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 Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 11:42 am
It was the night right before the first trial was supposed to take place, and Lizzy was disguised as... Well, not herself. She wanted to use the mustache at first, but was quickly convinced that it was not a convincing disguise... Not where Horsemen heirs were concerned anyway. Sure, she doubted that Invictus would remember her, but... Just in case. It pays to be cautious at all times.
He would find a letter under his door at around 7pm.Quote: To: Invictus, Heir of Conquest Please come to the roof of the Demon Dorms at 10pm tonight. Make sure that you are not being watched. The door to the roof is locked, but you are the heir of Conquest. You will find a way. I have something of great importance to tell you. PS. This letter had been charmed to disintegrate after leaving the envelope.
At 9.59pm, Lizzy was already on the rooftop; she was wearing a trench coat and long pants, as well as a wide-brimmed hat and covered shoes. Everything was in black. Everything was plain. She even took pains to braid and bun up her hair so that it would be hidden under the hat, and a pair of shades was perched on her nose to hide her eye color... Now to wait and see if he would show.
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Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 11:51 am
Letters were curious things - they always would get Invictus's attention, no matter how 'old school' or outdated they were. In that same way, a handwritten letter had a way of garnering the attentions of others, which may have been why he was still inclined to write them.
It was just more interesting - mysterious even.
The note he'd received was just as such as well, looking over it briefly even before it disintegrated into nothing but particles of FEAR. Which was good, he'd noted what he needed to note. After all, he was the heir to Conquest, and a good curious mystery always had an appeal to his always running mind.
It helped, to some extent, that Invictus's own room was housed in the Demon's dorms, though he was not always present there as of late. Their 'domain' was enough for them, and as it stood, getting the door unlocked?
It had far less flair than a blatant abuse of power. If he broke the door, there would be no security of what he was assuming would be a secret meeting, given the time and measures taken against it. But, he was Conquest - he had gravity to play with, and gravity went both ways. It wasn't a dramatic entrance by any means, simply stepping out onto the roof after a small levitating act of sorts, drawn and composed as he always was.
His expression didn't even change as he looked over who it was who had summoned him. "This is quite public for a meeting place." he said, neither negative nor positive in his commentary.
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Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 12:06 pm
"Perhaps, but I've checked and this place is out of bounds after 9am," Her voice was lower, thanks to a device she had bought, and she could only hope that it was enough to not be discovered; she was actually really excited that he came out to meet her, although she was trying not to show it in her voice, "Besides, if anyone took out the key to this place, I would be alerted." Yay for a three-ghoul team!
"Firstly, I would like to thank you for coming... Now, I assume that you had read or heard about students from the neighboring schools being kidnapped by 'unknown groups'?" She was clearly talking about the hunters, "It would seem that there is a group of reapers, a mafia, who had been aiding the hunters in kidnapping these students in exchange for money... Do you know anything about that?"
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Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 2:22 pm
"Ah, but your choice of meeting place is betraying to you, do you realize?" Invictus redirected. "You've chosen a place close to students and in particular the dorm of a particular faction. Therefore I can already tell you are both a student, and that you are a demon. You also apparently have unique enough features that you need to mask them all or else I would be able to tell who you were, or at least deduce it later." He pointed out sharply.
"If you are going to have a secret meeting, these are things to take into account if you are going to be as much as to mask your identity."
Still, he didn't press the issue as Lizzy explained why it was he'd been summoned to that place. It was innocuous enough - information. Always information.
"I assume you are telling me all of this because you have gotten some level of information you wish to use to try and wedge a wrench into this plan - after all, if the papers say 'unkown' and you say 'reaper mafia', somebody you know has an in."
He waved his hand.
"But continue."
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Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 10:40 pm
"Everyone in this school is unique in their own, and who knows? We are all students in this organization, and maybe I just have friends in the right places... Besides, this spot is convenient for you," She paused, smiling at his deduction; talking to Invictus first was a good decision on the Couriers' part, "We have someone in the Mafia. Someone we can trust. Due to his own experiences with the hunters and knowing what their weapons are made of, he could not just ignore these kidnappings."
Now comes the part she's nervous about.
"We are an organization called Seeds. Call us a secret student club if you will, but since the school had refused to publicly take action as a school despite throwing us into one dangerous situation after the other, we had decided to take matters into our own hands," She hoped that sounded as good as it did inside her head, "Recently, the mafia had their sights set on the Horseman heirs... Or any horseman they can get their hands on, really. Thus, we came up with a plan of action that wouldn't work without support from you... You see, since they want a Horseman heir, why not give it to them? We will need someone to lure the mafia members away, preferably to a Bogeyman and making it seem like the hunters had betrayed them. Meanwhile, by pretending to be members of the mafia, we will put up an act in the Haunted House by engaging you in a fight. We will then request for 'hunter backup'. Since it's a place where hunters do not require their golems to go to, they will come in the flesh... That way, we just need to remove their pendent and they will lose their way home. Furthermore, it is patrolled by the Horseman of Conquest." Basically his father, but that sounds odd to say. IT IS ALSO PATROLLED BY YOUR DAD.
"Having said that, I highly doubt that the hunters will want to draw too much attention to themselves by sending a large group of hunters or someone like Caelius," It was all guesswork, but it was a good guess, hopefully good enough to convince Invictus, "Our plan is to capture at least one hunter alive for interrogation."
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Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 10:59 pm
"Mmm, some are more distinct than others." Invictus answered, "Some have few others who will look as they do, even from afar."
It seemed like a pointless observation, until Lizzy told him of the group's plan to lure the Hunters into the Haunted House. He hadn't run into the hallway himself yet. He'd had no reason to go looking for it, and he had no real desire to purposely hunt down the hunters.
"How do you plan to lure these Reapers away from my trail? My status does not appeal to them in a sense of fear, I cannot threaten them away from me with that alone should you fail to properly shake them. Or are you going to put someone at risk of playing bait in my stead to lure older, more experienced, and possibly violent Reapers away, knowing what their fate could possibly be?"
He moved, pacing. His tone changed, yet somehow his expression did not as he continued to take Lizzy's plan and poke holes in it; "What if they do decide to send Caelius, or H, or..." that woman he couldn't remember the name of. "Then instead of one Horseman Heir in a room, there will be a room full of young and unexperienced Denizens..." his voice dropped to a small whisper. "Ripe for the taking. Tell me, what is your escape plan then?"
There was an escape plan for such a situation - Invictus's tone implied there was one easily secured into his head, but he placed the weight of proof onto Lizzy to see what she could say.
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Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2012 2:24 am
"A second horsemen if they are willing, or someone disguised as one," They had talked about how to lure them away during the discussion, but it was a risky move; she wouldn't deny that, "One minute. We just need one minute, because the Bogeymen will be laying in wait with an ambush... Besides, they will not send out a big group of reapers to do the work... That would be far too conspicuous. Our informant will, at the end of the operation, report back to the mafia that the hunters had betrayed them - that they intended to take the heir for themselves, without paying a cent... That they tipped off the Bogeymen the moment they heard that a heir had been secured."
That was the ideal situation, however, and things could always go wrong.
"There will always be risks," She continued, "This operation is made up of people who were willing to risk a lot of things to carry it out." Which was why the escape plan was...
"It happened before, back with the Horsemen of Conquest and even with Professor Red," She paused, trying not to sound too emotional about either of those events, "The only way we escaped was through death... For humans, maybe they fear death, but for us, the fear of never being able to do anything - helplessness - for the rest of our long life might be worse than death. Besides, it was agreed that death is better than being captured to be converted into weapons to be used against Halloween. However, I'm sure you already know that nobody - including you - should feel obliged to take part in this. We'll just have to alter our plan if so."
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Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2012 11:04 am
"Tell me, have you traversed the Haunted House yet? Do you know how it works? How can you prove the room you need is the room the Bogeymen would be waiting in? How will you get the Bogeymen to help you catch who you have chosen and not just capture students for suspicious behavior? They do have that... idea about the school." He continued to play at poking holes in Lizzy's plan.
"Do a test run of your plan. Do two of them. Do three of them. Learn how the House Works, see what can possibly go wrong just based on the location itself."
It was the biggest wild card of all in the entire idea of things, the house that could randomize each room that a group walked into, and Invictus wanted them to know exactly where they were going, or how to mislead someone in it.
"Right now, your plan has a lot of factors to it that need to be streamlined. There is a lot of your plan that hinges on things happening the way you need them to. Not every plan will be perfect, but take the things you can get a hold of right now to remove error with and use them."
However, he almost seemed to be grinning - in his eyes at least. Like the idea of it all was sort of fun.
"You'll risk your life, but not your identity. That's amusing.
If you are unwilling to make the rounds to investigate the house yourself, I will find and do so. After all, it does help if an heir has a pattern of being seen there..."
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Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2012 1:46 pm
"The Bogeyman will not enter the Haunted house" She frowned a little, not that it could be seen, "There is no way for us to lead a group of adults into the school without arousing the faculty's suspicions. No, that will be taken care of outside, away from the school. If the Bogeyman refuses to work with us, the mafia will be sent on a wild goose chase which will... Keep them busy. You're right - we do need to do a test run, but we need to find the way in first, before testing the house out. The first trial is tomorrow... There will be a short break before the second trial. Things will be set in motion the night before the break starts."
She even prepared the message for it, ready to be sent.
"Back-up plans... Back up plans for the back-up plans... There will always be risks, there will always be holes. Like you said, things could happen and no plan is perfect. However, I do know that if we fail to plan, we plan to fail - and I have no intention of failing and letting everyone's efforts go to waste. We will look into everything you mentioned," She paused briefly, looking at Invictus, wondering if he had already said 'yes' in his own way.
"Ah, I heard that people are attracted to mystery, that's why," It was hard to tell if she was joking or not as she leaned against the railings, "No... We need to investigate the Haunted House as well, to get used to being there. Of course, having you patrol is a good idea. In fact, it will help... A lot. So, do we have the word of the Heir of Conquest?"
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Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2012 1:55 pm
Luring outside was much easier than luring inside, as the plan to play into the Bogeymen's hands would call for. Still, it sounded like the entire plan had a lot of improvisation to it. They would have to work out all the..kinks...in the fabric of thought.
Never the less....
"I will take a look at the Haunted House. Perhaps frequently, perhaps not. Maybe one of the girls will come with me as well. We will see." He didn't exactly answer the question as to having his word, but it sounded like he was lending his presence for the time being.
"But should our activity lure the Mafia before you are ready, we will act and you may not get another chance. Work quickly."
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Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2012 2:14 pm
They would need to work on the kinks; she was new to this 'planning an operation' thing.
"I would really prefer a definite answer, since it will affect our plan for the next few days," She replied, finding it rather... Cute that he was doing the "MAYBE I WILL MAYBE I WON'T" thing, "It won't, not if our informant tells the mafia that the school is too heavily guarded due to all the... Media attention and Horsemen presence. They might try to sneak in as a spectator though, so... Please, keep your guard up."
She almost added 'Don't follow strangers who offers you candy and have a van.'
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Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2012 9:38 pm
"I have said that I will give my presence, as that is all you have asked from me." Invictus answered sternly. "I promise no more or no less." There might have been the smallest amount of irritation in his voice, but if it was there, it would not have been noticeable. Not with how level his tone always was, it would have taken a lot longer to notice the vocal patterns of the Heir to Conquest.
If she'd mentioned strangers and vans, he would have given her a funny look.
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Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 2:34 am
"Fine, good enough for me," She seemed to sigh, but at least she didn't ask again; maybe they needed something else to convince him completely, but even so... Even without him, they will carry on, "I think this concludes our little discussion... I'm sure you'll hear from me again."
She bowed, and then waited for him to exit first, since her leaving now would... Well, it would be rude, right?
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Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 12:16 pm
It was not as though Invictus had not realized that the reason for the call out had been to ask him to join this group of students that the stranger had spoken of - he knew that.
She simply just hadn't asked for him to join and made her intentions seem to be otherwise, thus he had taken them at said face value.
"Very well." he nodded.
As it seemed that he was being waited on to take his leave, however...
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Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2012 11:45 am
Lizzy stayed on the roof long after Invictus left, staring at the sky; she wasn't sure what to make of him, but he had sort of agreed to help. Just sort of though... She needed a more concrete answer.
... Heh, although if he's sharp enough, he should find his way to their little forum by himself.
Sitting on the railing, she swung her feet out and then let go; it was time to go home.
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