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 Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 7:20 pm
The air was dry, irritating, and filled with the noise of constant clanking only streets over. It was annoying, loud, and cloudy outside. Like any other man, Irving John was dress plainly, in fact in a crowd he might as well have just disappeared. To the untrained eye, he was a common man, out for whatever purpose might have drawn him away from his family, though he had none. His journeys from the manor in which he resided were rare and normally upon only the most dire of circumstances, or in case of some untold incident within his 'fortress'.
Today, his stroll was purely for leisure. Pulling the hat down over his eyes his feet crossed another dusty alleyway into a fairly darker street. Few people went up and down the worn and dusty sidewalks that lined the pathways. In fact, this street, although surrounded by bustling others, was fairly unoccupied.
Irving made no due note of the irregularity, on the account that he didn't see it. His eyes didn't rise from the dirt that clung to his shoes except for a moment at every intersection to mark where he was. Pulling from his pocket the man wiped off his dusty shoes and knocked off a few small rocks that had gotten ingrained in the bottom of his shoes.
When his eyes rose to see what stood opposite of him an old shop stared right back. The window was dark, the sign was barley swinging in the wing and on it was an unreadable word. "Ill-care," he whispered with distaste. People who didn't care for their stores annoyed him but his mind quickly moved past the subject.
So far that he was quickly intrigued and pulling out the picture of Natalie he sighed. "Tell me, where can I find you again," he whispered just outside the paint-worn door.
As the last syllable rolled off his tongue the door swung slowly forward to reveal a dark shop. It opened right before his hand could even make it to the dusty knocker.
"Curious." he stated flatly. His voice wasn't rolled back to him from inside the shop so he slowly entered. His feet tred the clean floors and his eyes swam past a couple of shelves before he encountered a desk near the back of the store. His eyes rose up and examined a couple of shelved before he called out to see if another being presided within this hollow and dreary waste of a building, "Hello?"
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Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2010 11:00 pm
Guinevere Orifiel walked out of the elegant, prim shopfront next to the one Irving just entered, dusting off her skirt as she went. Hae-Min had protested, but one of her new employers, Mr. Tae-Yul, she reminded herself, had gotten a hankering for coffee. As the newest employee, (Barely a day into her job!) she had been sent to fetch it from the local coffeeshop, not that she minded. The more she made herself useful, the less likely she was to be fired and sent to apply at Happy Burger. Repeating "One black, one double cream and sugar," under her breath, she set off.
That was, she attempted to set off, but she heard a voice from the recently closed shop next door to Daemonolgie. Now, that was curious. Was it a prospective buyer? Peering into the window in hopes of getting a glimpse of their possible future neighbour, she called out "Hello? Is there anyone there?" Coffee quite forgotten, she stepped in herself, looking for the source of the voice. "I'm Guinevere Orifiel, I work at the shop next door!"
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Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 6:02 pm
Irving wasn't paying attention, in fact his mind had flown far off into the distance as he stood alone in the shambles of an abandoned building. When a voice creeped up behind him his body first locked than jumped in surprise. He fell into the counter and nearly flipped over it from the scare but steadying himself the man turned around and looked curiously at the woman who had snuck up behind him. "Irving John, pleasure to make your acquaintance," be beckoned, holding out his hand.
Although his heart raced Irving wasn't a rude man and was by far one of the most polite he had ever encounter, had it not been for his distant mind. "If I may, what is this place? I felt something akin to a pull towards the shack." he asked. Irving wasn't one to jump out of formalities but his eyes drew invisible shapes in the shop as it imagined what it was like completely built.
"Such an interesting place," Irving nodded and bent down to retrieve a wrinkled up piece of paper he'd stepped on earlier, "Looks like an old newspaper, year 1910." His eyes widened at the date and quickly he looked back up at Guinevere. "You said you work at the shop next door, if you do, why exactly is your store located here- of all places?" It wasn't like a business to take neighbor to a place such as this, not in the normal world.
Nothing about this place felt like any kind of normal.
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Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 6:27 pm
Guinevere coughed. "Well, it's my first day at work, but the place I work at is next door. I, er, never really thought to ask why! I suppose because it's as good a place as any?" she suggested brightly. "Or maybe it has to do with karmic energies or something, I don't really know. Anyway, this storefront isn't very clean, is it? The old owner sold antiques, but he wasn't great at cleaning up, I hear." She flashed him an apologetic smile, bladed wings flapping and stirring up dust as they did so. "Anyway, I work at Daemonolgie, right over there. As a researcher!" she added hastily, not wanting this man to think that she dabbled in demon summoning. She thought that Mr. Tae-yul and Mr. Fauste were really quite respectable, but demon summoning just didn't seem ladylike to her, especially considering she was a Herald.
"A pull?" she enquired politely, "Ah, I thought you were an interested buyer. Well, I don't know about a pull, sometimes people feel things like that. Maybe you lived here in a past life, or maybe you had a lot of magnets in your pockets and this place has a lot of metal in it? My employers would probably know more about this place than I do..." She looked around the old building. It was just a building, albeit a rather filthy one. "Look, I need to get some coffee, but if you want to come with me, I wouldn't mind some company, or maybe you'd like to go next door? It's much nicer than this place, and it doesn't set off allergies."
If she had known what had set off Aodh's nosebleed the first time she met him, she would have added 'usually', but as it was, the spotless and elegant storefront she worked at seemed perfectly sanitary to her.
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Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 7:11 pm
He sighed. No point in perusing the inevitable now, plus he was thirsty. "I shall let you lead," he nodded. A smile barley broke his emotionless face as he was led out of the shack. A quick glance to the building up the street and Irving nodded. It looked commendable, but respectable was the question. The curious way in which Guinevere was acting set him off a bit. "Where upon do your employers get such knowledge?" he asked, leaping to foreseen conclusions.
Irving judged that Guinevere must have been employed by some intelligent people, who they were was the question. Where they were, too.
"Guinevere? Do you ever find your feet tredding some unknown path upon which you have sword to tred a dozen times before. Yet- such a day like one I am experiencing brings you to a place you never knew existed..." he asked as his arm mechanically pushed open the coffee shop door.
A quick order of some Earl Grey tea with honey and he was back out of the shop again in a jiffy as he stood waiting for the employee. Whomever these people were, they had to be very interesting to occupy such quaint space.
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Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 7:43 pm
"From their extensive documents, I assume." Guinevere said, working off of three hours' and one job interview's worth of knowledge about the matter.
She paused, tilting her head and frowning. "Well, Sir, I can't really say. I like to feel I'm in control of my own life, otherwise I think I wouldn't get anything done at all. I used to be all into that sort of fate and destiny stuff, but it didn't really work out that well." She had to take control of her own life, considering her power. Being forewarned of peoples' deaths would drive you mad if you weren't absolutely sensible, and Guinevere fancied herself to be as sensible as a stern grey dress. (Whether she actually was sensible as a stern grey dress was a totally different matter).
"Anyway," she added as she ordered the coffee for Tae-Yul and Edward, "Treading on a path a dozen times sounds pretty tedious. What would you do the twelfth time around? There'd be nothing new to look at. Best to just walk it really thoroughly just once, that way it's more efficient."
Stepping out to join him once more, she strolled back to Daemonolgie, announcing "Coffee's here, sirs!" as she came in.
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Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 8:21 pm
Irving nodded. Guinevere made a valid point, or an assumption more or less. However, if life exceeded expectations and constantly gave them something new to look at whenever they needed it than where would he go, what would he get, after he left his destination? Home? He nodded, it no longer felt like home, not anymore.
Drawing away from his memories his posture grew rigid as he entered the shop. It was new, the air felt secretive. 'Exactly what is this place?' he thought to himself looking around. Guinevere announced their presence quite clearly so Irving took great care in every movement. He kept his hands off everything and the small, warm cup he kept in his hands even further.
The air felt tense, and whatever was causing it wasn't making Irving feel uncomfortable- just questionable.
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Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 8:59 pm
The first thing Irving would ever hear from a daemonologist was "It's about damn time," said oh-so-cordially by Tae-yul. There was a distinct thunk from further back in the shop; Hae-min had let her head fall onto her desk. She apparently had picked herself up enough to take the cupholder from Guinevere, blue-gray eyes practically sparkling.
"Thank you so much," she said, Korean accent making the words lyrical. Then her eyes drifted up to Irving; they widened a little, her eyebrows went up, but she brushed it off and continued talking to Guinevere. "How much was it? I'll add it to your paycheque--my brother is a bit of an idiot sometimes, he forgets others in the store aren't here to wait on him. Could you take a peek at the ledgers, Guinevere, make sure the inventory's in place? If you need help, I'll be down with Edward for the man in a moment." She hurried up the stairs, presumably to give the coffee to her brother.
When she returned with a tall, dark-haired man, she redirected herself and Guin back to the area where they normally worked, surrounded by heavy books.
Edward stared for a moment at Irving. "And who might you be," were the first words out of his mouth; he could manage chivalrous attitudes to women, but with men he was more blunt.
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Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 10:02 pm
Irving stared at the juggling pair of employees in the shop. From the contrasting attitudes to the swift movements from one conversation into another Irving just stood still staring at it all. This place felt further and further away from home the more he just listened to the people. Perhaps a drink of his tea would do him good.
Just as he was taking a sip though- Edward spoke. He only nodded and let the cup slowly drop from his face to rest in his hands. "Irving John, a newspaper journalist and printer."he replied, bowing out of courtesy. "I happen to have stumbled onto a particular shop just next door to your own. Guinevere found me just after I had just stumbled inside after some strange draw to the shop. A feeling akin to one like possession of something that was in there."he explained.
Irving expected no response, in fact he expected to be kicked out or be hauled off to some insane asylum. If, for some chance he didn't, his father might just as well be rolling in his grave because a day could not get any stranger.
"Where have I found myself this morning?" he asked, taking another sip of the steaming earl tea.
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Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 12:26 pm
This stumped Edward. He could pick through the most convoluted of academic passages with ease, but he wasn't an auditory person. After a moment, he sighed and set down his coffee on the old-fashioned desk.
"Mr. John," said Edward, "My name is Edward Fauste. I am a daemonolgist and a summoner of dark creatures. I regret deeply that I haven't the slightest clue what in the world you're talking about, as everything inside this store has been rightly purchased and so cannot be yours. You may, of course, borrow a tome, but first I would have to ascertain for what purpose you might be using it, as most of these books are more than one hundred years old."
He paused, then asked: "Am I clear?"
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Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 7:57 pm
Irving stood rigid with the warm cup in his hands. He felt as if Edward was being condescending but dismissing the thought his eyes wavered a bit and looked around the shop carefully. "Perhaps there was a reason I stumbled in here," he whispered as his hand reached for the pedant in his left pocket. The cold metal sent a shiver up his body as his mind flooded with memories. "What exactly are your tomes used for?" Irving questioned.
His eyes only searched the room for a moment longer before he looked straight back at the daemonolgist. Edward looked different then anyone he encountered daily but Irving managed to keep his composure. In no circumstance would he loose it, not even on the anniversary of Natalie's tragic death.
"You said daemonolgist correct?"he asked. If this man could provide some answer to his question it would help him a great deal. Irving knew, however, that his wish was beyond reaching- for any being.
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Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 9:53 pm
"We use our tomes for research, mostly, though that's Hae-min's department. My comrades and I use them for research into the dark arts. Demon summoning, necromancy--"
"--Literomancy!--"
"--and literomancy. Sometimes divination, but that's a rather sketchy process." Edward looked amused at an accent-laced interruption from Hae-min; amused and tolerant. Women really were more up his alley.
He nodded at Irving's next question. "Daemonologist," he agreed. "A summoner is also an appropriate term."
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Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 10:05 pm
"Summoner?" Irving asked carefully. It was completely out of this world and irregular. Never had he heard such a claim but he was inclined to believe the man. Especially in the situations he kept finding himself in today. Pulling from his pocket a silver pocket-watch he opened it and stared at the picture of Natalie.
"They say reincarnation or rebirth of a dead soul is impossible. You call yourself a summoner of sorts. Would you say retrieving a dead soul would be possible, even for a few minutes?" Irving questioned looking at Hae-min.
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Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2010 8:22 pm
He shook his head. "Not by me, and my colleagues who have a shred of necromantic talent are either full to their eyeballs in appointments, or else they are necromantic constructs themselves. I can, however, give you a tome which will illustrate quite adequately how you may go about summoning a demon which will be able to, for lack of a better word, hunt down, the soul you seek."
The tall man walked around the desk, vanishing into an alcove. He was gone for several minutes, and when he returned it was with a thick tome. (You couldn't call it a book, really; it was heavy, with metal guards over the covers, with an elaborate lock. When Edward set it down, touch reverent, dust drifted out.)
"Of course, there is a matter of the contract between us," he said.
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Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2010 10:22 pm
Irving raised his head away from the dusty tome and looked for some hint of humor in Edward's facial expression but when none was found he relaxed. "A contract of what sorts?" he asked fearfully. Irving didn't feel like digging himself another grave full of bitter depression, not when he was already in a ten feet one himself. Taking it upon himself to find a spot to set his cup he hovered his hand over the book for a moment and looked at it carefully.
Tome or not, this thing looked ancient and that is what interested Irving the most about it.
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