When Two is One The Church of the Green

ChelonianCommander

ChelonianCommander

Strength of Steel, Will of Iron
While most old world religions died when United was formed, the Church of the Green rose from the ashes and bloomed into something greater. Their chapel is one of the most extravagant and ornate buildings in the Commons District with sturdy marble walls and stained glass portraying symbols of nature, such as green fields and lush forests. The people of this church pray to the earth in order to give it strength to once again bloom to its former glory.
 
A new day comes as the sun rises above the houses and stores of the Commons District. It had just become morning and the district was already getting ready for a hard day of work. A number of paperboys run up and down the streets on bikes delivering papers to the many shops and apartments within the Commons. The front page held the most important news of the day.

'Two More Confirmed Missing. A 42 year old Camberg Male, Johnathan Baker, and his Sand Fox Elemental, Lucky, and a 25 year old Lucillo Woman, Mary Callai, and her Fire Beetle, Mildew, were confirmed missing as of last week. The two victims were both residents of the Grounds District and they were last seen around the local brothel, The Drowned Crew, around the night of their disappearance. The United Guard encourages residents to bring them any information that might be of any use to stop these kidnapping and recover our people.'
 
The church stood proudly over the Commons District, with a high reaching peak set atop sturdy marble walls. The afternoon sun shone brightly upon the immense glass portrayals of vast landscapes saturated with greens. The high sun hung from the sky above the church casting a long shadow across the warm cobblestone street. The wind had picked up now, whistling through open windows and gasping around corners of stone houses and buildings.

Lucius kept his eyes on his surroundings, surveying the people and places around him. At this time of day the streets were considerably busy with men and women returning from work or leaving their homes to take the afternoon shift. To him they seemed to be one tangled mass of dull outfits and bland faces, not so dreary like the Grounders, but not so happy like the Royals. Some middle ground between joy and despair, an overwhelming sense of contentedness. The people here accepted their lives for what they were and made the best of that. Though their lives might not be meaningful the distant smoke swelling from the direction of the Grounds District reminded them that it could be worse.

As they approached the church a sultry breeze swept across the street sending Lucius' hair into a frenzy. Atop his head was now a tangled mess with each ginger strand jerking in a different direction. Turning his face to the side he held a cupped hand over his mouth, preserving the flame of what little was left of his cigarette. Raising it to his lips he took one long, final drag before allowing the wind to suffocate the flame and sending it off into the afternoon. He shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his jacket and focused on each step as his shoes clicked against the cobblestones. A thin stream of light illuminated the path to the church and as a cloud passed over the sun the light was engulfed in shadow. "Well," he said turning to his partner. "Here we are."
 
@Emory
As the two had walked into the commons district Karsin had wasted no time pointing out every monument and building he remembered from his past. Despite how long it had been since he had last been here every memory was as clear as if it happened yesterday. Once they finally reached the church Karsin looked up at it in awe, eyes wide as he took in it’s architectural beauty. Karsin could imagine every support beam every arch and every stone that had been used to build the magnificent building. After a moment he broke out of his trance and turned to face Lucius, “May I ask why we came here?” He asked before it dawned on him, “Is it because they worship the earth here, and the mans elemental was a sand one?” He offered curiously. Karsin’s elemental took this moment to let out a squeak as another gust of wind came through nearly knocking the little creature off of Karsin’s shoulder.
 
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Lucius listened to his partner while simultaneously scoping out the worshipers in prayer. It was a habit of his to scope out every room he entered and make mental observations of each individual. In the doorway he stood briefly, his eyes shifting from person to person until he was satisfied. His face was stern with lips drawn tight, eyes narrowed, and his jaw clenched firmly. The black noir-esque outfit he wore set him quite significantly apart from the rest of those who were present at the church of the green yet he managed to remain fairly inconspicuous. A few of those in prayer craned their heads to get a better look at the two, one much older and donned in a severe style, the other younger and dressed in the shabby garments of a grounder. They made an odd picture Lucius figured, but no matter. They would get to the bottom of this.

Hearing Karsin's question he still did not turn away from the room ahead of them, but tilted his head in the boy's direction. "Huh, hadn't thought of that," he admitted. "But no, no that's not why we came here. The church is a common gathering area for many of the folk's who call this city home. If anyone had seen him before his disappearance there's a good chance we'll find em here."
 
“Oh, well maybe we should just ask someone instead of just stalking them?” Karsin suggested tentatively, hoping his comment wasn’t accidentally misinterpreted as him being snarky. He glanced around at the room they were in and spotted a young woman about the same age as him standing in the corner of the room slowly stroking a large bear made of dirt, she seemed to be watching the other worshipers nervously and she seemed to be quite shy. “Why don’t we ask her, she seemed friendly enough.” Karsin spoke his question becoming more of a statement as without waiting for Lucius’s response he started towards her. The girl spotting Karsin approaching began to look around nervously trying to find some way to avoid talking to the strange man.
 
"Uhuh," Lucius consented, moving along with his hands buried into his pockets, his motion slow and deliberate. Most of the people present had gone back to their prayers by now, their interest lost within seconds after noticing the two. The girl Karsin had suggested they investigate was a young, petite, and evidently reserved. She stood alone, out of earshot of the rest of the church's occupants. That is except for her elemental bear. As Lucius' gaze fell on the burly creature a high-pitched yelp sounded from the floor behind him. Asher must've noticed it as well. The elemental bear presented quite an imposing figure, however Lucius got the impression that it was quite docile. As they neared the corner he leaned in close to his partner's ear in order to keep his voice inaudible to the others in the noiseless room. "She's a timid one. Take this one slowly."
 
Karsin turned toward Lucius and gave him a reassuring smile, “Trust me, I know what I am doing” he assured as he slowly approached the girl. She didn’t speak a word as Karsin stopped a couple of feet in front of her and beaming cheerily, “Hi, My name is Karsin, and this is Liz” he introduced the small Lizard on his shoulder glancing up upon hearing his name before laying back down to return to his nap. “I’m Ellie, this is Gram” she said softly gesturing to the large bear beside her, who eyed Karsin cautiously. “I was just If hoping if I could ask you a couple of things. You see me and my friend over there are looking for two missing people by the name’s of Mary Callai and Johnathan Baker, and I know that this is a pretty popular place. I was just wondering if you knew anything that could help us” He explained to her all the while smiling friendly. Ellie glanced past Karsin to look at Lucius before turning back to Karsin, “I recognise Mr. Baker’s name, he is a friend of my father.” She said softly quickly lowering her gaze to the floor.
 
Lucius remained silent as he watched Karsin question the girl. Part of him was observing her demeanor and considering her answer while another part of him was still hung up on Karsin. He was getting cocky that was for sure. He’d only recently been repulsed by the idea of striking fear into a man’s heart yet now he confident and self-assured. Perhaps it wouldn’t be a problem once everything’s said and done but he would stay frosty. Couldn’t have some upstart kid getting the jump on him.

Returning his focus back to the task at hand he drew his pocket notebook and began to take notes on Ellie’s answers, jotting down the question, her answer, and some other observations in a handwriting that was smushed across the page in seemingly one continuous line of words. “Ellie,” he called out to her. “Hi Ellie, my name’s Lucius.” His voice was cool and crisp, biting like a winter’s gale. “Can you tell us where we could speak with him, your father?”
 
Ellie who had been chatting quietly with Karsin looked over at the other man and bowed her head, “He is in the room at the end of this hall, he has a earth bat” She said pointing to the mouth of the room they were in and at the hallway branching off from it. “Thanks, It was nice talking to you.” Karsin said his tone the complete opposite of Lucius as it was quite cheery, and Ellie smiled shyly. “Thank you for talking with me Karsin, and you too Lucius” she thanked softly and her elemental Gram gave a low growl like noise though it was a friendly sounding noise. Karsin glanced towards the entrance and giving Ellie a small wave he started walking. “So, how did I do?” Karsin asked once they were out of earshot of the girl, his voice having lost it’s bubbly tone though it still kept it’s cheerful sound.
 
Walking alongside Karsin, Lucius grinned wryly and spoke in a hushed tone. “You’re quite the talker, as I’m sure you’ve realized. People will answer to you ‘cause they like you.” There was nothing positive or negative in the way he said it; no emotion just business. “So you speak with her father and I’ll try my best to look menacing.” Once they reached the entrance they took a sharp left and strode down the corridor at a leisurely pace; no need to draw unwanted attention. At the end of the hall leaning against a sturdy marble column was a man with salt and pepper hair and a grizzled beard adorning his face. His clothes were simple but bearing a sense of respect to this place. Dull black contrasted slightly with Lucius’ sharp, polished black. He eyed the man up and down and extended a hand. “Lucius Epillio, private eye. Mind if we speak with you?”
 
The man turned around at the sound of Lucius’s voice and he gave a broad smile at the two of them. “Well Howdy! My name is Alan Grevious. You are here to ask about my dear friend Johnathan are you not?” The man replied with a grin. Karsin opened his mouth to reply but was cut off as the Alan spoke again, “I am afraid I do not have much information to give you except that the day before he disappeared Johnathan told me he had been getting black mailed, and that they had asked for him to meet them in the alley beside the Drowing Crew. He refused to listen to me when I told him it was dangerous yet he told me he had to. That is all I know” the man said heaving a hefty sigh as he finished. Karsin glanced over at Lucius before turning back to the man his face taking on a more serious look, “Did he tell you who was black mailing him?” He asked hopefully and once again Alan shook his head. “Oh, well Lucius do you have anything else you want to ask him?” He asked turning towards Lucius. Karsin was a bit disappointed that he hadn’t really gotten to ask anything as to be honest he quite enjoyed interrogating as long as the conversation stayed friendly.
 
The lack of information was quite troubling and at this point Lucius was getting frustrated. However, there was one thing that stuck out to him. A piece of information that this Mr. Grevious had revealed while divulging everything he knew to Karsin- the scene of the crime. Up to this point they'd been operating without a focal point and now, despite the trouble they'd gone to having to travel from the Grounds District to the Common District just to obtain this information, they could focus on the actual crime scene. "Just one," he said to Karsin without tearing his steely gaze from Mr. Grevious. "Remind me what Mr. Baker's elemental looked like."
 
Alan turned to face Lucius and he said, “Lucius had a sand Fox named Lucky, he was very sweet” Alan explained glancing over at his own elemental who had been on the floor beside his feet. ((Sorry for the short post, there isn’t much for Karsin to do in this situation so I thought I would bring it back to Lucius. My next post will be longer))
 
Lucius, upon hearing Mr. Grevious' response, stroked his kempt, ginger beard thoughtfully. Well that meant Mr. Grevious wasn't lying; he certainly knew Mr. Baker if he was that familiar with the man's elemental. Extending his hand to shake Lucius thanked the man for his time and turned sharply on his heel. As Karsin followed, Lucius thought on the details of the investigation and began to plan ahead. Next, they'd investigate the crime scene, but what then? Was there really anything there that could potentially even point them in the right direction? Lucius wasn't so sure. Nevertheless, he voiced none of these concerns to the younger man beside him. He was in control and that's all Karsin would see in him.
 
Karsin followed after the silent Lucius, waiting for him to tell him what he had learned or where they were going next, yet Lucius stayed silent. Karsin found this a bit curious and deciding to break the silence he said, “I might have an idea, though it could be dangerous” He said trying to sound confident in his words but falling short None the less. Liz squeaked softly rubbing his head against Karsin’s neck in an attempt to calm his nerves. In all honesty Karsin really cared what Lucius though about him, he was actually the closest thing to a friend he had had in a long time. Karsin had plenty of acquaintances, with how friendly he was it was almost impossible for him not to, yet as the years ticked by people came and went none staying long enough to pay Karsin heed. Karsin was jerked out of these thoughts by another squeak from Liz who had been watching him in a concerned manner as he stared off into space.
 
Upon hearing Karsin's statement Lucius perked up, though this was hardly noticeable. This whole situation- teamwork, partnership- it was all so foreign to him. Sure he'd served among the United Guard and before that he'd worked among crime lords and thugs, but this was different. Working with someone so intimately was treading new territory for the 27-year-old.

Lucius longed for combat. He'd gone years fighting for survival then he fought for justice. He'd fought on both sides, both as a criminal and as a servant of the law, and though the two seemed to be polar opposites they'd held one thing in common. They were an absolute thrill. Lucius thrived in dangerous, volatile environments where his particular skills were useful in most situations. Though he now identified himself as a private eye he loathed this sneaking about, asking questions, and searching around for the slightest hint of a clue. His method of solving problems was much more direct and definitely more deliberate. He desperately yearned for a return to this stimulating lifestyle where death was lying in wait around every corner and the only friend he dared trust was the revolver in his waistband.

Yet, something was holding him back. Something was gripping his chest and he seemed to dread the idea of danger while craving it at the same time. He'd risked his life to get where he was and he wasn't about to adopt a sedentary lifestyle of safety and security. So what was it? Then, he glanced over at his partner and found his answer. No, he'd made it through hell and back and it wasn't for his family, it wasn't for friendship, it was for himself. It was his constant belief in himself, that he was superior to everyone around him, that had seen him through strife and ruination. What was this measly boy to him? Nothing!, a voice screamed from the back of his mind. No, that wasn't true either, those were merely his instincts, a safeguard to protect him from relying on anyone but himself. Deciding to level with himself, Lucius had to admit he felt something for Karsin. A twinge in his chest was struck every time he though of the impending danger of this investigation and whatever it was that the boy was suggesting. But he couldn't show his weakness. He had to convey strength. For himself. For his... friend. Realizing he'd been noticeably silent for a brief moment, Lucius nodded a little too enthusiastically and opened his mouth to say something, but clamping down just as quickly. "I uh- yeah. What's the plan kid?"
 
Karsin glanced over at Lucius his surprise clearly visible as he had completely expected Lucius to shoot down this suggestion. “Oh um... I was thinking, what if one of us went to the ally around 7 and tried to get ourselves kidnapped? I mean then the other person could either catch the perpetrator right then, or we could carry walkie talkies and led the other person to their base.” He explained becoming a bit more confident in himself as he spoke. “So...what do you think?” He asked hopefully. He knew this idea was stupid, reckless even but at the moment it seemed like their only lead, “Of course, I’ll have to tell my dad I am heading out first.” He commented glancing to the side, the comment clearly just a thought spoken aloud and not really intended for Lucius.
 
Lucius had expected something of the sort. It might even work if executed properly, but they would need to exercise great care. One slip up, one lapse in judgement, and they’d be the next disappearances. “Sounds good,” Lucius acknowledged, giving Karsin a reassuring look. “First things first we’ll need to resupply. I have some gear back at my place, but there are other means of getting our hands on some more... deliberate ordinance.
 
Karsin grinned as Lucius gave him a reassuring look, though his grim dampened as Lucius had finished his sentence. “What do you mean by that?” He asked slowly glancing over at Lucius with a mixture of curiosity and hesitation.
 
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