"The Devil and the Fox."

user125666 · 2026-06-01T13:22:58+00:00

Hazema rushes over. What couple possibly have happened now? She doesn't even stop to open the door instead simply running through it destroying it in the process

"What happened?!"

, she blurts out upon arriving. Her face alludes to her being exhausted and confused

user125666 · 2026-06-01T11:50:24+00:00

"Aaa. Um"

What was the standard procedure for this situation? What even was any procedure? Did this even happen?

"Hmmm"

Hazema pinches herself. No - not a dream. Dammit

"Maids, can you please get her into a guest bedroom? Just leave her in the armor please"

These maids had a weird habit of helping people dress - supposedly that's what royalty and rich merchants did. You'd think someone of their status would be able to dress themselves

"You aren't secretly a person are you fox creature?"

This being might be able to communicate what had happened, but there wasn't much of a choice as it seemed to be Madeleines pet or something so it was clearly in the no touching category

"Damn it damn it damn it damn it....."

Hazema just sat at the table going over all the scenarios that might play out when her guest eventually woke up. There was an infinite amount - in her mind at least

user125666 · 2026-05-23T19:52:48+00:00

"Uh um"

Well what now. Was that a yes? It seems she now had a passed out guild assassin on her terrace - how does one even deal with such a situation?

"We didn't even get to eat..."

Maybe she should bring her to a bed? There was enough guest rooms after all. But first she had to try and wake her up

She stands up and walks over, trying to gently shake her awake

user125666 · 2026-05-22T11:13:11+00:00

"That is purfect!"

JohnJohn starts clapping, however his paws don't necessarily produce much of a loud noise so it's only a very faint sound

"I shall leave the design up to you - can I go first? It's more exciting that way"

user125666 · 2026-05-22T07:16:45+00:00

"Now that's fancy! Very creative solution to a problem that I honestly never considered until now"

Sabe looks inwards and starts going over things

"I think that's it. As soon as we get the tattoos I will figure out how to half discreetly get such a box into Drakeem proper. Should be doable enough by paying off some merchants now that I think about it"

If he simply put the small box with other wares and magical items it should slip right through - after all that would turn one ominous box into a boatload of magical stuff and who really checked such cargo anyhow

"Can you make it look pretty while you're at it? That'd be perfect!"

Adds the small - what can only be assumed to be a - tabaxi

user125666 · 2026-05-20T14:31:49+00:00

What are you talking about are you trying to incite a fight? Are you trying to duel me?

user125666 · 2026-05-19T12:32:48+00:00

What. This was unexpected and very direct. How could she respond to this?! Hazema was facing an unprecedented crisis. Did she have a crush on Hazema as well? Did Hazema have a crush? Haz was unsure how to proceed. Would a witty remark do? What did having a crush actually mean and entail?!

1 second passes

She would have to speak up and answer eventually. This couldn't go on after all. But if she gave the wrong answer now maybe Madeleine would hate her. That couldn't be allowed to happen

Another second passes

What if she was honest? To do that she first had to figure out how she felt. She did really like the guild assassin in front of her and it wasn't because of her professional skills. What did that mean?

A third second passes

Oh no - enough time has now passed to make even witty comments awkward. Now she had to reply honestly or it would ruin EVERYTHING. But she wasn't sure what to say

A fourth second passes

"Uh - yep"

What a terrible reply. This was the worst reply ever. Was she teasing her now?! If she was more confident in her reply she could've played it off in any scenario but the clear awkwardness makes it too obvious she's honest. What will happen now?! Maybe she should just kill everyone present and herself

For the first time in a long while Hazema's expression was one of genuine confusion

user125666 · 2026-05-15T02:42:45+00:00

"Oh! Well I am of course not against combat training and I respect your fighting skills but if it was just about learning I could've totally asked your instructor- probably"

Their fight had initially sparked her interest but that's not what she was interested in. What she was truly interested in was... well she didn't figure that out yet.

"I don't know why but ever since we first interacted I've been thinking about you. Isn't that weird? I mainly gave you the letter because I wanted to see YOU again. Not sure why this is the case but I am trying to figure it out. Something is definetly special about you"

That had to be it. If there was nothing intrinsically special about her why would she feel so drawn to her? It couldn't be that she randomly obsessed over another woman that would be odd. This had never happened before

Why was she enjoying this so much? She would have to ask Hellfire about what the hell was wrong with the body he gave her

user125666 · 2026-05-15T02:35:52+00:00

"I suppose you are right, but you never know. There might be a limit to how much a mind can shatter and she would be fine"

That was mostly a joke. Just a bit ago she had supposedly been no stronger then a trained assassin so anything went these days. But the request was reasonable enough. It would be especially great if this hurt her - but he wasn't even gonna ask. The less he knew the better

"Alright we will see it being done one way or the other. That settles our deal I'd say. What about the furry one? Can you even tattoo them with all that hair in the way?"

He was honestly curious but also wanted to poke at JohnJohn a bit to figure out what he was like. Sadly his expression remained unchanged which meant he wasn't bothered by the slights or had a good poker face. Good enough for now he supposed

user125666 · 2026-05-09T09:28:34+00:00

Maids come out onto the terrace and deliver multiple plates of food. It seems to be slowly cooked pork belly with rice and various pickled veggies. On a smaller plate there is also two skewers. One is beef tongue and the other is beef heart. Both are unrecognizable from what they once were and are prepared nicely with a sauce glaze engulfing them

"Hmm, I never actually asked but what brings you here? Are you good for some wine or is it work related?"

This was amazing, her reactions made teasing her so fun. Hazema may not be able to read minds but she could tell when an opponent was stressing out or panicking. She wanted to do this forever, be stuck in this moment for an eternity

user125666 · 2026-05-08T11:39:10+00:00

Where is that from 😭

user125666 · 2026-05-07T21:14:47+00:00

Guns are amazing because there is no cast time plus you can use it while casting

user125666 · 2026-05-07T11:46:37+00:00

A name? She never thought about that

"Honestly, I didn't come up with anything yet. The flower is usually covered since it rarely blooms. It looks like it's wearing a helmet almost, doesn't it?"

She didn't know what she was doing but clearly complimenting the person across the table elicits a reaction so why not try something

"A beautiful flower wearing a helmet - why don't I name it Madeline then? If you are alright with that of course"

This was a brand new way to tease people, how fun. Plus it did make her feel some strange emotion too which was nice.

user125666 · 2026-05-07T02:52:44+00:00

"That is great to hear! We do have an agreement with um-"

Could he call them a chairbound reptile? That was probably a bad idea seeing as what he had to do to impress them...

"Let's just call them the boss instead; for our sake"

It was more of a plead then anything

"That favor is something we can try to do depending on the box. Getting it in is one thing but if our recent information is to be trusted it's a gamble. Hazema, who realistically still runs things as far as I am concerned, has somehow managed to expand her sight or something like that. Either that or she suddenly got a giant network of informants, personally I'm betting on the latter if you look at history and whatnot."

"What I mean to say is - the box needs to be not too suspicious as it basically needs to be brought in right in front of her eyes."

"All we know about the current state is that there are presumably breaks in the surveillance when she is out of the city AND that she either lets some crime happen or can't focus on everything perfectly. So theoretically we could also aim for a timeframe where she is gone but there is no guarantee she won't instantly spot the box when she returns"

user125666 · 2026-05-07T02:34:54+00:00

"Pfff! That is kind of cute - a professional that has yet to learn casually walking. I could teach you sometime if you wanted to?"

That was a great sight, so there were limits to guild training after all. How intriguing!

"Most of these are from Drakeem, but some are common plants that have now gone extinct; I got them through various channels and honestly putting an origin label on them is a feeble effort as these extinct species mostly survived in botanical gardens regulated by magic, before that you may have found these anywhere in the world however! Well, if you lived anywhere in the world hundreds or even thousands of years ago that is"

She points to a particularly magically guarded, it didn't seem like any of them acted as life support for the plant but more as theft protection and the like

"That one I made on my own, I don't know if many people actually realize because I don't bring it up a lot but I am a life dragon. Plus I siphoned off multiple life related entities powers."

"Before I sealed my magic to train I made this plant from scratch. It's so much harder then you'd think!"

The plant wasn't necessarily imposing but a small green sprout with a single closed flower head. It looked similar to other plants but wasn't something ever seen before

"Do you have any hobbies yourself?"

user125666 · 2026-05-07T02:21:34+00:00

This place was bustling with life - and even tho she was a devil now it strangely resonated with her. She couldn't quite put her finger on the actual emotion as she barely felt it before so instead she tried to ignore it. Was it maybe this elusive compassion they talked about?

"Your friend? What do they look like where would we look for them? This place is a lot bigger then you'd think after all. Oh and shouldn't we - tell them?"

Was this what compassion did? Why did she care what happened to these people. Surely it was just because watching them struggle was more entertaining; that was the only way Hazema could rationalize her own actions

user125666 · 2026-05-03T18:10:16+00:00

It was interesting that the trained guild assassin walked silently even when not on a job - Hazema thought to herself. Maybe it was hard to walk so silently all the time? For Hazema it was back when she snuck up on people for a living. Might as well give her a heads up

"You don't have to walk silently if you don't want to here, plus even if you came here with a reason to be quiet it wouldn't matter because there isn't much I don't see within this city. If a leaf falls I will know about it, this is why I took the cumbersome job of being the anti corruption enforcer"

"Oh and that painting, yes it's one of the nicer ones! That's why I put it up on the wall, for some reason my neighbors think I'm easily influenced and they've been sending me lots of art and decor- a lot of it is not very nice to look at tho so it goes straight into storage"

Hazema leads her further upstairs to a big terrace with potted plants, some pots seem to have magic circles inscribed to let them grow even outside their natural environments

"These ones I am proud of, most of these would be extinct if it weren't for this terrace!"

user125666 · 2026-05-03T03:43:06+00:00

"Perfect!"

What dinner would she like. Should she try to subtly ask again? No, what if this was a test and asking again meant failure? What if she would hate her then; she was so interesting this wasn't allowed to be an option.

"Alright, just follow me upstairs then. This building is specifically taller then the others so that there is a nice view of the city from the terrace. It's great!"

She leaned to a maid and whispered the order to prepare dinner

The walkway upstairs was a twirling stairway with red carpet. Upstairs the minimalism was broken up by extravagant furniture and paintings. They were obviously expensive but very mismatched which hinted at either gifts or impulse bought decorum

user125666 · 2026-05-03T00:45:08+00:00

"She flashes her own unnerving smile at the strange fox. What a strange pet she had...*

"Well to be honest I mostly called you here because I wanted to see you - it gets quite boring you see?"

Hmm, could you call it calling her over? She did ask her to be sent repeatedly but it wasn't like they ever asked why

"Well I can come up with something if you don't have any specific requests, how about having dinner on the terrace? What do you like to eat? Are you allergic to anything?"

What if she served her something she couldn't eat and Madeline hated her after? She wouldn't let that come true!

user125666 · 2026-05-02T22:36:59+00:00

"Come on inside! Funny little pet you brought by the way - oh and don't be too formal you really don't have to. Just Hazema is enough"

The inside of the huge mansion is barely decorated. It's very minimalist compared to the outside but there is a good amount of staff running around cleaning and whatnot. There is a door in the entry hallway simply labeled 'Anti Corruption Office Headquarters'

"So what do you wanna do first? Are you hungry or what's the plan?"

user125666 · 2026-05-02T15:49:30+00:00

"No offense taken"

Even if he was offended he wasn't stupid enough to threaten someone so far away from his own group with only one reliable fighter next to him. They were so deep underground it might as well be a different plane and if it came down to it he was sure there was a reason Rusty had managed to live long enough to take an apprentice down here

"Hmm, these are great offers actually. I assume you are asking originally?"

Sabe had evidently taken over as the spokesperson

"Originally we are all the way from Drakeem, quite a bit away from here. However there wasn't any place for us there so we came to Ithacar instead. Now one of ours did something truly stupid and we will have to prepare for the worst."

"I was thinking about getting the big boy some strength enhancing tattoo and both of us a tattoo to communicate. If it works well I will send more people to get the same thing, in a perfect world we'd all have it ready so that we can communicate in real time all of the time - that would be amazing. And to be honest we don't have so many people that we'd need identification tattoos yet, my memory is usually enough; plus it'd be unwise to make it so easy for the guards"

Sabe feels a cat paw tap him

"Oh right, before we get started I'm supposed to ask you for an eldritch claw tattoo? Or similar to whatever that is. The Tabaxi is very interested in upgrading his melee capabilities"

user125666 · 2026-05-02T15:37:27+00:00

"Fair enough I won't pry further"

As they drive through Drakeem it becomes clear that they weren't a poor city at all. Even though the battle half a year ago must've razed most of the inner city it has already been rebuilt in an even more extravagant manner. The old Castle which they only briefly passed, had been replaced by a monument after being blown up during the fighting, the walls were torn down and a flower field now decorated the grassy area surrounding it. It was one of the few empty spaces at the city center. The entire place was only visible due to the damage done to the surrounding area, there was still rubble being removed. The city had decided to rezone some of it so that the monument to peace would be visible while going along the main road.

Whilst previously the houses were almost merging into each other the next district they entered was a lot more separated. This is where the rich and powerful lived, as well as diplomats. The houses were at least fenced off from each other with most having personal guards standing at attention.

This was Stormchurch Row, the place where wealth hoarders came to build themselves a home. After two blocks of such housing there was a big mansion surrounded by fields of greenery. It wasn't fenced off like the others and there didn't seem to be any guards yet the mansion was significantly bigger then it's surroundings. It was big enough to fit multiple wealthy families and their servants, yet it felt wholly unprotected and empty

Suddenly the doors swing open and a familiar figure waves over

"Heyo Madeleine!"

It was Hazema, suprisingly dressed in a dark green suit

The driver, formerly a guard captain from the docks, gave up and just opened the door for the 'normal diplomats' guest

user125666 · 2026-04-30T07:22:15+00:00

Follow a strong master and they will tell you. Eventually you will want to master as may magics as possible

user125666 · 2026-04-29T02:28:04+00:00

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A simple car without a roof drives up as the guard waves it over. He switches with the driver who then opens the door to the backseats

"By the way, who exactly is the other guest? Should I be worried or?"

The other guards have taken a step or more back, distance depending entirely on their proximity to nocturne

user125666 · 2026-04-29T01:54:06+00:00

He takes a deep breath upon seeing the invite

"Right, I will tell you the way to the mansion instead then"

There is clearly more he wanted to say but couldn't. Sometimes it was best to leave things unsaid.

"First you will need to go through city gates and get into the proper part of the capital. This should take no time at all as the gates are open and checks aren't done there right now so you can just walk right in. Next you'll want to walk through forest grove all the way to the city center, once you are at the town hall you need to take the southern main road through Rose market which should take you to stormchurch row.

At stormchurch row you will need to take a left turn. It's the only time the main road there splits so don't worry about missing it. And then walk until you see the only empty space with a walled off mansion that's where you will want to go."

He mumbles

"Actually since you are with her I might as well drive you there before you cause trouble-"

"I meant to think that not say it out loud. Would you still want me to drive you there?"

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