Remnants of the Earth
AEDOLIS => Haviah => Topic started by: Anonymous on August 23, 2011, 06:51:41 pm
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This was going to be an interesting visit to the city. She had known she needed to be here, but she hadn't realized how many little pieces would be visiting her in one trip. Something was in the air, something big. It involved her little bird, she knew that. And others.
A grin slid across her face as she waited. This would be fun to watch. Maybe she would find Aydan and watch through the mirrors with him. But he was going to be wrapped in this story as well, she could taste it.
So many exciting things, all playing out at once. Shivering, Akachi glanced at the door. Almost time. Her new piece was coming. He was closely tied with her bird, and so very damaged.
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Gabriel frowned, a large scented candle in either hand as he tried to pick the one that smelled best. Cucumber melon or cherry blossom? Fruit or flower? Or was that too weird and should he go for something more homey, whatever that meant. Apples or something. Not for him; it was a gift for Alaric's mom for the care package she'd sent down. He'd already picked out a nice holder and a couple other knickknacks he thought she might like, but it was difficult for him to judge because this so wasn't his style and he felt like a bull in a glass shop.
Less destructive, sure, but still out of place! Crafty, shiny, sparkly, pretty stuff was so beyond him. Give him some new gizmo and he was there, but he just didn't understand this. Would have been awesome if Alaric hadn't been busy or if he'd thought to ask Rachel for advice before he came, but now he could call neither. Rachel was at drills and Alaric was at work. Blaine, maybe? Ah! Yeah! He might have an idea!
Setting a candle down, he dug for his phone and slid it open--then groaned as the battery symbol blinked at him right before the phone went out. Of course!
Guess that only left one choice: ask an associate.
Looking around the store, he caught sight of a dreadlocked woman and gave a sigh of relief. She looked kind of...strange, to say the least, but this was Aedolis and he'd seen colorful dreadlocks and lollipop penises so hey, it was nothing that bizarre. Maybe she was some sort of goth? Whatever! She was a chick! She should know!
Walking up to her, picking up the candles again, he held them up. "Hey, so, this is kinda random, but if you were a crafty, homey alien that liked pretty things, which would you pick?"
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Akachi had come out to the main floor, feeling the man was close. She didn't come out into the main shop much, had no real use for most of it, though she did like some of the incense. When a voice spoke up, she turned and a bright smile lit up her face, "Der ya are. Dis ain't the place for ya, oh no."
She glanced at the selection and reached over, tapping the cherry blossom one, "Dat da one ya want. But ya best hurry it up, I ain't gots all day."
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Gabriel blinked in surprise, and then squinted at the woman. There he was...? Granted, he guessed maybe it shouldn't be so weird that someone might recognize him; he was on TV, though people didn't always recognize him right off the street walking around in normal (for him) clothes and minus studio make-up. But she acted like she'd been expecting him.
"Ah, sweet, thanks! I thought maybe, because cucumber melon is so lotion but you never know!" He put the candle back on the shelf, then looked back to the woman. He tilted his head, still squinting as though trying to place her.
"Do I know you?"
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"Not yet boy." Akachi patted Gabe on the butt, smiling again, "Now best hurry up. Ya gonna have some questions. I don' do love ones much, but I make an exception for ya boy."
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That just about had Gabriel jumping out of his skin, body jolting and stiffening. He made a surprised sound and twisted, putting his butt back out of arm's reach. "Uh, yeah! First question! What the hell was that?"
JEEBUS. That came out of the freakin' blue!
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"Ya too uptight boy. Relax." Akachi just waved her hand and headed back toward her room, "Best come wit me. Dis ain't the place for yer questions."
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Gabriel stared at her back as she retreated, eyebrow arching. Well, he hadn't had any questions before, but now he had a couple. He briefly considered just paying and leaving, because clearly the lady had a few screws loose, but...curiosity got the better of him.
And something she'd said had piqued his interest. Loved ones? What was she talking about?
He followed after her, a few paces behind her, and left his items on the counter to pay for later. "So...what'd ya mean by loved ones and exceptions?"
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"Don't tell many love fortunes. But ya got lots of questions bout my pretty little bird and you. And, well," Akachi entered the room and turned to watch him, eyes sliding along his frame, "Ya got many, many secrets. Ones dat not even dat dragon in your head know."
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Gabriel's eyebrows climbed higher. "I...think you got me confused with someone. I don't know your...bird?" They had reached her room then and he peered inside, blinking at the sight of it. There was a lot of weird shit in there, but so far, he didn't see any birds and hadn't heard any in the store. He had still been taking it all in when the woman's next words made him freeze, his stomach giving a wrenching twist.
"What?"
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"Ya do. Roman." Akachi smiled, "I named dat boy. Names are important, ya got several, don't ya?" Akachi took a seat at the small table and patted the center, "Ya come sit down now. Fate had ya here for a reason."
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She had hooked him, and hooked him good.
Still a little stunned and uneasy, Gabriel took a seat at the table. This was too weird. But alright, if she knew Roman, it stood to reason she might know about him. That made some of the surprise wash away. Yeah, this lady was pretty good at her act. She'd had him going there for a second.
"Well...yeah. First, last, and middle. Gabriel Matthew Tierney. So yeah, I got a few. Uh, so when you say you named him, you mean literally? You guys know each other?"
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"Dat not the only ones, mmm." Akachi laughed, "Ya don't believe. Tisk tisk. Dat not good. Makes ya blind ta what ya should be lookin' for." Shaking her head, the beads and charms in her hair clicked together, "I know his mama real well. She knows. Now, wut cha wanna know? Gots questions ar ya want a glimpse at wuts gonna be comin?"
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"Opal?" Ah, so this must be the fortuneteller he'd heard her talk about.
Gabriel gave gave the woman's question a moment of thought, then finally shrugged and bit. Couldn't hurt, he guessed, and he was curious about just what the heck she was even talking about. "Alright, so first, what's your name? And second, what do you mean by other names? Like...true names or something?"
He didn't know much about it, but he'd heard some hippy mumbo jumbo that talked about soul names or whatever.
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"Akachi Suada." Akachi gave a small laugh and reached over, patting his cheek, "Dat a bunch o' bullshit. We all got names and dey all true. Gabriel yer name just as much as Indigo is. One ain't truer dan da other."
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Gabriel jerked violently back from Akachi as though her touch burned him, toppling his chair over as he leaped out of his seat. Her words shook him and he took in the room, eyes flicking for the door to be sure it was shut, and felt his heart racing. Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck. There were only two things that kept him from lashing out at her then, from silencing her with psionics: the knowledge that in order to even get that information she'd have to be far better than him and the slim hope that maybe, maybe she was one of them.
"Don't say that! Who the fuck are you? How are you doing that?" he sent at her, walking the razor's edge of panic as he checked his shields and made adjustments, muscles tense and shaky. Oh fuck. Fuck. He'd gotten cocky. Maybe he'd let something slip on the subnet. Maybe he hadn't been as careful as he should have been, left evidence somewhere, left a gap in his defenses.
But maybe, maybe she was one of them. Maybe that was how she knew, and gods he hoped she was even if he was also terrified she was, because the more people that knew, the more chances of slipping. That's why they didn't know each other, that's why they sometimes killed each other, accidentally.
But he hoped that was true, because if it wasn't, he'd have to kill her.
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"Boy, you is as stupid as ya look if ya think ya can kill me." Akachi gave him a flat look and motioned to the chair, "Now you pick dat right back up. Don't look so scared. Ain't my secret to tell, so I ain't gonna tell no one."
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Which he knew was probably true; she was too confident, throwing his name around so casually; no one acted like that around a Pilot unless they could back it up or were just fucking insane. After a long, tense pause, he stiffly picked up the chair and set it upright. He didn't move to sit back down, though; he was filled with too much nervous energy and just needed to move, heart pounding. He felt like he could throw up but took deep breaths, trying to calm down. Fuck, he was screwed. Very thoroughly screwed.
He paced behind the chair for a moment and finally came to a stop, hands gripping the top of it so he didn't fidget. "Then...why? How do you know? Who are you?" he repeated out loud, voice tight.
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"Boy, where you think ya at? Dis is a place people find when dey want to know tings. When dey want magic done." She laughed again, "And I told ya, I'm Akachi. I see dat which most people is too blind ta see. Now stop worryin' none. I ain't got no reason ta be tellin' dat secret."
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Gabriel let out a slow breath and closed his eyes. "How do I know you won't? And...how are you doing that?" he asked, looking at her again. "Getting past my shields. No one else has."
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"I don't need ta." Akachi laughed again, amused by the boy and his total ignorance, "And dis wut I do boy. Ain't my place ta tell, ain't my secret. Dem rules are in place for me too."
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"Rules?"
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"Yup. Dey raise um pretty and dumb here." Akachi made a tisking sound, shaking her head, "I ain't gonna be tellin' no secrets dat ain't mine ta tell. It'll come back at me, same as you."
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"A Pilot could read you," Gabriel said quietly. Even if she swore not to tell a soul, it didn't mean it was safe. "Someone else could find out. And why are you telling me this? What are you getting out of it?"
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"Oh, ya tink dat do ya?" Akachi grinned again, her black teeth odd, "I tellin' ya dis so ya stop insultin' me by treatin' me like some charlatan. And so we can get ta the real meat o yer visit."
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The real meat? That wasn't it? Shit, after that bomb, what else was there? That was the only reason Gabriel stayed even though he wanted to get the hell out; it was like a train wreck, only he wasn't just curious to watch the explosion, he just wanted to watch it approach so he knew how bad it would be.
"And...what's that?"
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"Donno. Yer the one here. I ain't da one dat bring ya here. Ya got here cause ya needed ta be here. I answer questions, grant favors and give ya a glimpse at what ta be. Now, don't ya worry none on yer secret. It safer in my head den yers."
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"I just came for some fucking candles."
Gabriel took another deep breath and, letting it out in a sigh, he sank down into the chair again. Candles, and he gets this. Nothing was ever just easy. But either way, the woman had done what she said she'd been trying to do--Gabriel was convinced. Whatever she was, whatever she was doing, however she was doing it, she was no hack. Maybe she wasn't a fortuneteller; he wasn't sure how much he believed in that, because the concept of 'fate' always made him uncomfortable. He didn't like the idea of his life being out of his control, predestined and preplanned with no way to change or direct anything. Sure, there were precogs like Blaine, but that was different; that was all about probability, not about hard and fast rules. It could be changed; it wasn't written in the stars.
But fortuneteller or not, she was good.
And dangerous.
"A glimpse of what's to be. So you're a precog."
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"Nope. Not psychic." Akachi gave a small shrug of her shoulders, "I just look at tings and see what could be. Dat wut ya wanna know? What I see for ya?" She held out her hand, "Der is a price for lookin'. Ya willin' ta pay?"
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"I don't know..." Gabriel eyed her hand, then looked back up at her. It was tempting to get a peek at the future, even if it was just a possible future--but it also scared the hell out of him, what he might see, and then he'd never be able to unsee it. What if he saw a friend's death? Or his own death? Or what if he saw something, tried to change it, and in trying to change it he just did all the right things to set it into motion? Sure, it sounded like a bad movie, but he didn't like to mess with that stuff.
"Yeah, I don't think so." He gave a small, bitter laugh. It was so tempting. "I guess I prefer the surprise and hope. I don't want to be afraid of what might be coming, otherwise I might lose my nerve before it even goes down."
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Akachi just grinned at him. She saw what was coming all the time, knew how to read the possibilities, "What cha want then? Questions answered? Or...I tell ya what. I gave ya a scare and dat weren't right."
Akachi leaned closer, expression serious, "There are dark forces workin' about my little bird. Ya best watch him close, look for when he isn't him.'
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Gabriel's brow furrowed in confusion. "Your little--you mean Roman?" Dark forces. Made sense. They were all of them in danger, being Pilots, but the rest...
"When he isn't him? What's that mean? What kinda forces are we talking here? Does he know about this?"
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Akachi shook her head, "Dat gonna cost ya more den ya winnin' ta pay. But listen ta my advice. Beware his image an watch fer when he isn't him."
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Gabriel made a frustrated sound, shaking his head. "That doesn't even make any sense. He's always him. What else is he?"
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"Tisk tisk. Ya ain't real bright." Akachi sighed, disappointed in him. He was a strong soul, but too stupid to see the world around him.
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Gabriel leveled Akachi with an unamused look. "It's not that. I just don't understand vague, cryptic puzzles with no hint at how to solve 'em. I can't figure it out if I don't even have the pieces." He leaned an elbow on the table and bit back his annoyance. He wanted to demand the answer because fuck, if it was something bad that was going to hurt Roman, he damned well needed to know! But instead he reined in the urge and tried for a different approach.
"You care about him, right? I mean, your 'little bird'? You said you named him or whatever. Is this gonna hurt him? And if it is, don't you wanna do something about it?"
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"Oh yes. Gonna hurt him bad. Not kill 'um, not yet. But he in danger." Akachi shrugged again, "I ain't part of dat game. Can't go messin' with the threads like dat. Ya best keep those pretty green eyes peeled for dat danger. What? Ya tink ya can just get everyting handed ta ya on a platter and ain't gotta pay no price?"
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"What do you mean 'not yet'? What are--" Gabriel cut off with a groan and rubbed at his temples, realization suddenly clicking. "Oh. Ahaha. I get it now. Now you're doing that fortuneteller vagueness insert-your-own-interpretation thing. You were all specific at first, and now you're just messin'. That could mean anything. We're Pilots. There's always dark forces around."
And not yet? Well, everyone died eventually.
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Akachi hissed, eyes narrowing, "I wont take none of ya bein' rude boy. I suggest ya take dat back real fast."
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Gabriel held up his hands in a 'whoa, back up' sort of gesture. He may be skeptical, but this lady also knew his other name and the last thing he wanted was to piss off the person that had him by the short and curlies. "Whoa, I didn't mean any disrespect. I mean, I'm sure he is in danger. We have dangerous jobs so...it applies?"
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"He is in danger. From da same place ya in danger from. When he ain't hisself." Akachi made a frustrated sound, "Listen boy. Beware his image! Looks ain't always what dey seem. Gotta look at him or ya both gonna be in trouble."
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"Uhm..." Nope, still wasn't making any sense. When he wasn't himself? Looks aren't always what they seem? Gabriel stared at her blankly, then smiled and nodded. "So like...when he's drunk or something?"
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Akachi swore in a strange language, "Yer dumb boy! Watch da signs or ya both gonna end up hurt. His reflection, his image, that which he is like but isn't, it dangerous. Fo' both of ya."
This was more than she should be telling him. Akachi had met the man pulling the strings on her little bird and he was very powerful and very dark. She quite liked him, but he was bad news for these two.
For Roman, she was trying to explain, but the blond was rapidly making her angry.
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"Uhhh..." Nope, still wasn't helping. Gabriel blinked slowly, taken aback by her anger, but he still didn't understand what she was trying to tell him. Sure she was legit, but this just sounded like superstition.
"His...reflection? You mean like mirrors or something? So I probably shouldn't let him break any, eh? Seven years bad luck and all that."
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"Get. Out." Akachi was angry now. She wasn't going to waste her time on some rude, insulting piece of shit. She stood, eyes narrowed, her voice a low hiss, "Ya gonna regret yer mockin' boy. Bad luck gonna follow ya. Time ain't gonna be yer friend. Now get out."
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"Whoa, sorry." Rising to his feet, Gabriel held up his hands. He was still utterly confused as to what she was trying to tell him because none of it made sense and now she was pissed and he wasn't really sure why. He'd just been going down the list trying to decipher her riddle there, but yeesh, now she was livid and this had just gone to freaky-ville.
But before he moved, he paused. "That thing we talked about--it's between us, right?" He wasn't going to have her spilling it just because she was angry.
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"Boy, ya don't get ta look down yer nose at me an' still expect help." She narrowed her eyes again, pointing at the door, "I ain't gonna mention yer secret. Dat ain't mine to tell. But ya already made me plenty mad. Ya don't want ta make it worse."
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"Uh, right. Point. Alright, ah--have a good one? And thanks?" Maybe. He wasn't sure. This visit had been pretty much nothing but stressful and confusing. At this point, it just felt surreal.
After all that, she didn't have to ask a third time. He turned and headed out the door, feeling a bit like a scolded dog.