aaro was right in that they could probably just climb down, though he wasn’t sure if they all had the strength to do that. He kept that thought to himself however and turned back towards Inarin.

“Look at that, In… thanks a lot for grabbing the key.” Jimmy winked at him before glancing over towards Celeste who was calling up her sister. He wondered if it was wise to have more than one person on the outside to rely on, but figured it might be helpful in the end. Speaking of someone on the outside… Jimmy peered back over at Inarin, moving over towards him.

“Did you get a call off to your brother? Can we count on him?” He felt incredibly antsy and moved back over to the window, glancing around to make sure the coast was clear before shifting out of it, finding the right divots to keep him from falling on his ass. It wasn't long before he was down on the ground, which was a good thing. Popping his back, Jim glanced back up towards the window, waiting on the other three.
 
As written by Script

"Oh, th-that's alright," Inarin replied to Jimmy, smiling, and managing to only blush slightly at the wink. "The groundskeepers always leave their tool shed unlocked while they're working, and they keep some of the keys in there. And, yeah, I called Leon. He promised not to tell anyone, and he knows where we're going, in case ... well, in case."

He then set about tying off the rope to one of the table legs and throwing it out the window so that Jimmy could use it to help him climb down. "Don't worry about retrieving the rope," he said to Aaro with a smile, patting his pocket. "Beetle can help with that. Beetle, wake up," he instructed.

In response, the little mechanical insect buzzed out of his pocket to hover in the air before him. He quickly set about tying the rope to a table leg and threading it out the window, before looking to the bugbot. "After we've all climbed down, cut the knot and then follow," he instructed. "Understand?"

Beetle buzzed in what was presumably an affirmative manner, by the way Inarin nodded with satisfaction.

He then turned his attention to the window, swallowing a sudden onset of trepidation. This was the point of no return. If he climbed out there, there wasn't any going back. Not easily, anyway.

Inarin took a breath, and carefully climbed out.

His descent was, whilst not the most graceful thing, easy enough. Whilst he was far from the most athletic of the monastery's students, he wasn't unfit - he couldn't afford to be, what with the range of physical requirements that their training put on him. He reached the ground alongside Jimmy and stepped away from the dangling rope, breathing in the cool night air with a sigh.

In the moments before the other two descended, he turned to glance at Jimmy. "Thank you. Again," he said softly, "If... if you hadn't invited me along earlier, I'd just be in my room now, still being boring ... Even if you guys decide you don't want to hang out with me again, I- I'll be glad of tonight, at least."
 
As written by Rōnin

Aaro marveled at the mechanical contraption that Inarin called 'Beetle'. While animatronics weren't unheard of in the Lemeux district, a device advanced enough to comprehend voice signals was nothing short of amazing.

"Sweet Selene, Inarin, did you build this yourself?" Aaro's eyes followed the metal insect as it whirred past him. "It's incredible! I've never seen anything like it." Aaro had always known In was smart - brilliant, even. Most students at the academy were 'smart'; they had to be to keep up with the rigorous curriculum. But this went beyond a knack for the classroom. This was bonified genius.

Deciding not to question his friend's ingenuity further, Aaro took hold of the rope. He looked back to Celeste before descending. "Here," he said, tossing her bloodbane. "I don't want both of them, and if a vampire is going to snack on one of us, it'll probably be you." He grinned, winking at her before jumping out of the window, duffel bag slung over his shoulder.

He tethered down the wall easily and landed among Inarin and Jim. "Hm. Celeste's sister is coming to get us, huh? Wonder what that'll be like."
 
As written by Krysis

Celeste was still lost in the conversation with her sister when Aaro spoke to her. She turned slowly with a 'huh?' expression on her face that didn't exactly make it out of her mouth before he was throwing something at her. Something that she just couldn't identify as it was flying through the air. So she knocked it down before it hit her, and only realized it was a potion bottle when it smacked the floor and rolled under the table.

His wink made her blush yet again and roll her eyes, but she waited until he was halfway down the wall before she muttered, "Gotta grow up someday, Aaro."

She'd slip the pitons into her uniform pocket, so they would be on hand to help them back up the wall, but left the most of rest of her gear where it laid. The exception was the brown-plastic wrapped block, which she'd toss down to Jimmy after waving at him and making sure he knew it was coming, "It's not heavy, but don't open it. It's for Pierette."

Celeste was still on the rope, halfway down the wall, when a older model car (equivalent to an old ford pinto) came to a rattling stop on the nearest street. The headlights remained on as the driver's door opened and a scrawny woman slid out to lean against the side of the vehicle and grin at them. She didn't look like the sort of person proselytes were encouraged to meet, with her skintight, torn jeans and a loose camisole top that had seen better days, as well as the stains on her glittery ankle boots. Not to mention the punk-style hairdo in spikes of pink and blue that was loosing the battle with the dark roots that were visible from more than fifty feet away.

She had to be the sister; the family resemblance was strong. However, while Celeste was thin from hard work and rigorous training, Pierette looked like she just didn't eat enough. Pierette is also significantly taller than Celeste, something like 5'10" as opposed to the proselyte's 5'5". Then there was the age difference. One would expect that they would be close, almost the same age, but Pierette looked almost ten years older than her sister.
 
As written by Faithy

Jim was grateful that Inarin called up his older brother. Despite not knowing the male, it made him more comfortable to know that he had been told over Celeste’s sister being brought into the mix as their ride. He kept that thought to himself knowing that Celeste was trying to help the group out too. Hell, they were actually doing more than he was, which made him feel incredibly grateful. Stuffing the heavyweight vial into his pocket for the moment, he waited for the rest of them to join him at the base of the building. Inarin appeared first and Jimmy smiled at his words, knowing that this was a huge deal for the teenager.

“Hey, you’re welcome and whether or not they hang out with you again, I would be happy to chill with you. You’re a good friend and whether you believe it or not, you’re fun to be around.” Smiling again, Jimmy glanced over at Aaro as he also descended down from the window. Shaking his head a bit, he tried to imagine what a sibling of Celeste would be like and figured the sister was either straight laced or a party animal.

“Hmm, something tells me tonight is going to be something we never forget.” He mused, running his fingers through his hair. Nearly sidetracked with his own thoughts, Jimmy almost missed Celeste waving down at him. Blinking, he caught the wrapped block, brow arching as he wondered what was within. Deciding it was best not to know, he nodded at her, making sure to hold onto it while she descended down the rope. He was about to say something else, but was sidetracked by the sound of a vehicle approaching. Gaze shifting over towards him, Jim blinked at the female that stepped outside of the car. He took in her appearance and ended up glancing between the two sisters, amazed at how different they looked and no doubt acted. Shaking his head, he decided to wait for their fellow proselyte to join them before moving over towards the car.

“Yep, definitely going to be a night that isn’t easily forgotten.”
 
As written by Script

"N-no, not myself," Inarin confessed to Aaro, "It's one of my aunt's creations. Uhm, it's not all mechanical. There's magic involved too." He seemed abashed of this fact, knowing that some of the church disapproved of all magic, not just that of necromancers. He didn't share the view on either front (though necromancy did make him uncomfortable) but knew better than to express that too vocally.

To Jim, he smiled once more, this time with slightly less bashfulness. "Thank you," he said again, but spoke no more on the subject as the others joined them.

Once all four proselytes had descended, Beetle hovered down to where the rope was tied and scythed away at the ropes with its mechanical mandibles. Within a few moments, the knot was severed and the rope fell down the ground below. Not long after, Beetle followed, and Inarin once more sent the bugbot to sleep in his pocket.

It was only then that he turned and laid eyes on Pierette. His eyebrows rose, and he blinked in surprise. This was Celeste's sister? He'd been expecting ... well, he wasn't sure what he'd been expecting. Not the woman that stood before them, that much was certain. He quickly looked away to avoid staring at her vibrant hair, taking a moment to stow the rope away in a nearby bush before hurrying to follow the others towards the car.
 
As written by Rōnin

As Aaro descended, he looked towards the beat up car pulling up to the curb. On guard just after breaking out of the Monastery, he was initially suspicious of the approaching vehicle ... until a faded dye-job exited the driver's seat. She certainly wasn't with the church.

"Evening," he nodded at her, smiling, "you must be Pierette." He touched two fingers to his lips and bowed. "Aaro Caresin. Thank you for giving us a ride..." His voice trailed, taking a closer look at the clunker they would be riding in. He smiled wryly. "Fits five, I hope?"
 
As written by Krysis

Pierette grinned at Aaro, and if he didn't stop her, she'd walk around him in a narrow circle when he bowed. The better to look him over, one would assume. "Nice. Very nice. Cel! Is this the one?"

Celeste had been pulling off the uniform to reveal the nicer clothes under it, and froze in shock and chagrin when Pierette called to her. Before she could do more than stammer a negative, the older girl was giving Jimmy and Inarin the once over as well, being obvious about it. Maybe Pierette was enjoying making Celeste uncomfortable, but she seemed to enjoy any reactions the boys gave as well.

"Tight fit, but we're all chums, right?" Pierette finally answered Aaro, as she gave Inarin a saucy wink just to see if he would blush. She'd point at Jimmy though, "You're up front with me. Those long legs would be all scrunched up in the back seat."

The car did have room for five, though the seats were covered in a thin layer of debris that could be safely shoved to the floor. The back seat is a bench style so someone would have to sit in the middle, which Celeste volunteered for. The brown plastic-wrapped block would be placed in a smallish cooler that shares the front seat with Pierette, (unless Jimmy wanted to hold on to it for reasons of his own) along with a small stash of opened munchies type foods.

Whoever sat on Celeste's right would probably be very aware of the pistol strapped to her thigh, though the piece was designed for concealment it was still a hunk of metal where no metal should be.

Pierrette sang out, once they were all settled, "Where to, kiddos? I need an address before I can get you to this party!"
 
As written by Faithy

Nodding at Inarin, Jimmy let the subject drop, though he made a mental note to ensure that he hung out with In more even if it was just him and not the others though he hoped Celeste and Aaro would want to chill with him too. Stretching out his body, he felt his back popping along with his shoulders and relaxed a little. Following along with the others to the car, he tried to figure out whether or not it would even get them to where they were supposed to be going. Deciding that he should be grateful for the ride, he kept his mouth shut and paid semi-attention to what was being said by Pierette, though she appeared to be quite the flirt unlike her sister. His brow arched as she checked him out, but he opted not to react to it, though he was sure poor Inarin was blushing like crazy.

“Hmm, alright.” His two word retort was in response to Pierette telling him to sit up front. He was grateful that his legs weren’t going too smashed, but that also put him quite close to the strange female. Shaking off the thought, Jimmy slid into the front seat and placed the block into the cooler, glad to be rid of it. Sliding his free fingers through his hair, he glanced back at Aaro, hoping the male had the address of the party.

“Aaro, you still have that napkin?” His brow arched a little, especially when he realized just how close he was leaning towards Pierette.
 
As written by Script

Inarin shifted uncomfortably under Pierette's gaze, doing his best not to pay any attention to it. The wink caught him sorely off guard, however, and he blinked in surprise - his cheeks once more staining read - before he quickly looked away to avoid any further eye contact.

He quietly went along with the pile-in to the vehicle, taking the seat on Celeste's left and fastening himself in with a grimace. The car's interior was a mess, and he tried to avoid touching anything more than he needed to as he cleared his seat, with as much subtlety as he could manage. The cramped quarters didn't prove too much of a concern - whilst not exactly scrawny, Inarin cut far from an imposing figure, being both short in height and slender.

When Pierette asked for the address, he hesitated for a moment, thinking back to the conversation with Arien. "Two ninety-one Coterie Avenue," he answered, just after Jimmy had mentioned the napkin. "Merveilleux."

He had a good memory for details, as had likely become obvious by his frequent anecdotes taken from the pages of books he'd read years ago.
 
As written by Rōnin

"Am I the one?" Aaro grinned maniacally, "I sure as Selene BETTER be the one, Celeste. Boyish good-looks like these don't come around too often." With In on the left and the Celeste in the middle, Aaro took the right. He couldn't help but stare at the gun strapped to his fellow proselyte's thigh, a confusing mixture of frustration and allure welling up inside him. He still thought that the firearm was overkill, but there was something undeniably sexy about a girl packing heat-

“"Where to, kiddos? I need an address before I can get you to this party!"”

"Wuzat?" Aaro blinked, snapping out of his reverie. He took a moment to process the words spoken to him, before wincing. Shit. He'd left the napkin back at his dorm. He'd have to go back and-

He shut right up as Inarin rattled off the address if it was on the back of his hand. Aaro sat up and looked over Celeste at his friend, shaking his head in gleeful disbelief.

"And that, ladies and gentleman," Aaro sat back, relaxing, "is why you always bring an 'Inarin' with you wherever you go." He pumped one of his fists, lowering his voice in his best impression of Saint Lemeux.

"To glory! The party awaits!"
 
As written by Rōnin

Back at the monastery, Sister Grunxa waited for the two paladin's at the gates.

"Back sooner than expected," she nodded, "and not without some injuries. Get cleaned up and see the clerics. I expect a full report before the night is done."

As they walked back to the armory, Jonas looked at Crista. He unclasped his helmet and put it under his arm.

"Are you alright?"
 
As written by SerinaBloom

Crista removed her helmet as well.

"Yes I'm alright. How about you?"
 
As written by Rōnin

"I'm fine. Little miffed Crawley got away, but fine."

They pushed through into the armory. It was empty. Jonas unclasped his chest plate with three quick flicks at the back and front supports. It fell into his arms. He worked quietly for a bit, removing the layers of nanofoam and Kevlar ... Before looking back at his partner with a hesitant glance.

"Are you lying to me, Crista?"
 
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