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Post by Giorgia on Jul 13, 2011 5:57:12 GMT -5
Giorgia felt like a new woman.
After a night of sleep in a B&B, a shower, some food and clean clothes, she no longer seemed a tramp. Luckily, she followed the old commercial slogan, and never left home without her credit card. This was not always useful… there had been no banks on the Himalaya, for example… but in this case the small plastic piece had been her salvation.
She had thought of buying a plane ticket and returning to Italy. Unfortunately, burocracy was a big enemy for someone with her powers. She had her passport, but there was no entry stamp on it. To all intents, she was in USA illegally. Her only option was to wait for the Powers Who Are to teleport her back to her place. And this would happen only at the end of her mission… whatever it was.
I just would like to have at least the slightest idea of WHAT I have to do, she sighed.
Well, first things first. She was teleported to th Underground club, so this had to be her start point. She had met some people, so maybe they were involved. And she had destroyed a car hood, so maybe even THAT was involved. She had a debt to repay, and no one in the world could say that Giorgia Martini did not pay her debts. After all, she was a Templar… maybe a patched together Templar, but a Templar nonetheless.
Giorgia walked into the Underground and found an empty niche, a room with rich drapings, a soft couch, and a small table. “If someone asks for Miss Giorgia Martini, tell them I am here, please” she said. The waiter nodded and left without a word.
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Post by Deilan on Jul 17, 2011 20:39:17 GMT -5
Deilan had been slightly weary, going to the club this time especially after everything that had happened the prior night. He'd got into a fight with a katana wielding dragon, who seemed to had been involved in something he had no clue of. And now he was sent back to the place where it had all began.
“Great.” he said quietly as he fixed his hoody in the line of the club and made sure his earphones remained in his pocket of his hoody. His baggy pants didn't sag, but were still overly large as he managed to get into the club. He made his way backwards, towards the lounge and stopped at one of the hostesses who was working the area.
“Excuse me, I am looking for a Giorgia? Woman with glasses, kinda weird?” he said to the woman, who nodded and pointed him in the direction of her area. He nodded her thanks and then walked towards her, his smile never leaving his face.
He didn't sit down, he knew it wasn't proper for him to do so. “So, looks like you're waiting for someone, or just enjoying some nice quiet time. Mind if I join you?”
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Post by Giorgia on Jul 19, 2011 4:00:20 GMT -5
Giorgia looked up to Deilan. "Oh" said with a slight surprised smile. "Oh, yes, we met yesterday. You are... Deilan, right? Sorry if I did not introduce myself properly, but I was... well, a bit busy trying not to get myself killed, actually."
She gestured towards the couch. "Have a seat" she said. "You are right, I am both enjoying a quiet time, AND waiting for someone. The owner of the hood I have dented, actually. He told me to come here today so we can arrange for a proper refund."
"By the way, thank you for your help. You have been brave to jump into the fight to defend me. The situation was becoming quite hot."
She waved to a waiter. "May I offer you something? Beer? Red wine? Something non alcoholic?"
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Post by Kima Wolf on Jul 19, 2011 19:42:11 GMT -5
Kima was actually smiling when he walked into the club. He stopped at the door and gave Martin a nod and a smile, then walked back into the club once more head of security. He was dressed well, from head to toe. His usual black designer suit, cool black trenchcoat and sunglasses. He had gotten his old position back and then some. He gave the people a nod as he walked towards the rear of the club to the lounge area.
He'd been clear on her paying for his hood, and he intended to collect. He always collected. He walked into the back, through the divide and towards the hostess and smiled at her, which caught her completely off guard.
“Um, can I help you?” She said.
“Yes, a Giorgia please. She should be waiting for me.” He said quietly.
She nodded and then pointed to the table near the back. “She's right there.” the hostess said.
“Thank you.” He said and walked over to the table, where Deilan now was. He looked at Deilan and then to Giorgia and gave a slight nod.
“Am I interrupting? Or may I sit?” he said. “And also, I have the price for the hood.”
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Post by Deilan on Jul 19, 2011 20:01:32 GMT -5
He smiled and looked at Giorgia, then sat down at the booth. He'd made it to the table at least, so step one was complete.
“Well, to be honest with you, I just was doing my duty. You looked like you were in trouble and I couldn't stand by and watch as something possibly happened to you. So I had to act.” He said with a smile to her.
“Ah, um, just lemonade if you will. I don't drink.” He said.
“But you're alright? Everything is fine now”? He said and removed his hood, revealing his brown skinned face and smooth skin. He removed the earbuds finally and leaned forward.
“So, how does it feel, when you get teleported? I mean, it's curious thing you know?” he asked her just as Kima had walked up.
“Oh, if im in the middle of somethin I can go if need be, unless you don't think you'll be safe?”
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Post by Giorgia on Jul 20, 2011 8:08:46 GMT -5
"So how is to be teleported?"
Giorgia shrugged. "Well, it's more or less like when you have a sudden bellyache. You feel very well and everything is ok, then suddenly you find yourself running for a bathroom."
She smiled, a slightly sad smile. " Seriously, it's hard to explain. I feel something, an urge, which NEEDS me. Sometimes I am able to resist for a while, sometimes it starts already too strong. But eventually it always grows so big that it wraps me, and... it takes me away. And I find myself in another place. Usually a very bad place, surrounded by big ugly monsters. Or something to do. Someone to save. Someone to help. Someone to kill."
At that moment, Kima, pushed away the curtains of the small lounge. "Am I interrupting? Or may I sit?” he said. “And also, I have the price for the hood."
"Oh, please, be my guest." Giorgia answered, pointing a finger to an empty chair. "I was waiting for you, and we were just drinking something. Join us. And, Deilan, thank you for you kindess. You can stay if you like, but I don't think I'll be in danger. This time, at least, I am spared the big ugly monsters part".
The waiter arrived and took the orders. When everyone was satisfied, Giorgia turned towards Kima.
"So, Mr. Wolf... this is... how do you call it in America? Business time, right? Well, let's do it. Name your price."
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Post by Kima Wolf on Jul 20, 2011 22:30:48 GMT -5
Kima nodded to Giorgia and sat down. His jacket billowed on each side of him as he leaned back, looking more like a Yakuza mobster than anything. He gave a nod to the waitress, who knew to get his usual sake and he then leaned forward, listening to Giorgia speak, ignoring Deilan for now.
"So, Mr. Wolf... this is... how do you call it in America? Business time, right? Well, let's do it. Name your price."
He leaned back, fingers tapping against the table as he listened to her and considered her words. He kept his face straight laced, unreadable by most as nothing more than a emotionless stone slab.
“Well, yes, it's time to get down to business.” he said stoically. “I've already repaired the hood you see, so you don't have to worry about it, but what you do have to worry about is repaying me. The hood price for a classic Challenger like mine was over five thousand dollars. But being a business man, I did a bit of research and it seems your reputation proceeds you.” He said and leaned forward slightly.
“I have something i'd like you to do for me. Some analyzing and research. It shouldn't be too difficult for someone of your supposed talents.” He said.
“Don't worry, i'll protect you as you're doing it, and then you'll be free of my debt.”
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Post by Giorgia on Jul 21, 2011 3:47:50 GMT -5
Giorgia listened to Kima with a slight smile. She was expecting it, of course. Indeed her... reputation... was becoming known ever outside the Templar circle. Her regional supervisor surely was to become mad at her, but it's hard to keep secrecy when you are forced to jump crazily around the world like the March Hare.
This man was not Templar. There was a chance he could use her information against her faction. But she had read him yesterday: she knew he had honour and respect. She also knew that he was trying to impress her. His charisma aura was very strong, able to bend weaker minds.
But she was not weak. And she had her faith.
"You see, mister... Wolf... some time ago I found myself in the sewers of Istanbul. There is a small colony of Water Djinns there, not entirely friendly. I was forced to fight for my life. Not with weapons, of course, but with riddles and quick talking. They drive an HARD bargain, believe me. The markets above them are like a children playground compared to them."
She paused for some seconds, lifting her lemonade glass and making a small, formal toast towards the two men.
"You are a fighter, mister Wolf. Even better, you are a warrior. You know your weapons and their value. Well, information is MY weapon, and I know very well its value."
She smiled very friendly, seeming almost a child, with her funny red glasses.
"So rest assured that if I decide to help you, it will be for YOU, not for a cheap piece of metal. And thank you very much for your offer of protection. But my Fate lies in hands bigger than yours. When my time will come, no one will be able to help me. But until that time, no one will be able to kill me."
She stopped suddenly, like rewinding a tape in her head. Then she exploded in a very girlish laughter.
"Silly me, uh? I am making another monologue. Sorry. Another lemonade, boys, then we can talk about the details."
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Post by Deilan on Jul 23, 2011 13:46:39 GMT -5
He listened quietly as he sipped his lemonade. He didn't look at Kima, not even glance as they spoke. He didn't like the man, not even a little bit. The arrogance and superiority the man thought he had was extremely annoying to him and really rubbed him the wrong way.
And yet here sat Giorgia, wide eyed, even semi innocent even though he was sure she'd seen far more than her innocent face let on. He took another deep drink of his lemonade and then sat the glass down as the man mentioned “Debt” and “Dangerous.”
“I'd have to think, Mr. Wolf you had more going on than meets the eye, and something tells me it will be far more than you're letting on.” he said, then finally looked over to him, eyes narrowed.
“If she goes then i'm going. Can't let her go alone without any support from her family... after all.” he said, daring Kima to say no. He didn't really care about the mission, but it gave him a chance to get closer to her, and spend more time with her.
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Post by Kima Wolf on Jul 26, 2011 21:08:46 GMT -5
He listened to Giorgia go on and on, giving her speech and just kept his eyes on her face, and her own eyes. He liked the kid. She had lots of heart, and most importantly she had faith. Faith in herself, and faith in her powers.
He then let out a sigh and had begun to speak when Deilan butted in. The annoying boy playing prince charming. He smirked ever so slightly remembering those days long ago when he himself was just like that.
“Very well boy, you can go. But i'm not looking out for you, just the librarian here.” he said quietly, downing the saki. He then looked back to her and laid out a Ipad on the table. When the image appeared on the screen it was of what looked like a spearhead. It had writing all along it in latin which if translated read “Woe to us, who killed a god.” The bronze spear had a stone arrowhead beside it.
“That is the item. I need you to use your... abilities to tell me if its genuine and if it truly is the tip of the spear of destiny that killed Jesus Christ.” he said plainly to her. “Such a relic obviously has extremely unique abilities. You up for it?” he said to her.
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Post by Giorgia on Jul 27, 2011 7:49:13 GMT -5
Giorgia smiled when Deilan offered his help so openly.
"Thank you" she said. "It's very kind of you. Very chivalrous. Although I am used to be alone. If you mean support from my physical family, well, they know nothing about me. Indeed they knew nothing about me even when I was a teen, of course, but now, after my... awakening... they know even less, and believe me, it's better this way".
She looked again at Deilan. He was young. Actually he was younger than Giorgia, she had "read" him the evening before. But she was used to be mistaken for a kid, and she did not care.
"Anyway, your offer is accepted, brother-in-arms, and reciprocated. How was the ritual formula...? Oh, yes, I'll support you with my sword, my blood and my faith. I have no sword, actually, but I have faith. I just hope the "blood" part will remain a symbolic one".
She giggled, then turned towards Kima. She stood up and bent over the table to have a better look at the image displayed on the iPad.
"Oh, wow, nice thing, this spear" she smiled, like a child looking at a new toy. "Another hyphotetical Lancea Longini! And look at this inscription... Vae nos, deus occisores. Coooooool!"
She clapped her hands, excited. Then she looked up, directly into Kima's eyes, and suddenly she seemed older, much older, definitely not a kid anymore.
"Tell me exactly what you want, mister Wolf, because I see many branches in my forthcoming Fate. Are these items in your possession, and you want me to analyze them? Or maybe they are not in your possession, and you want me to find them?"
"Looking at this picture, I can tell you a first thing. There are three "official" relics which could be the Holy Spear. One in Vatican, one in Armenia, and the third one in Vienna. None of them has "extremely unique abilities", but... this is not one of them."
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Post by Kima Wolf on Jul 30, 2011 17:31:59 GMT -5
"Tell me exactly what you want, mister Wolf, because I see many branches in my forthcoming Fate. Are these items in your possession, and you want me to analyze them? Or maybe they are not in your possession, and you want me to find them?"
"Looking at this picture, I can tell you a first thing. There are three "official" relics which could be the Holy Spear. One in Vatican, one in Armenia, and the third one in Vienna. None of them has "extremely unique abilities", but... this is not one of them."
Kima grinned actually. It was rare someone could genuinely surprise him, but the child's complete change in demeanor and attitude, even tone was definitely not lost to him. And her knowledge, she was definitely no mere librarian. He downed another round of his saki as she posed her question, and statement to him and looked up a moment, then back to her eyes.
“What I want, librarian, is to simply claim this item. Are you familiar with Dr. Howard Buechner? He claimed Hitler had actually claimed the spear and hid it, in Antarctica along with hundreds of nazi supernatural artifacts such as Excalibur, which he bombed London for, for instance. Well the good doctor was a member of the Illuminati, and they recovered many of the artifacts from that Antarctic warehouse but the spear was already gone. It was moved, supposedly, by Nazi youth to Eastern Europe, in Romania in the region which was once called Transylvania.” he said bringing up a map of the area on the Ipad.
“Here, in Cluj-Napoca, the formal capital of what was that area, is where there have been a rash of supposed “Vampire” sightings. Young girls showing up at hospital with clammy skin, bite marks on their necks, and “shadows” flowing from them. Young men being found dead, drained of blood. And coincidentally, this image showed up.” Again he shows the image of the “spear” tip.
"At a small museum, and is claiming to have , on display the actual spear of destiny's tip. You know the legends right? How it was supposedly used to impale Vlad The Impaler by the Ottoman king of the time, and that in turn spurred his supposed vampirism? That is rumor. But anyway we Dragon do not believe in coincidence. And right as this went on display, strange things began to happen. I would like you to examine it, and confirm if it's real, or fake. That is what I want.” he said and leaned back, letting her devour all that information.
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Post by Deilan on Aug 10, 2011 11:29:22 GMT -5
(Sorry for my delay, had a family emergency.)
Deilan listened to what kima said and even managed to take a look at the ipad. He narrowed his eyes as the man told the story of vampires and spears, outbreaks and missing people, all in Transylvania. It all seemed a bit too suspicious to him. He leaned back, sipping on his lemonade then looked over to Kima.
“So, lemme get this straight, we're to believe that Nazis stole the spear that killed Jesus, hid it, then it was stolen again and now is in some little village turning people to vampires?” he looked at Giorgia, hoping she wasn't buying this story.
“Sounds like a crock of crap to me, Kima. But if Giorgia is going to go, then i'll go, just to make sure everything is on the up and up.” he said.
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Post by Giorgia on Aug 12, 2011 3:21:18 GMT -5
(No problem, Deilan, and I hope everything is OK now!)
Giorgia finished her second lemonade, while listening carefully. The whole story was... fascinating. There was something inside her, something that... resonated with that kind of tales. There always had been, even when she was a teen. She had been an avid reader of fantasy and supernatural novels from the age of four. Discovering that everything was true had just amplified her desire to know, to collect info, to organize it.
"A museum in Cluj-Napoca, right?" she murmured, feeling suddenly as she was was distant, very distant. "Let me think..."
Her eyes became completely black for a couple of seconds, in a sort of automatic reaction to Kima's words. She felt like she was dropped inside a Google Earth map, zooming down towards the Earth globe. Europe... Romania... Transylvania... Cluji-Napoca. A modern city, over 300.000 people. Full of culture, history, tradition. It was bright inside her mind. Very bright. Very interesting. A lot of libraries, of universities, of exciting places.
And the Ethnographic Museum of Transylvania was like a lighthouse inside her mind. She could feel the pull, the physical desire to be there. It was not strong enough to rip her from this reality and to teleport away from the Underground, but it was definitely there.
"Oh." She blinked, and her eyes were green again, like nothing had happened. "Well, Deilan, you may be right, but I think we should check anyway."
She turned towards Kima. "My first opinion... just supported by instinct, nothing more... is that if that relic has really killed a god, it was someone different from the Christ".
Giorgia checked her glass, but it was empty. She waved to the waiter to bring other lemonade.
"Are you familiar with the Dresden Files, mister Wolf? The novels by my friend Jim Butcher? They are very good fiction. Do you know why they are so good? Because the author knows a lot of real supernatural things... he phones me often... and actually his Archive character is partly based on me... but I digress."
"He describes accurately a Death Curse, a discharge of supernatural energy which happens when a powerful being dies. It's called a "curse", but actually its nature can vary a lot. For example, the Holy Shroud of Turin, my city, is said to host the Death Curse of Christ, and that relic is the most powerful healing artifact of the world... or at least, it would be if the Vatican knew how to unlock its powers."
"What I mean is that it's unlikely that something touched by that man, whoever He was, would host an evil power. I suspect that there is someone else."
The waiter arrived with another round of lemonades, and Giorgia lifted the glass in another small, formal toast.
"Anyway, I will examine it for you, Mister Wolf, as promised. But you will have to deal with logistics. My usual means of transportation are... well, unreliable. But at least..." She giggled. "Eu vorbesc română. I speak Romanian."
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Post by Kima Wolf on Aug 15, 2011 23:39:48 GMT -5
He nodded to her and smiled thinly as she agreed. He still ignored Deilan, for now he was simply a extra bag which had to be carried, but could hopefully be lost in transit. He took the Ipad back and closed it down, putting it in his jacket and away.
“Don't worry, I will get you there, and back in comfort. I will also arrange for a hotel room of course. And you're right, there is a chance most likely it's not what it is claimed to be, but even so, it would seem to have some kind of power, and something that needs to be investigated. And this “vampire” thing could be simply rumor and superstition, or could be the real deal, a "Death Curse", as you say. It could very well be Vlad The Impaler's spear.” he said.
“I will give you time to prepare. Give me your phone number and i'll call you tomorrow morning, first thing and we can leave.” He said to her, finishing off the saki.
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