Artefact Auction [mission/ close]

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[attr="class","ktitle"]Artefact Auction

[attr="class","kcontent"]Several Hours Ago, and Several Miles Away

In a place not too far from Gabbro City sits a grim reminder of the fate that all humans will eventually face. In an area covered in rolling hills and brief foresty ventures there is a field that stands out. Large planks of stone are scattered about, each poking up from the ground and listing the names of the fallen that now rested in this solemn place. Given all the land to travel and all the places to be seen, a graveyard might not have appeared the most interesting place to venture, but that did not stop Liz.

Seated on one large tombstone, she poked and prodded away at something just a few inches from her face. One arm nested on her leg, holding her head up, and the other’s hand working away at one of her archive screens, it was difficult to tell why she had been there. The bored look on her face would beg the question as to why she was not somewhere more interesting.

Treasure was the answer. Whether that meant looking through old ruins or old tombs, it did not make a difference for the young woman. Standing not too far from where she was now was the entrance to an especially large tomb—the entrance to a crypt—she wandered inside hoping to find something of value and these were the results.

”Rusted dagger. An old spoon. Playing cards. Broken pottery.” She listed away the items she found, each of which she had stored in her archive and was now listed on the screen in front of her. She would scroll up on the screen, then back down, and tap away with. All this time seeming as if she was waiting for something new, something more interesting to appear in the list. But reality was often cruel, and deep down she knew that was the extent of this search.

She then cried out, ”Oooh! I’m not going eat like this. Who even stores playing cards with their dead body? Huh? Anyone? Why not something of value. A watch. An instrument. Old clothes! Something!?” She blasted away without any concern. She already knew that she was the only one there, and so she allowed herself a chance to rant. But after a moment of this she would calm down and in a quiet tone asked herself, ”Why’d I even think an area of endless fields was a good idea. Should have just headed into the mountains. The desert. The tundra.. Why is the good loot only where I don’t want to go?”

”What about this?” A voice suddenly spoke. Once again, Liz was alone, and so the sudden sound of another person forced her to pause. Her eyes, her mouth, her body, it all came to a halt. Then seconds later her eyes traversed her surroundings in search of the voice’s origin. Sounding close to where she was, she looked ahead of her, and to her sides. Then she gazed behind her. When none of this yielded anything she finally glanced at the tombstone beneath her. It was there that she saw it, a slip of paper.

Present.

Hours later, Lisabeth found herself standing outside of a specific building in Gabbro City. In her hand was the same slip of paper that she had discovered on the tombstone next to her. Now that it was unfolded it could be seen that there was a small, rectangular symbol at the top of the paper. Underneath it went on to ask her to participate in a mission in this city.

The mission was to purchase items from an auction for a collector. Nothing too specific, just anything of value would have been sufficient. But to complete the task they had been offer an endless amount of funds to do what they could with.

The instructions on the slip of paper were not exactly conducive to the mission though. Whereas the collector gave them full reign to buy what they would from the auction, the slip of paper asked Liz to set aside specific items from the auction. These items would not go to the collector, but another group that Liz had limited knowledge of—Sylph Mirror.

For her this mission would be a balancing act, spending the funds of one collector. Then on the side, using the funds of a mysterious group. She could only hope that the items this group wanted would not be the same as those that the collector was hoping for.

Though In Liz’s head she saw it as a win-win situation. Regardless of what artifacts she purchased, she could make one of the two clients happy. But she would not explain any of this to her partner. She would not say any of it to the man traveling with her. When he spoke up, she would only glance in his direction briefly and then look away seconds later. The time before she finally did speak would be delayed as if she was debating whether it was worth speaking with him.

It was not that she did not care to speak. It was not her intention to be rude. But once they were inside the auction she knew the man would question her actions as she sought to purchase items without saying anything. And she also did not want to accidentally spill those plans before they got started. To avoid it she chose to stay quieter than usual, and only speak when necessary.

But being overly quiet was suspicious in itself, and that was why Liz soon spoke to say, ”I mean, when you have that kind of money, who’s to blame him? Probably protecting himself.”

Liz’s head tilted to the side as she held her hand and the slip of paper to her lip. ”But that does mean we should watch ourselves. If he’s protecting himself, then I have to wonder what he is protecting himself from. Let me make it clear I want to leave this place with as few knives in my back as possible. So let me know if you see anyone suspicious here.”

As she spoke she brought her arms to cross underneath her buxom. In this same motion she stuck the slip of paper into the pocket of her blue hoodie. And as she finished speaking she stepped away from Sovereign and towards their destination. Just a step, before she waited to here what more the man would say.

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Notes: Wearing a blue hoodie and cargo shorts.

[attr="class","kinfo"]Words: A lot

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[attr="class","ktitle"]Artefact Auction

[attr="class","kcontent"]”Don’t you worry, I’ll make sure nobody interferes with us.”

Until now Liz had no really paid attention to her partner on this mission. More focused on her own goals, she just accepted his presence and along with it. That is until he made that comment. It was a comment that had Liz looking in his direction and gazing him up and down, gauging his abilities.

”Oh?” She’d sound, not really questioning him so much as she was letting him know she heard him. But still, she wondered if he could back up that claim.

Liz would prefer it if he could. Not much of a fighter herself, it would be great to have someone around that could if push came to shove. But without seeing him fight or knowing his capabilities that fact remained as more of a footnote at the corner of her mind. If they had to fight, she would accept an offer for him to lead the battle, but that did not mean she would trust that he would win.

Her ignorance of the world, after losing her memories, could explain her narrow faith in the man. Liz had no clue who the guy was or his background. Even if someone mentioned Quatro Cerberus, she would not know what or where that was. And so she was limited to knowing what she was told.

But that was not important now. What was is the job they needed to perform. Liz followed Sov into the shack. And once they were inside she was none-too-surprise to see the hatch and the ladder that Sov soon had forced open. During her treasure hunts, Liz had seen similar, and even worse, and so she accepted this as it was. And when Sov offered for her to go first she simply bobbed her head up and down into a nod. Then, without much wait, she pulled herself onto the ladder and down into the underground.

The only pause in these actions came when Sovereign introduced himself. It was an act that had Liz looking up at him for a second before answering back with a brief, ”Liz” Then she continued on her way.

Though the ladder lended the possibility that the actual auction room would be much larger than the shack, Liz was surprised that the underground area was not as large as she would expect. The moment she stepped off the ladder she was greeted to the backs of several groups of people. They filled the small chamber on multiple fronts. And looking around it was not hard to see what they were all focused on.

On the other ends of these crowds were raised platforms with people standing on them. Laid out next to them were all kinds of items. Instruments, cookware, and things that Liz had never seen, this was what she saw. And that was just what she could see away from the crowds. If she could look through the crowds she could see that there was even more items sitting on the stages next to the auctioneers.

”Looking like it’s multiple auctions at a time. I don’t suppose everything we need will just be at one of these stages. How do you want to split this up?”

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Notes: Wearing a blue hoodie and cargo shorts.

[attr="class","kinfo"]Words: A lot

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[attr="class","ktitle"]Artefact Auction

[attr="class","kcontent"]“Let’s split up,” or “we will find the auction selling the priciest artifacts”, these were the types of answer Liz had been expecting. They were the logical responses to follow. Here they were, a man and a woman, in a predicament where they needed to be in many locations at the same time. At best they could do is stand within the proximity of two stages each and attempt two auctions each at the same time. That is what Liz expected, and yet it would seem that Sovereign would not accept such a normal answer.

Liz’s brow rose as he said it. “That’s fine though!” it was a claim that Liz could not believe. The look on her face seemed to ask the all important question, “fine how!?” This was quickly replaced though. The brow dropped and her eyes focused. She turned her attention to the ladder they both she stepped down and it was there that she found the most unexpected of sights—another Sovereign.

’Two.. Three.. Fo-five,’ She counted in her head as they stepped down from the ladder. This may have been a world filled to the brim with magic, but there was still much that Liz did not understand, that she could not predict. This was one of those things.

She would stare in shock as the clones entered the auction room, and continued to look dumbfounded as they each found there place at one of the auction events.

”I.. I.. Oh!” She cried in frustration. Unable to fully comprehend what her eyes were telling her, and flaberghasted by how non-chalant Sov was, the red headed girl was not going to let the man get away from here. She now had a question and it needed to be answer before they could continue.

”Hey, hey. Are those guys family of yours. Where were you hiding them until now? Why.. Am I even needed here?” She paused to count the number of Sovereigns again and the number of auctions. All while she was following behind the first Sov.

’I’m already in over my head.’

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Notes: Wearing a blue hoodie and cargo shorts.

[attr="class","kinfo"]Words: Less than A lot